Apr 13, 2026
Business
'Dramatic Change': Starknet Creator Reveals Layoffs Amid Revenue-Focused Pivot
StarkWare co-founder and CEO Eli Ben-Sasson indicated on Monday that the firm, which builds on Ethereum, has become the latest to slash its headcount in a move to prioritize revenue. Although the company, founded eight years ago, has built what Ben-Sasson described as “the best infrastructure in the world,” StarkWare now finds itself in a position where honing efficiency to generate cash represents the most sustainable path forward, he said in a post to X. “Our new strategy requires that we mo...
Feb 26, 2026
DeFi
'Private Bitcoin' to Launch on Starknet With Zcash-Like Features
Starknet revealed a Bitcoin-based asset on Thursday aimed at enabling people to better maintain their privacy on the Ethereum layer-2 scaling network. The upcoming token dubbed strkBTC will allow individuals to shield account balances from public view and make confidential transfers, according to a press release shared with Decrypt by the Starknet Foundation and StarkWare, the network’s creators. Even when the token is held in a way that makes it more difficult to track, strkBTC is designed to m...
Jan 5, 2026
Technology
Ethereum Layer-2 Network Starknet Back Online Following Outage
Ethereum layer-2 scaling network Starknet is back online after suffering a block production issue that led to more than four hours of downtime early Monday. The first report of slow block production took place just before 5:00 am ET, according to the network’s status page. Around that time, the network’s mainnet block production was halted as developers investigated the issue. “Starknet mainnet block production is temporarily paused while we investigate a proving error observed on a transactio...
Sep 30, 2025
DeFi
Bitcoin Staking Debuts on Ethereum Layer-2 Starknet With STRK Incentives
Bitcoin became a core part of Starknet’s ecosystem on Tuesday, as the Ethereum layer-2 network began using the asset as a way to secure itself, according to a press release. Starknet users can now participate in the process of validating transactions by delegating Bitcoin to the network in order to earn rewards, StarkWare, the network’s developers, said. Previously, Starknet users could only stake its native STRK token. The company also said that RE7, a London-based investment firm, is building...
Feb 12, 2025
DeFi
DeFi Lending Platform zkLend Drained of $9.5 Million in Exploit
zkLend, a decentralized money lending platform on the Starknet blockchain, has fallen victim to a major exploit, with the hacker draining $9.5 million in crypto assets. Blockchain security firm Cyvers confirmed that the stolen funds were initially bridged to Ethereum and funneled through the privacy protocol Railgun. The funds were then redirected to the original address due to the protocol’s internal policies, Cyverse said on Monday. Following the incident, zkLend paused all withdrawals and adv...
Feb 22, 2024
Coins
Starknet Price Jumps After Ethereum Scaler Bows to Pressure Over Token Unlock Schedule
StarkWare, the startup behind the Ethereum scaling network Starknet, announced Thursday that it will revise its STRK token allocation schedule for contributors and investors following backlash from the crypto community. The company will spread out its allocations over the course of years rather than conducting a sizable planned STRK unlock this April. The price of STRK jumped following the announcement, according to CoinGecko, rising from $1.86 to $2.03 in a matter of minutes before settling to...
Aug 31, 2023
Business
Argent, Starknet Foundation Tag 'Several Millions' for New Startup Studio
To kick start more buidling on the layer-2 network Starknet, the eponymously named Foundation and Web3 wallet provider Argent are teaming up to launch a new startup incubator. Called Hito Studios, the platform will provide all the bells and whistles a new startup needs, including legal support and hiring. Starknet-based teams like Unframed, an NFT marketplace, and Ekubo, a Uniswap-esque decentralized exchange native to Starknet, have already joined to assist the launch. "We have achieved signifi...
Jul 21, 2023
Technology
‘Smart Wallet’ Provider Argent Launches NFT Marketplace Unframed on Starknet
Web3 wallet provider Argent has launched Unframed, a new NFT marketplace built on the speedy layer-2 solution Starknet. The partnership between Starknet–which is designed to address high transaction fees and slow processing times on Ethereum–and Argent is aimed at bridging the digital collectibles space and blockchain gaming. According to Julien Niset, co-founder of Argent, a crypto wallet hellbent on simplifying the user experience, “gaming is one of the important verticals” that hasn’t kicked...
Jun 9, 2023
Technology
'Ethereum Fails' Without These 3 Changes, Says Vitalik Buterin
If Ethereum is to expand how it's used, it will need to undergo three major transitions or risk undermining its own future, said Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. In a blog post published on Friday, Buterin laid out his ideas for what it will take to help Ethereum mature if it is to expand in use. Calling them “The Three Transitions,” Buterin said they would need to evolve around transitions in layer-2, or “L2,” scaling solutions, a move to smart contract wallets, and greater privacy for fund...
May 19, 2023
DeFi
DeFi Projects Built on Ethereum Scaling Solution Starknet Hit $10M
Starknet, an open-source framework that aims to bring scalability and privacy to decentralized applications (dApps) built on Ethereum, has seen dramatic growth in various DeFi apps on the network over the past few months, with its total value locked (TVL) recently hitting a new all-time high As of today, Starknet TVL stands at $10.49 million, a whopping ten-fold increase from $1.449 million at the beginning of March, according to DefiLlama. TVL is a metric commonly used in decentralized finance...