Ethereum layer 2 network Starknet has launched an airdrop for its STRK governance token, allowing more than one million cryptocurrency users to claim a stake in the network.
The token is also listed on major exchanges including Binance, KuCoin, and OKX. According to CoinGecko, they are trading for $2.56 each as of this writing. It has already lost 49% in value since launch.
According to TokenFlow’s data, approximately 51,000 users have claimed tokens so far, representing 4.8% of all users eligible to claim. This includes 69,859,276.8 tokens out of nearly 600 million tokens allocated for distribution by the project team, Starkware.
Nonetheless, a circulating supply of 728 million tokens gives STRK a market capitalization of around $2 billion, making it the 51st largest cryptocurrency overall.
STRK provides holders the ability to play a role in Starknet governance, pay network transaction fees, and participate in consensus mechanisms through staking.
Eligible airdrop participants include developers, creators, and stakers from across the Ethereum ecosystem, along with Starknet users, developers, and early community members.
Last week, Starkware co-founder and CEO Eli Ben-Sasson told Decrypt that the token is “part of a very serious value-based decentralization process” that is bringing democratic value and stability to the network.
Starkware received a massive backlash plan to unlock 1.3 billion STRK tokens allocated to early Starknet investors and contributors by April 15th, just two months after trading officially began.
The unlock period for other projects tends to be much longer to show that the founders are interested in building an ecosystem rather than just dumping coins on post-launch hype.
“As far as the eye can see, the only thing on the radar of Starkware’s 150 employees and expanding team is advancing Starknet,” Ben-Sasson said.
Starknet’s network activity declined sharply last week after briefly surging in response to the airdrop announcement. Trading volume peaked at $122 million in one day on February 14th. According to CoinGecko, trading volume showed signs of a rebound as of yesterday, reaching $89 million.
Edited by Stacey Elliott.