StarkWare Unveils Plans to Introduce Staking on Its zk-based Layer 2 Network Starknet 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.

Layer 2 scaling solution Starknet is gearing up to introduce staking, a crucial mechanism that will enhance the blockchain's decentralization and resilience.

A proposal submitted by Starknet CEO Eli Ben-Sasson and his team outlines the first phase of staking, which is scheduled to go live on the L2 network's mainnet in Q4 2024, pending community approval. The proposal will be put to a governance vote to gauge the community's "embrace" of the initiative.

At the Ethereum Community Conference in Brussels, Ben-Sasson unveiled these plans, presenting a proposal that will enable users to become stakers. Participants will be rewarded in accordance with the amount of STRK tokens they have staked, with a 21 day lock period before funds can be withdrawn.

STRK tokens serve multiple functions within the Starknet ecosystem. They act as governance tokens, enabling holders to vote on critical proposals pertaining to Starknet's operations. Additionally, STRK is used to pay transaction fees that support network operations.

Soon, the use of STRK will be expanded to encompass staking, which will be necessary for key services that are crucial for Starknet's operational capability and safety. In June 2024, StarkWare's principal technical writer, Steve Goodman, outlined in the network's documentation that staking services could include 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.

The announcement of staking comes after the Starknet Foundation conducted a massive airdrop of over 700 million STRK tokens to around 1.3 million wallet addresses. Pending approval, a testnet for staking will be launched soon, and the mainnet rollout is planned for the last quarter of 2024.

StarkWare is taking a slow and steady approach to staking, beginning with basic token staking and gradually transitioning to real-time attestations and, ultimately, 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,” said Ben-Sasson.

As Starknet continues 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.