Starknet launches phase 1 staking, allowing STRK token holders to stake and enhance functionality and security on the Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution.
While allowing delegation for wider involvement, Starknet starts staking with a 20,000 STRK minimum requirement for individual staking.
Solo staking is now an option for users with at least 20,000 STRK tokens to protect the network and receive incentives. To indirectly participate, those with fewer tokens might assign them to validators.
Validators begin the gradual rollout by carrying out simple staking tasks like operating entire nodes and communicating with staking contracts. They take on increasingly important responsibilities like block creation and validation as time passes.
This is a “huge deal” for the community, according to Eli Ben-Sasson, CEO of StarkWare, who said that Bitwise is already “on board as a public validator.”
Decentralization via a progressive implementation of staking
The gradual rollout will start with fundamental staking features, such as introducing the staking protocol and stake delegation, to set the stage for future responsibilities and greater decentralization.
Ben-Sasson said that users will eventually be able to validate and sequence Starknet blocks to receive incentives. He underlined that to guarantee stability, a phased rollout is crucial.
He added that teams at StarkWare and the Starknet Foundation are using this initial phase to examine staking patterns and onchain data to inform the release of more responsibilities to validators, noting that it took Ethereum three years to get this right.
Implications for governance
The ecosystem reaches a significant milestone with Starknet’s implementation of staking, which allows users to participate for governance and financial reasons.
“Government benefits will come in stages… ultimately tokenholders will be able to support running blockchain rails,” noted Ben-Sasson.
“The staking rollout pushes forward the ongoing decentralization of Starknet and will rest control in the hands of the community.”
In a stress test, Starknet achieves 857 TPS.
During a controlled stress test on October 29, the L2 solution reached a high of 857 transactions per second (TPS), setting a new record.
According to Ben-Sasson, after averaging 127.5 TPS over 24 hours, the test demonstrated that Starknet can scale without compromising network integrity.
Ben-Sasson explained that the stress test demonstrated Starknet’s “firepower” by simulating a high-demand gaming environment and exhibiting enhanced throughput and quick transaction rates.
