After receiving criticism from the community, Starkware, the developer of the Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution Starknet, announced today that it will modify the token unlocking schedule. The originally planned unlocking of the STRK token, which accounted for over 13% of the total token supply, will now be reduced to only 0.64% and will be unlocked in April for early contributors and investors. It is speculated that this news has stimulated the rise of STRK after a period of decline.
Highly anticipated Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution Starknet opened the application for STRK token airdrop on the 20th and listed on multiple mainstream exchanges. However, Starknet has sparked controversy, with complaints from the community about unfair token distribution in the airdrop and criticism of Starknet’s token release schedule.
According to the token unlocking schedule, on April 15th, just under two months after the launch of STRK on the 20th, over 1.3 billion STRK tokens (accounting for 13.1% of the total token supply) will be unlocked and distributed to early contributors and investors, which can be transferred and sold. The community is concerned that these tokens will be sold in large quantities after unlocking, leading to a significant drop in token price.
However, Starkware, the developer of Starknet, announced today through a tweet that after considering feedback from the ecosystem and partners, they have decided to adjust the lock-up plan for early contributors and investors. The token unlocking will be more gradual, as Starkware values the community and aims to build a blockchain technology that reflects its value and withstands the test of time to gain trust.
According to the official explanation from Starkware, the modified unlocking schedule is as follows:
Out of the initially minted 10 billion tokens, only 0.64% (64 million tokens) will be unlocked on April 15th, instead of the originally planned 13.4% (1.34 billion tokens).
The gradual unlocking will continue at a rate of 0.64% (64 million tokens) per month until March 15th, 2025. After that, for the next 24 months, the monthly unlocking rate will be changed to 1.27% (127 million tokens) until March 15th, 2027.
According to the new unlocking plan, by the end of 2024, 580 million tokens held by early contributors and investors will be unlocked, instead of the previously planned 2 billion tokens. By the end of 2025, an additional 1.4 billion tokens will be gradually unlocked, and by the end of 2026, another 1.5 billion tokens will be unlocked. Finally, on March 15th, 2027, 380 million tokens will be unlocked.
Perhaps inspired by the announcement of Starkware’s adjustment to the lock-up plan for early contributors and investors, it is expected that the token dumping in April will decrease significantly. The price of STRK, which has been continuously declining since its launch on the 20th and hit a low of $1.67 on the 21st, has started to rise again and has returned to the $2 level.
In the past 24 hours, STRK has surged more than 20% at its peak, reaching a high of $2.178. As of the time of writing, it is trading at $2.048, with a 24-hour increase of 8.5%.
Related reports:
Missed the Starknet airdrop? Get motivated with the “DeFi Spring” incentive plan with 40 million STRK tokens
Chaos in the Starknet airdrop! Hunters flood GitHub with spam comments “asking for money”
How will the “big airdrop” of Starknet affect the Ethereum Layer 2 market landscape?
[img]
STRK price chart. Source: Tradingview
[img]