Starknet reveals new governance entity, StarkNet Foundation

Quick Take

  • The Starknet Foundation said it will focus on grants, funding, and research for new protocols, and to decentralize the network.
  • It will receive 50.1% of the total Starknet token supply for these initiatives.

Ethereum scaling protocol Starknet announced a new governance organization called the Starknet Foundation, which will lead grants and funding for new Starknet protocols and aim to create standards that it claims will align with Ethereum’s decentralization and open source standards.

The foundation will receive 50.1% of the total StarkNet token supply, which it could use for these purposes. The announcement comes amid the crisis surrounding FTX and Alameda.

The Starknet Foundation will start off with seven elected board members who will play key leadership roles in the foundation’s long-term direction. Members include Andrew McLaughlin, former deputy chief technology officer of the United States under the Obama administration, and Eric Wall, a well-known blockchain whistleblower.  

The board will operate on a majority-rule vote structure to start, and may decentralize this process in the future,  Wall told The Block. 

The foundation will primarily focus on research, funding, and “developing Starknet governance mechanisms,” it said in its announcement. These mechanisms include research and development around its sequencer and proving systems, which are core protocol components that have posed a challenge to decentralize in Ethereum scaling protocols. 

Although the Starknet Foundation listed several of its priorities in its post, “it’s free to take whatever positions it chooses regarding Starknet,” it said.


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About Author

Mike is a reporter on the crypto ecosystems team who specializes in zero-knowledge proofs and applications. Prior to joining The Block, Mike worked with Circle, Blocknative, and various DeFi protocols on growth and strategy.

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