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Ethereum layer-2 scaling network Starknet has released details about its much-anticipated token airdrop, which is now officially set to launch on February 20.
Almost 1.3 million wallets will be eligible to receive free tokens during the airdrop, according to the Starknet Foundation, which is referring to the event as a “provisions program.” Beneficiaries range widely, from Starknet users and developers to users of decentralized apps (dapps) affiliated with the network, all the way to Ethereum stakers with no prior exposure to Starknet.
Many users are likely eager to receive bundles of STRK, the network’s new native token—but due to their potential value on secondary markets, those behind the airdrop emphasize the token’s importance to backing a new governance structure for Starknet, in which STRK tokens will represent voting power.
“This is part of a very serious value-driven process of decentralization,” StarkWare co-founder and CEO Eli Ben-Sasson told Decrypt. “It’s evolving in such a way that is truly democratic while also bringing great stability to the network.”
All told, 1.8 billion STRK tokens will be doled out to users across Ethereum, who will have between February 20 and June 20 to redeem their allocated crypto tokens.
Individuals who used or developed on Starknet prior to November 15 stand to gain anywhere between 500 and 180,000 STRK, depending on their level of activity on the network.
The largest allocations in this category are reserved for the more than 2,000 individuals who were accepted into the “Starknet Early Community Members Program” after proving their contributions to the network in its infancy. A calculator on the Starknet website allows users to determine their particular allocations.
Users of dapps powered by Starknet’s predecessor, StarkEx, are eligible to collect 111.1 STRK, so long as they used those dapps prior to June 1, 2022. Those dapps include borrowing and lending platform dYdX, gaming-centric layer-2 network Immutable X, layer-2 bridge Rhinofi, and on-chain fantasy soccer game Sorare.
Ethereum developers, contributors, and stakers, meanwhile, are also eligible to receive STRK tokens—even if they’ve never touched Starknet or a StarkEx-powered app.
Ethereum stakers who began running nodes prior to the network’s 2022 merge event will be able to receive 1,800 STRK per validator, up to 12 validators. Those who staked prior to the launch of Ethereum’s Beacon Chain in December 2020 can receive 3,600 STRK per validator, also up to 12 in total.
Core Ethereum core developers in the network’s Protocol Guild will be eligible to claim 10,000 STRK per person, while Ethereum Improvement Proposal (EIP) authors can claim 2,000 STRK. Other Ethereum developers can take home 1,800 STRK, while ETH stakers in pools or on centralized exchanges will be able to claim 360 STRK per validator.
It’s been a major year for Starknet, which at the start of 2023 held less than $1 million worth of crypto assets on its network. That figure has soared to over $56 million in total value locked (TVL) on the network at writing, according to Defi Llama.
Since December, when Starknet first announced its upcoming airdrop, that figure has shot up over 75%, from just over $32 million at the time.
Edited by Andrew Hayward