Starknet, a project originally created as a technical add-on for scaling Ethereum, has announced plans to become a fully independent blockchain. Its developer, StarkWare, has put a radical question to a community vote: should the network break free from Ethereum and relaunch as an autonomous Layer 1?

The question cuts against the standard Layer 2 design, in which scaling networks settle their transactions on Ethereum and inherit its security rather than maintaining their own validator sets. Departing from that model voluntarily is what makes the current proposal unusual.

The prospect of the split has acted as a powerful financial trigger. The native STRK token soared roughly 200% in the first weeks of October before pulling back alongside the rest of the industry. On Oct. 15, the day the official vote launched, the price climbed again, gaining 25% at one point.

Trading activity has shifted entirely to derivatives. Daily volume on the futures market reached $894.84 million, almost eight times the spot sector's figure of $116.38 million — an imbalance showing that traders favored lever instruments over direct purchases. The wave of orders coincided with the scheduled unlock of 127 million tokens for early investors, which fell on the same day; such unlocks add previously locked tokens to circulating supply on a preset calendar.

A Hedge Against Quantum Computers

Behind the decision lies a cold mathematical calculation: Starknet is trying to protect itself against the quantum computers of the future. Project head Eli Ben-Sasson is convinced that the development of AI has brought the arrival of machines capable of breaking modern encryption closer.

Quantum-resistant cryptography has been moving from research into formal standards: the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology finalized its first post-quantum encryption standards in 2024, giving blockchain projects a common reference point for migration. Starknet is technically ready to deploy quantum resistance as early as 2027. The problem, in the project's view, is that it remains tied to Ethereum, which plans to upgrade its security only by the end of 2029. To avoid losing two years, Starknet wants to take full control of its own security roadmap.

99% "For" — and One Very Big Risk

The poll is being held on the Snapshot governance platform and runs until Oct. 22. Snapshot votes take place off-chain and are typically weighted by token holdings, so results register sentiment rather than enact changes by themselves. Support so far is near-total: the "For" option has captured 99.88% of votes cast.

The project's tokenomics would not change under the plan. STRK would remain the network's only settlement asset, and the bridges to Ethereum would keep working.

Holders should note, however, that the current referendum is preliminary and non-binding. It only gives a green light to research. The technical transition itself will require months of preparation and new votes — so attention now turns to the Oct. 22 close, and to whether the community follows through with the binding decisions the roadmap would require.

The Cost of Leaving Ethereum

The main price of independence is security. Starknet transactions are currently protected by the authority of Ethereum and the billions of dollars staked by its validators. Having set sail on its own, the project would have to build its own protection system, whose reliability would rest solely on the market capitalization of STRK.

That figure stands at $580.24 million — incomparably smaller than Ethereum's, whose own market capitalization runs to hundreds of billions of dollars — but the developers are deliberately accepting the trade-off in exchange for a technological edge. Closing that security gap is one of the central technical questions the research phase will need to answer.

Originally reported by U.Today.