ETHEREUM | A Look at the Starknet Ecosystem and the Upcoming Token Drop

Starknet is a layer-2 scalability solution for Ethereum aiming to provide high throughput, low latency, and predictable gas fees for decentralized applications.

It utilizes ZK-rollups technology to batch multiple transactions off-chain and then compress them into a single proof that gets verified on-chain resulting in significant efficiency gains. The platform made waves in 2023, particularly between March and May, when the network’s total value locked (TVL) surged ten-fold, skyrocketing from $1.45 million to over $10 million.

Since then, Starknet’s TVL has expanded more than 5 times, to $52.95m, according to DeFiLlama. In addition, the platform saw $13.25 million in 24-hour trading volume at the time of writing.

 Starknet TVL and 24hr Volume

Top 5 Protocols on Starknet

From DeFiLlama, we can retrieve the most active protocols from the Starknet ecosystem, and these offer services that include exchange (DEXs), lending, borrowing, and savings.

 Top 10 Protocols on Starknet by TVL* Nostra: Nostra is a liquidity protocol that allows you to lend, borrow, and trade crypto on-chain, with the efficiency of a centralized exchange.

• Ekubo Protocol: Ekubo is an automated market maker built for Starknet, with several unique features including concentrated liquidity and a extensible and gas efficient architecture.
• zkLend: zKLend is a money-market protocol on Starknet that leverages the scalability of zk-rollup for faster transaction speeds and lower fees. zkLend is a similar dapp to Aave protocol, one can lend money on Starknet on the zkLend protocol to earn rewards and borrow tokens by pledging collateral. zKLend is also going to launch a token in 2024.
• JediSwap: JediSwap is the most popular decentralized finance platform on Starknet, described as a community-led, permissionless AMM on Starknet. It is a DEX similar to Uniswap on Ethereum., where can exchange different tokens on Starknet using Jediswap.

The team behind Starknet intends to allocate more than 1.8 billion STRK ($STRK) tokens to community members and stakeholders, as per an announcement made in December 2023 by the Starknet Foundation.

Starknet did not provide a timeline for the airdrops, indicating only that the first phase of the giveaway will commence ‘soon.’

A total of 900 million $STRK tokens have been designated to ‘reward past and future contributions by users and community members.’ The specific criteria determining which Starknet users will receive these tokens, as well as the allocation amounts, have not yet been disclosed.

An additional 900 million STRK will be directed toward user rebates, according to the Starknet Foundation. Although planning for this initiative is ongoing, it seems that it will involve offsetting the cost of network transaction fees for Starknet users to some extent.

In addition to the 1.8 billion tokens mentioned earlier, the blockchain’s overseers plan to distribute an extra 50 million $STRK tokens to incentivize decentralized finance (DeFi) activity on Starknet. These tokens will be allocated directly, indirectly, and retroactively to Starknet DeFi users, as outlined by the Starknet Foundation.