Starknet User Numbers Plummet Amid Token Drop Dissatisfaction

The number of active users on Starknet has significantly decreased in the past week due to dissatisfaction with its Starknet Provisions Program airdrop. Data from Starkscan reveals that the active user count surged from under 20,000 on February 9 to over 220,500 on February 14, reaching its highest level in three months. People eagerly joined the network in hopes of receiving an allocation in the airdrop. Following the announcement of the airdrop details scheduled for February 20, the number of active users dropped back to levels observed before the announcement. On February 19, there were only slightly over 84,000 active accounts on the network.

Criticism has arisen from Starknet’s users and community regarding the airdrop criteria. Many users with less than 0.005 Ether in their accounts on November 15, 2023, were excluded from receiving tokens, despite having conducted numerous transactions and contributed liquidity to the network. Multiple users on X and the project’s Discord platform have claimed to have missed out on token distributions due to this minimum requirement. In response to these concerns, Starknet addressed the issue in a post on February 19, acknowledging that some users were left out and promising to work on resolving the matter. They noted that finding a solution would take time for research, design, and testing.

Another point of contention is the token unlock schedule. Early investors and contributors to Starknet will receive 1.3 billion STRK tokens, equivalent to approximately 13% of the total supply, on April 15, just two months after the network’s launch. In comparison, around 700 million STRK tokens, or about 10% of the total supply, will be distributed on February 20. Pre-market perpetual exchanges Aevo and HyperliquidX are currently trading STRK for up to $1.98, suggesting a potential market capitalization of around $1.38 billion at launch.

Despite the decrease in active users, the total value locked in Starknet remains at $54.18 million. This reflects a 5.7% decline from the network’s all-time high of $57.5 million on February 14, according to data from DefiLlama.