Starknet airdrop boosts market cap to $20 billion despite controversies and squatter concerns.
Starknet recent airdrop captivated the crypto sector, pushing its total diluted market capitalization over the $20 billion mark. This achievement comes in the wake of the Ethereum layer-2 solution’s highly anticipated airdrop event, which, despite facing controversies, has not deterred investor interest.
Starknet Airdrop
On February 20, Starknet took a significant step by distributing approximately 700 million STRK tokens from its 10 billion total supply. This strategic move aimed to incentivize a broad spectrum of participants within the ecosystem, including Ethereum stakers, both solo and liquid, Starknet contributors, and even developers and projects from the broader Web3 community. The initial response was overwhelming, with 45 million STRK tokens claimed in the first 90 minutes, a figure that has since climbed to over 220 million. Participants have a deadline until June 20, 2024, to claim their share of the tokens.
Despite the surge in participation and the initial spike in STRK token prices—peaking at $7 on Binance—the value has adjusted to $2. Nevertheless, Starknet’s valuation remains robust, bolstered by a total value locked (TVL) of $57 million.
The success story was not without its hitches. Allegations surfaced from Yearn Finance developer Banteg regarding the inclusion of airdrop squatters in the eligibility list for the STRK airdrop.Â
These squatters, known for their strategies to capitalize on airdrops through token farming, have been a concern within the cryptocurrency airdrop landscape. Airdrop hunters, as they’re known, often employ scripts to amalgamate numerous addresses into a few, maximizing their gains from these events. This practice came in full effect last March when hunters managed to consolidate $3.3 million worth of tokens from the Arbitrum airdrop into just two wallets.