Controversy Erupts After Starknet's Latest Update
Controversy Erupts After Starknet's Latest Update
Following the Quantum Leap updates, while improving transaction processing speeds, the Starknet network has inadvertently found itself embroiled in controversies related to "locking users' assets."
Incident Overview
On the evening of August 30th, several Twitter accounts criticized the layer-2 solution gaining attention on Ethereum, Starknet, for freezing users' assets following its latest upgrade. The total loss reportedly amounts to approximately $550,000.
Won't be supporting @StarkWareLtd @Starknet
— belgio (@belg1o) August 30, 2023
Networks that allow you to lose access to user funds due to 'network upgrades' deserve to crash and burn imo. Does not matter what type of communication put out, people go inactive all the time.
How is this allowed to happen? pic.twitter.com/G2EBOkp34z
Starknet's Response
Starknet quickly responded via a tweet to clarify the situation. They explained that with the version 0.12.1 update last week, users who did not upgrade their wallets could not access their assets. This information had been communicated to users months in advance through the wallet interfaces of the ecosystem.
Starknet had an important version update last week: 0.12.1. Several months ago, in preparation for this update, Starknet users were asked to perform an essential upgrade to their account.
— StarkWare 🐺🐱 (@StarkWareLtd) August 30, 2023
When 0.12.1 went live, accounts that were not upgraded, became temporarily inaccessible.…
Resolution and Technical Explanation
To address the issue, Starknet announced they would restore access for affected wallets. Due to some technical reasons, users would only be able to access their assets through applications a day later.
The team explained that the inconvenience was due to the network supporting native Account Abstraction. However, since the network launched at a time when infrastructure standards were not fully developed, specific update requirements were necessary for users to transition to the new version.
Background and Updates
In July, Starknet released the initial update for Quantum Leap (0.12.0), which partially resolved the pressure on transaction processing speeds. The controversial update 0.12.1 included significant changes aimed at minimizing spam behavior and reducing the load on validators.
