StarkWare Adjusts STRK Token Vesting Schedule to Ease Community Concerns

StarkWare, the developer behind layer-2 solution Starknet, has decided to restructure its token vesting schedule following substantial community backlash.

In an important update, StarkWare announced changes to the release schedule for early contributors and investors of STRK tokens, aiming to address community concerns and build trust.

Originally, Starknet planned to unlock 13% of its total token supply (approximately $1.3 billion USD) for developers and investors on April 15. This move would have tripled the circulating supply of STRK tokens, sparking significant community apprehension.

In response to the criticism, StarkWare has slowed down the token distribution process. Under the revised schedule, only 0.64% of the total token supply (64 million STRK valued at nearly $125.5 million USD) will be unlocked on April 15.

Subsequently, Starknet will gradually vest 64 million STRK per month until March 2025, and then increase to 127 million STRK for the following 24 months until March 2027.

StarkWare explained:

"With the new vesting plan, Starknet will unlock 580 million tokens for early contributors and investors by the end of 2024, instead of the previously announced 2 billion tokens. An additional 1.4 billion tokens will be unlocked gradually by the end of 2025, another 1.5 billion by the end of 2026, and 380 million tokens will enter circulation by March 15, 2027."

This statement comes after Starknet distributed over 700 million STRK tokens through an airdrop to users and early contributors, which was criticized for favoring developers over regular users and causing dissatisfaction within the Starknet community. Following its listing on major exchanges, STRK also experienced significant price volatility.

However, sentiments have begun to reverse. Following the restructuring of the vesting schedule, STRK surged more than 12%, currently trading around $2 USD. The Total Value Locked (TVL) on the platform has also skyrocketed to $144 million USD, doubling from $71 million USD just three days prior.

Developed by StarkWare, Starknet is a layer-2 protocol utilizing zk-Rollups technology, enabling dApp developers to operate at scale while benefiting from Ethereum's security features.

Chart of 15-minute STRK/USDT trading pair on Binance, captured at 10:15 AM on February 23, 2024.