STRK climbed more than 40% in 24 hours to about $0.0684, separating sharply from a weaker crypto market as Bitcoin briefly slipped below $80,500 and several major altcoins fell. The rally followed StarkWare chief executive Eli Ben-Sasson’s comments that the company is considering whether Starknet should eventually operate as an independent layer-1 network rather than remain an Ethereum layer-2.
The discussion is tied to StarkWare’s effort to make Starknet resistant to attacks from future quantum computers. Ben-Sasson said a network controlled fully in-house could potentially reach full quantum safety as early as 2027, compared with an Ethereum timeline he described as late 2029. He characterized 2027 as an earliest possible target, not a committed delivery date, and StarkWare has not announced a final decision to leave Ethereum.
Markets appear to be pricing in the possibility that Starknet could gain greater control over its security upgrades and technical roadmap. Yet the proposal remains preliminary, and the move from an Ethereum rollup to a standalone chain would involve far more than replacing wallet signatures.
Quantum roadmap puts cryptography at the center of the debate
StarkWare published Starknet’s quantum-resistance roadmap on June 30, outlining three phases intended to reduce risks posed by advances in quantum computing. The immediate concern involves digital signatures: the cryptographic proofs users create with private keys to authorize transfers.
Most blockchain wallets rely on signature systems that are considered secure against conventional computers. A sufficiently capable quantum computer could eventually undermine some of those systems, potentially allowing an attacker to forge transaction approvals and steal assets from vulnerable wallets.
StarkWare has already demonstrated an early component of a possible migration path. The company disclosed an on-mainnet transfer using an OpenZeppelin experimental Falcon-512 post-quantum signature wallet account. The test transaction cost roughly $0.06 in fees, according to StarkWare.
Falcon-512 is a post-quantum signature scheme designed to withstand attack methods associated with quantum computing. StarkWare said the wallet account used in the transfer was unaudited, experimental and intended for research, placing clear limits on what the demonstration proves.
The transfer showed that Starknet can process an account using an alternative signature method on its live network. It did not establish that Starknet as a whole is quantum-safe. A full transition would require upgrades across other layers of the system, including infrastructure and dependencies that do not sit entirely under StarkWare’s control.
Account abstraction gives Starknet a migration option
Starknet’s account model is central to its quantum-security argument. On the network, wallet rules are implemented through smart-contract accounts, allowing the signature-verification method to be changed at the account level.
That architecture could let a user retain the same account address and assets while switching from a conventional signature system to a post-quantum one. The process would avoid requiring every participant in the network to adopt a new signature format at the same moment through a network-wide hard fork.
The design gives Starknet a more flexible wallet-upgrade path than systems where signature logic is embedded more deeply in the protocol. It also shifts part of the challenge from changing the network’s core rules to ensuring that users, applications, bridges and service providers can safely support the new account standards.
Ethereum dependence complicates Starknet’s timetable. As a layer-2, Starknet posts data and settles transactions through Ethereum while relying on the base layer for security. Its links to Ethereum also extend to bridging, messaging and data-availability arrangements.
A transition to an independent layer-1 could give StarkWare more authority over the pace of cryptographic changes, but it would also require the network to establish its own security model and operational independence. The trade-off would move Starknet away from Ethereum’s settlement guarantees in exchange for greater control over protocol upgrades.
Onchain use remains concentrated despite the token rally
The STRK rally arrived as Starknet’s onchain activity remained concentrated among a small group of applications. Nansen’s Starknet H1 2026 report estimated that the network averaged roughly 239,000 daily transactions during the second quarter and about 50,000 daily active addresses.
According to Nansen, AVNU and Cartridge accounted for approximately 91% of Starknet transaction volume during that period. Such concentration means headline transaction growth does not necessarily reflect broad activity across decentralized finance, consumer applications and other use cases.
L2BEAT placed the value locked on Starknet at about $520 million, while DefiLlama recorded about $13,700 in Starknet fee revenue over the previous 24 hours. Those figures offer a more restrained picture than the token’s rapid price move: Starknet has meaningful assets and usage, but its fee capture remains modest relative to the scale implied by a sharp speculative rally.
The gap does not invalidate the quantum-security work, which addresses a long-term technical risk rather than near-term network revenue. It does show that traders are reacting chiefly to the prospect of a strategic redesign and an accelerated security timetable, rather than to a sudden expansion in protocol fees.
Layer-1 question remains unresolved
Ben-Sasson’s comments place Starknet among the first major Ethereum scaling projects openly weighing whether quantum-security requirements could justify greater separation from the base layer. The question is especially sensitive for a rollup whose original value proposition rests on Ethereum settlement and security.
A standalone Starknet would gain more discretion over its cryptographic standards, upgrade schedule and infrastructure choices. It would also face the difficult task of preserving liquidity, interoperability and user trust across an ecosystem built around Ethereum connections.
For now, the concrete development is StarkWare’s published roadmap and its experimental post-quantum wallet transaction. A decision to become a layer-1 would require a formal proposal and substantially more technical detail on security, governance, bridging and the handling of existing Starknet assets.
Explore how zk-rollups and layer-2 design shape Starknet’s roadmap, security trade-offs, and STRK’s evolving market narrative.
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