Starknet Moves Toward Post-Quantum Layer 1 as Voters Back Ethereum Split

STRK Holders Approve Layer 1 Exploration

The Starknet Foundation announced Thursday that 93.52% of voting power supported exploring the transition in a non-binding governance poll that concluded Oct. 22. The result gives StarkWare and the Starknet Foundation a mandate to investigate the technical requirements, trade-offs, and potential consequences of operating Starknet as a standalone blockchain.

The vote does not authorize an immediate transition. Instead, a joint working group will begin research and publish its findings before any formal proposals are submitted for additional community votes. No implementation timeline has been established.

The proposal reflects growing concerns about the long-term security of blockchain networks as quantum computing advances threaten the cryptographic systems underpinning many cryptocurrencies.

Starknet currently relies on Ethereum for settlement and data availability, creating dependencies that could complicate its efforts to achieve comprehensive post-quantum security. While Starknet’s underlying zero-knowledge technology is designed to resist quantum attacks, components tied to Ethereum remain dependent on that network’s upgrade schedule.

StarkWare first floated the idea of an independent Layer 1 network on Oct. 8, arguing that Starknet could gain greater control over its security by reducing those dependencies.

StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson welcomed the vote, presenting the potential transition as part of a broader effort to make Starknet adaptable to future technological challenges.

“Starknet has everything it needs to evolve and improve, be it for post-quantum security, better UX, scale, privacy, or any other desired trait,” Ben-Sasson wrote on X following the vote.

He pointed to Starknet’s cryptographic architecture as a key advantage. Its zero-knowledge scalable transparent arguments of knowledge, or ZK-STARKs, rely on hash-based cryptography designed with quantum resistance in mind. Starknet’s programmable accounts can also adopt new signature schemes without requiring a protocol upgrade.

However, Ben-Sasson acknowledged that further work would be necessary to make the entire network resistant to quantum threats.

Beyond security, Ben-Sasson highlighted privacy and user experience as important components of Starknet’s long-term strategy. He specifically pointed to STRK20, a privacy framework designed to support confidential decentralized finance activities while preserving the composability and usability of blockchain applications.

The privacy push has already produced new tools. Earlier this month, StarkWare introduced Shadow Accounts, which allow users to interact with decentralized applications through pseudonymous identities without publicly linking those activities to their primary wallets.

STRK Sinks After Successful Vote

Under the proposed Layer 1 approach, STRK would remain Starknet’s native token, with no plans to introduce a replacement. Bridges between Ethereum and Starknet would also remain operational, preserving connections between the ecosystems.

The price of STRK tumbled on Thursday following the vote, recently down about 14% in the past 24 hours at a price near $0.054. That’s pushed the asset’s price decline to 40% over the last week alone, following a spike above $0.12 on Oct. 11. The token is down nearly 99% since peaking at $4.41 in Feb. 2024.

The next stage will focus on determining whether an independent network can deliver the promised security benefits without introducing unacceptable technical or economic trade-offs.

For Starknet, the stakes extend beyond preparing for quantum computers. A successful transition would represent a fundamental change in its relationship with Ethereum, potentially transforming one of the network’s prominent scaling solutions into a competing base-layer blockchain.