Starknet user numbers plummet as dissatisfaction grows over token drop

The blockchain’s users are unhappy with minimum wallet holding criteria that exclude them from the airdrop and an unlock schedule that quickly rewards investors.

Update Feb. 20, 9:45 am UTC: Following the Starknet airdrop announcement, active addresses on the network have now returned to their normal levels.

Starknet’s active users have dropped significantly over the past seven days amid growing grievances over its Starknet Provisions Program airdrop.

The Ethereum layer-2 blockchain’s active users climbed from under 20,000 on Feb. 9 to a nearly three-month high of over 220,500 on Feb. 14, Starkscan data shows, as users and airdrop farmers flocked to the network hoping to get an allocation.

However, after Starknet shared details for its airdrop slated for Feb. 20, active users plummeted to near pre-announcement levels. On Feb. 19, the network saw just over 84,000 active accounts.

Starknet users and its community have taken issue with airdrop criteria that saw users with under 0.005 Ether (ETH) in their account on Nov. 15, 2023 — worth about $10 at the time — excluded from token distributions.

Multiple network users on X and the project’s Discord claimed to have missed out on token distributions due to having less than the minimum amount in their wallet despite making thousands of dollars worth of transactions and adding liquidity to the network.

In an X post on Feb. 19, Starknet said that it has seen the feedback that some network users “have been left out due to certain Provisions criteria,” and it is “working to address these concerns,” but it added that a resolution requires “time to research, design and test.”

Related: Verkle trees promise superior Ethereum solo staking benefits, says Vitalik Buterin

Another contentious detail is the token unlock schedule, which rewards Starknet investors and early contributors with 1.3 billion STRK — about 13% of the total supply — on April 15, just two months after it launches.

In comparison, around 700 million STRK — about 10% of the total supply — is set for distribution on Feb. 20.

STRK is trading for up to $1.98 on pre-market perpetual exchanges Aevo and HyperliquidX — meaning its market capitalization could be around $1.38 billion at launch.

Despite its active users dropping, Starknet’s total value locked is $54.18 million, falling around 5.7% from its Feb. 14 all-time high of $57.5 million, according to DefiLlama.

Web3 Gamer: Wen Notcoin listing? MetalCore beta & more