The Starknet community has delivered a decisive mandate, voting overwhelmingly to support active research into transitioning the network into an independent, post-quantum layer-1 blockchain.
The potential departure from its current home on Ethereum gained massive backing over a seven-day governance window that officially closed on Thursday. The consultative poll drew approximately 3,200 participants, translating to a striking 93.52% of total voting power cast in favor of exploring the ambitious architectural shift.
According to StarkWare, the non-binding poll recorded the highest voter participation in Starknet’s governance history. In an effort to keep the decision entirely decentralized and community-driven, StarkWare confirmed that it abstained from casting a ballot, leaving the outcome strictly in the hands of tokenholders.
While the historic outcome greenlights StarkWare and the Starknet Foundation to proceed with intensive research into becoming an independent layer-1 network, the actual migration itself is far from immediate. Any future shift would require a separate, binding governance vote down the line. For the time being, Starknet will continue operating normally as an Ethereum layer-2 network, maintaining its core operations without disruption.
"We’re beginning work on a whitepaper even before we start the weekend, and hope to release a draft for public scrutiny in November," StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson told Cointelegraph, highlighting the rapid pace at which the core development team is moving following the vote’s conclusion.
Starknet outlines next steps for post-quantum L1 research
To manage the fallout and strategic planning of the monumental vote, StarkWare and the Starknet Foundation have established a specialized working group. This dedicated team has been tasked with examining the proposed transition in depth and developing more granular technical proposals for the community to evaluate.
The foundational governance proposal outlines several key structural parameters for the network’s future. Crucially, STRK will remain the native token of the network, with no new tokens planned for issuance. Furthermore, existing liquidity bridges connecting Starknet and Ethereum will remain fully open, ensuring continued interoperability throughout the research phase.
StarkWare first floated the idea of a potential transition away from Ethereum on October 8. The proposal was born out of growing concerns regarding the network’s long-term dependence on Ethereum for security. Although Starknet leverages hash-based STARK proofs and supports programmable accounts capable of adopting post-quantum signatures, its underlying bridge and data availability infrastructure remain tethered to Ethereum’s overarching upgrade timeline.
This structural dependency prompted StarkWare to accelerate its defensive posture against emerging computational threats. In June, the entity unveiled a comprehensive three-phase quantum-resistance roadmap. The plan covers critical cryptographic upgrades, smart contract migration paths, and the eventual decoupling of Ethereum-dependent infrastructure.
Progress on the technical front has already begun yielding tangible results. StarkWare’s Quantum Hub reports that it has successfully tested technology engineered to withstand future quantum computing attacks, managing to process a transaction live on Starknet’s operational network. Despite this milestone, the technology remains in an experimental phase and has not yet been subjected to a formal security audit.
Looking ahead, Ben-Sasson has drawn a firm line in the sand, setting an aggressive target of 2027 to make Starknet fully quantum-resistant. This timeline places Starknet well ahead of Ethereum’s projected schedule for similar upgrades.
Explaining the urgency behind the compressed timeline, Ben-Sasson emphasized that waiting for the wider ecosystem could prove catastrophic. "Ethereum’s target of 2029 to become quantum-safe is too late, and deadlines slip," he noted.
