30s Summary

Starknet has begun the first phase of its staking process, allowing those with STRK tokens to help secure the network and earn rewards. With a need for at least 20,000 Starknet tokens for individuals to take part, those with less can still participate by allocating tokens towards validators. Validators, crucial for system security, can now start running full nodes and interface with staking contracts. Notably, Bitwise is signed up as a public validator. As the staking phase develops, the firm plans greater network decentralisation with token stakers having a say in blockchain management.

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Starknet, a tool that improves Ethereum’s speed and capacity (also called a layer-2 scaling solution), has just started the first stage of its staking process. This means that people who own its STRK tokens can now lock them up (“stake” them) to help keep the network secure and earn rewards.

You’ll need at least 20,000 Starknet (STRK) tokens to take part in this process on your own. But don’t worry if you have less than that – you can still put your tokens towards validators to take part indirectly.

This first phase lets validators, who play a key role in keeping the system secure, start running full nodes and interacting with staking contracts. Later on, they’ll take on more important duties like creating and verifying blocks.

Eli Ben-Sasson, the boss of StarkWare (the company behind Starknet), told Cointelegraph that even Bitwise, a well-known name in the crypto world, has signed up to be one of these public validators.

This initial staking phase is just the start of a carefully planned rollout. It’s starting with the basics of the staking process and delegating stakes, laying the foundation for more responsibilities and greater decentralisation down the track.

“It took Ethereum three years to get this right, so we’re going to study how people use the staking system and data from the chain to plan our next steps,” said Ben-Sasson.

He also revealed that being part of the staking process can have other benefits – eventually, people with tokens will have a say in how the blockchain is run. “The staking rollout is a big step towards making Starknet more decentralised and putting more control in the hands of our community,” Ben-Sasson added.

Back on October 29, Starknet’s technology helped Ethereum record a whopping 857 transactions per second (TPS) during a controlled stress test. Ben-Sasson said the test showed that Starknet could cope with lots of transactions without compromising the integrity of the network. The test was designed to mimic a high-demand gaming environment and really showed off Starknet’s impressive capabilities, he added.