StarkNet 700m Coin Airdrop is Ready: How to Claim STRK Tokens

Ethereum rollup Starknet is set to distribute more than 700 million STRK tokens to nearly 1.3 million addresses in the first round of Starknet token airdrop on February 20, 2024.

The Starknet token launch is expected to be a lucrative one, with pre-debut STRK futures on decentralized exchanges suggesting that the Starknet crypto could debut at as high as $2.

A pricing at this level will give the STRK token a market cap of over $1.4 billion and help it become one of the 100 most valuable cryptocurrencies in the world.

However, crypto-natives on X voiced their concern about the high allocation (49.9% of initial total supply) of STRK tokens to early investors and contributors, a part of which — 1.314 billion tokens — will be unlocked less than two months after the Starknet token airdrop.

In this article, we answer all your Starknet questions and analyze the STRK token in this article. How to claim Starknet coins? Who is eligible for the Starknet airdrop? Find out below.

All You Need to Know About the Starknet Airdrop

How to Claim Starknet Airdrop, When Is Starknet Airdrop and Who is Eligible?

• Starting at 12 PM BST on February 20, 2024, eligible addresses can claim their STRK tokens.
• Readers can check their airdrop eligibility here by connecting their Starknet wallet.
• Eligible addresses can claim their STRK tokens on the Starknet Provisions portal until June 20, 2024. Unclaimed tokens will be distributed in future rounds.
• US citizens are not eligible for Starknet airdrop.
• Starknet token distribution is not available to citizens of Russia, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, or any other sanctioned country.

How is Startnet Airdrop Allocated?

This section will give us an idea of how crypto projects filter addresses for token airdrops. Future Starknet airdrops could apply a similar eligibility criteria as implemented in the first STRK airdrop.

Starknet has set aside 9% (900 million tokens) of STRK’s total supply for “community provision,” out of which 700 million STRK tokens will be distributed in the first round of STRK airdrop.

Are you eligible for STRK?

With nearly 1.3M eligible addresses, you too might be eligible for STRK.

Pay attention to the categories:
✨Starknet users, ECMP recipients, and devs
✨@Sorare, @dYdX, @Immutable and @rhinofi users
✨Ethereum stakers, EIP authors, devs, and Protocol… pic.twitter.com/3UQf0KVDSY

— Starknet 🐺🐱 (@Starknet) February 14, 2024

The 700 million STRK tokens will be distributed to the following eligible addresses:

1. Starknet users – 50.9%
2. Ethereum (ETH) stakers who staked up until the Merge (September 15, 2022) – 21.8%
3. Ethereum Improvement proposal authors – 0.19%
4. Ethereum developers – 3.33%
5. Ethereum Protocol Guild members – 1.05%
6. StarkEx users – 9.5%
7. Starknet developers – 2.1%
8. Top open-source developers – 2.1%
9. Starknet Early Community Member Program (ECMP) members – 8.98%

Now, let’s learn about Starknet, its ecosystem, Starknet tokenomics, and uses of the STRK token in detail below.

What is Starknet?

Starknet is a zero-knowledge rollup on Ethereum. Starknet operates as a layer-2 (L2) blockchain on top of which developers can build decentralized applications. Like all L2s, Starkent aims to lower the costs of transacting on the Ethereum network without compromising on the security and trust benefits of Ethereum.

StarkWare is an Israel-based company that develops blockchain scaling solutions — Starknet and StarkEx.

StarkEx is an L2 scalability service on Ethereum that validates rollup transactions, generates cryptographic proofs, and submits them to the Ethereum main net.

Stark Foundation is a non-profit organization that supports and maintains Starknet. The organization launched in late 2022 with a seven-member board that governs the organization. The Stark Foundation is independent of StarkWare.

The Stark Foundation was allocated 5.01 STRK tokens or 50.1% of STRK’s initial total supply of 10 billion to develop the Starknet ecosystem.

STRK Tokenomics: Supply and Demand for STRK Token

STRK is the native token of Ethereum L2 Starknet. The token’s supply and demand will affect the price of STRK token in the open market following the airdrop.

