Starkware, the company behind StarkNet, has revealed details regarding its planned airdrop of STARK tokens to over 1.3 million eligible Ethereum addresses. The airdrop aims to decentralize ownership of StarkNet by rewarding early adopters and Ethereum community members.
Worth $200 per person, the STARK token airdrop represents a retroactive public sale for those who used StarkNet before the mainnet launch on March 31, 2022.
Why is Starkware Airdropping Tokens?
As a permissionless decentralized rollup optimized for scalability, StarkNet lacks a pre-mined token or financial incentive for validators like other Layer 2s. So the STARK airdrop aims to stimulate permissionless participation and decentralized governance of the network.
Starkware co-founder Uri Kolodny said the surprise airdrop was to thank early users for “contributing to StarkNet’s growth” while furthering adoption goals. Over 6,800 Alpha testers who minted 200 million STARK tokens will also have their allocation vest immediately.
The 1.3 million Ethereum wallets eligible for the free token drop engaged with StarkNet before March 31 across varying degrees.
Who is Eligible for the StarkNet Airdrop?
To qualify for the Starknet airdrop, Ethereum addresses must fall into one of following three tiers:
- Tier 1 - Addresses that registered a Cairo contract on Goerli testnet
- Tier 2 - Addresses that called a contract on StarkNet mainnet
- Tier 3 - Addresses that made at least one valid transaction on Goerli testnet
Registration for the airdrop goes live on February 15, 2023, allowing users to sign up with proofs until March 2023. After Starkware verifies eligibility via zk-SNARK proofs, recipients gain access to a claim portal to receive STARK tokens.
Unlocking the Full $200 STARK Token Airdrop Value
The total $200 value of STARK tokens per airdrop recipient will be split and vest over a 2-year schedule. This aims to encourage long-term participation and prevent holders from immediately dumping tokens.
Here is the breakdown of the vesting schedule:
- 20% of tokens — Available to claim on the portal upon verification
- 20% after 6 months — Unlocks in September 2023
- 20% after 12 months — Unlocks in March 2024
- 20% after 18 months — Unlocks in September 2024
- 20% after 24 months — Unlocks in March 2025
With the price of STARK trading at $0.057 at the time of writing, the $200 airdrop value reflects 3,500 tokens.
What is StarkNet?
StarkNet leverages STARK zero knowledge proofs to allow Ethereum dApps and assets to scale with fast, cheap transactions while ensuring computational integrity.
The layer 2 rollup can handle 500 transactions per second and aims to eventually hit 2,000 TPS. Gas fees are in the cents, with transactions settling for users in under 2 minutes.
It runs in parallel to the Ethereum network, using the security of the underlying blockchain. But processing is done off-chain before sending data back to Ethereum.
Key Takeaways
- Starkware is airdropping $200 in STARK tokens to over 1.3M Ethereum wallets
- Early StarkNet users are being rewarded for contributions to growth
- Registration opens Feb 15 and users can claim tokens in March 2023
- Tokens vest over 2 years to encourage long-term participation
- StarkNet handles fast, cheap Ethereum transactions off-chain
By decentralizing ownership and participation in StarkNet, the airdrop aims to fulfill permissionless potential.
But could retroactive token distributions set unhealthy precedents?