StarkWare, the driving force behind the zero-knowledge-based layer 2 network Starknet, has unveiled its plans to introduce staking by the end of 2024.

This move aims to enhance the blockchain’s resilience and decentralization. According to the Starknet Improvement Proposal (SNIP) submitted by CEO Eli Ben-Sasson and his team, the first staking phase is set to launch on the L2 network’s mainnet in Q4 2024, contingent upon community approval. A governance vote will determine the community’s “embrace” of the proposal. 

Ben-Sasson announced these plans at the Ethereum Community Conference in Brussels, presenting a proposal that allows users to become stakers. Participants will receive rewards proportional to the amount of STRK tokens they have staked with a 21 day lock period before funds can be withdrawn. 

STRK tokens

STRK tokens serve as governance tokens, allowing holders to vote on various proposals critical to Starknet’s operations. STRK is also utilized to pay transaction fees that support network operations.

The use of STRK will soon be extended to involve staking, which will be necessary for important services that are crucial for Starknet’s operational capability and safety. Steve Goodman, StarkWare’s principal technical writer, highlighted in the network’s documents from June 2024 that staking services could involve sequencing, temporary L2 consensus, STARK-proving services, and data availability provisioning.

While StarkWare and the Starknet Foundation are separate entities, they share overlapping leadership. However, co-founders Eli Ben-Sasson and Uri Kolodny, who are also Foundation board members, are not involved in the Foundation’s daily operations.

Folloing the Starknet Foundation’s substantial airdrop of over 700 million STRK tokens to about 1.3 million wallet addresses, a staking announcement has been made. Pending approval, a testnet for staking will be launched in the near future, and the mainnet rollout is planned for the last quarter of 2024.

Slow staking approach

StarkWare has outlined a phased approach to staking, beginning with basic token staking and evolving to real-time attestations and, eventually, full sequencing and proving activities to secure the network. 

“This is an important step in building the staking community and technology, offering new opportunities for users and developers,” Ben-Sasson stated.

As Starknet progresses on its decentralized journey, the introduction of staking marks a pivotal development. It promises to strengthen the network’s security and engage the community more deeply.