STARK technology is mature and secure, but StarkNet has not achieved the status of a public good like Ethereum or the Internet. For StarkNet to reach this goal, its governance, operation and development must continue to decentralize. This will be facilitated through two mechanisms: the StarkNet Foundation and the StarkNet Token.

As a non-profit, the Foundation’s mission will be to maintain StarkNet as a public good — a commodity or service that is made available to all members of society. StarkNet is permissionless infrastructure that should be available to all. It must be well maintained in order to be safe and efficient for public usage. It also must not discriminate between users.

The Foundation will be funded by a one-time grant of StarkNet Tokens. It will encourage the development of bottom-up mechanisms for community decision-making on essential technological questions, such as protocol updates, dispute resolution, and public goods funding.

The StarkNet Token is needed to operate the ecosystem, maintain and secure it, decide on its values and strategic goals, and direct its evolution. This token will be required for (i) governance, (ii) payment of transaction fees on StarkNet, and (iii) participation in StarkNet’s consensus mechanism.

We have minted an initial ten billion tokens which are being allocated to Core Contributors of the StarkNet ecosystem including StarkWare and StarkWare’s investors, to StarkNet software developer partners, and to the Foundation. Soon (target: September 2022) the token will go on Ethereum as an ERC-20 token and be requested for use in governance and voting on network upgrades. Later, StarkNet fees will be paid only in this token, while ensuring good user experience for users interested in paying fees in ETH. Later still, automatic minting of additional StarkNet Tokens will commence, (i.e., the number of circulating tokens will be greater than ten billion).

STARK technology is mature and secure, but StarkNet has not achieved the status of a public good like Ethereum or the Internet. For StarkNet to reach this goal, its governance, operation and development must continue to decentralize. This will be facilitated through two mechanisms: the StarkNet Foundation and the StarkNet Token.

As a non-profit, the Foundation’s mission will be to maintain StarkNet as a public good — a commodity or service that is made available to all members of society. StarkNet is permissionless infrastructure that should be available to all. It must be well maintained in order to be safe and efficient for public usage. It also must not discriminate between users.

The Foundation will be funded by a one-time grant of StarkNet Tokens. It will encourage the development of bottom-up mechanisms for community decision-making on essential technological questions, such as protocol updates, dispute resolution, and public goods funding.

The StarkNet Token is needed to operate the ecosystem, maintain and secure it, decide on its values and strategic goals, and direct its evolution. This token will be required for (i) governance, (ii) payment of transaction fees on StarkNet, and (iii) participation in StarkNet’s consensus mechanism.

We have minted an initial ten billion tokens which are being allocated to Core Contributors of the StarkNet ecosystem including StarkWare and StarkWare’s investors, to StarkNet software developer partners, and to the Foundation. Soon (target: September 2022) the token will go on Ethereum as an ERC-20 token and be requested for use in governance and voting on network upgrades. Later, StarkNet fees will be paid only in this token, while ensuring good user experience for users interested in paying fees in ETH. Later still, automatic minting of additional StarkNet Tokens will commence, (i.e., the number of circulating tokens will be greater than ten billion).