Let’s analyze STRK tokenomics in this section:

STRK Supply

Here are important details about STRK’s supply:

• STRK token has an initial total supply of 10 billion tokens.
• STRK token does not have a fixed supply. When STRK token staking launches, new STRK tokens will be minted.
• Inflation rate of STRK token from staking rewards will be capped at 4% per annum.
• 1.7 billion STRK tokens (17% of initial total supply) were allocated to StarkWare investors.
• 3.29 billion STRK tokens (32.9% of initial total supply) were allocated to StarkWare, its employees, consultants, and StarkNet software developer partners.
• 5.01 billion STRK tokens (50.1% of initial total supply) were allocated to the Stark Foundation for community airdrops, rebates, grants, strategic reserve, donations, and more.
• 1.314 billion STRK tokens allocated to early contributors and investors will be unlocked on April 15, 2024.
• Further, 40 million STRK tokens allocated to early contributors and investors will be unlocked on April 30, 2024.
• 2.468 billion STRK tokens allocated to early contributors and investors will be unlocked in equal monthly installments over the next 31 months after April 2024.

STRK Demand

The use cases of the STRK token will be critical in ensuring that there is a real demand for the Starknet crypto once the airdrop hype cools. Here are the three primary use cases of the STRK token:

Gas Fees

Ethereum L2 networks have to pay gas fees in ETH. At the time of writing, end-users pay gas fees in ETH on Starknet. Once the STRK tokens are released, end-users will have the choice to pay gas fees on Starknet using the STRK token. Note that on the back end, Starknet will continue to pay ETH to submit transaction proofs on Ethereum.

The option to pay Ethereum gas fees in STRK is expected to support market demand for the STRK token. Gas fee tokens on popular blockchain networks tend to draw high demand as users cannot use the blockchain without paying gas fees.

Governance

STRK is designed to function as a governance token. STRK token holders will be eligible to participate in governance over issues and proposals that will shape the future of Starknet. STRK holders will also have the power to delegate their votes to representatives to influence the direction of the protocol.

Staking

STRK staking is expected to launch following the Starknet token airdrop. Staking will be critical to the security of Starknet. STRK stakers will also earn interest on their staking deposits.

Starknet Token Price Prediction: 1.314 Billion Token Unlock Worries STRK Holders

The unlocking of 1.314 billion STRK tokens on April 15, 2024, allocated to early contributors and investors, is touted as a risk-event for Starknet token price in the near-term.

Token unlock events tend to have bearish effects on cryptocurrency prices as these events free up large amounts of tokens for early investors and project team members to sell. Early investors and contributors are typically allocated tokens at low prices to cover their risk of making an early investment, which makes it easier for them to take profits once the token hits the open market.

Many crypto researchers on X were concerned about the upcoming token unlock, as pseudonymous crypto researcher Layergg compared the STRK token airdrop to the ill-fated Internet Computer (ICP) launch in May 2021 – when ICP tanked from a debut price of over $400 to about $25 by the end of the year.

“3 years ago, $ICP reached 8th in market cap on its launch day. Along with massive token unlock. In conclusion, $ICP rekt everyone while VCs dumped on retail,” said Layergg.

Starknet remains unruffled by public criticism. Starkware co-founder and CEO Eli Ben-Sasson reasoned by saying:

“The 1.3 million Provisions recipients will get tokens that are liquid upon receipt. Others who put effort and money into making Starknet possible will wait until April for the first third of their tokens unlocked, after which more will unlock monthly.”

“Some of these, among them builders and investors, committed to STARK technology when its success sounded farfetched,” added Ben-Sasson, as reported by The Block.

The Bottom Line

StarkNet is a popular Ethereum project that has gained much attention over the past two years. Going by the buzz that L2 rollup Arbitrium’s ARB and modular blockchain Celestia’s TIA airdrop created in 2023, we expect Starknet’s STRK token to attract industry-wide interest.

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