Starknet Weighs Becoming a Layer 1: 2027 Quantum-Resistance Goal Still Awaits Governance Decision
[Fact check | October 8, 2026] Starknet’s official X account said the team is “actively considering” becoming a Layer 1, with 2027 set as the target for achieving the first fully quantum-resistant network. StarkWare co-founder and CEO Eli Ben-Sasson has also publicly asked whether this direction would benefit post-quantum flexibility. This is an evaluation and a goal, not an approved decision to transform the network.
The official quantum security roadmap StarkWare published on June 30 still sets out a three-phase process: first migrate some Pedersen hashes to post-quantum alternatives such as BLAKE2; then address migration tools for existing contracts; and finally resolve components that depend on Ethereum bridge messages and Blob data availability. The roadmap explicitly states that protocol-level changes require approval from Starknet governance. The third phase also depends on Ethereum’s own migration progress.
[My assessment] The new discussion brings the roadmap’s external dependencies and questions about the network’s role to the fore, but “becoming an L1” does not automatically mean greater security or decentralization. If Starknet were to move away from Ethereum settlement and data availability, it would need clear new designs for validators, consensus, data publication, bridge security, and application migration. More importantly, the existing official roadmap already describes a path to gradually improving quantum resilience while remaining an L2. No formal technical proposal has yet answered whether an L1 transition is a prerequisite, an alternative, or an option to pursue in parallel.
[Market implications and response] $STRK is directly tied to the Starknet ecosystem, and the market may interpret this evaluation as signaling potential changes to the network’s positioning and the token’s future utility. But no upgrade has been approved through governance, and there is no implementation timeline or tokenomics change, so this is not grounds to conclude that STRK will necessarily benefit. I treat this as an architectural question that remains to be validated and do not chase the price based on “L1” or “quantum-resistant” labels. Once a formal proposal is available, I’ll compare Ethereum settlement security, network decentralization, migration costs, and actual usage demand.
[What to watch] Look for: a formal proposal and vote on the governance forum; technical documentation covering consensus, validators, data availability, and bridging; migration steps announced for the testnet; any changes to the delivery of the existing three-phase roadmap; and participation in the migration from ecosystem applications and developers.
[What would invalidate this view] If the team withdraws its L1 evaluation, governance rejects it, or the 2027 goal is repeatedly delayed, expectations of a transition should cool. If post-quantum upgrades can be completed while retaining the L2 architecture, the claim that “becoming an L1 is necessary” loses its basis. Conversely, even if the plan moves forward, security audits, testnet results, and governance outcomes must still be awaited; a roadmap goal should not be treated as already achieved.
[Spot market data] Binance’s public spot API shows that STRKUSDT is in TRADING status and supports spot trading. At the time of the query, 2026-10-10 15:20:18 UTC, its rolling 24-hour quoteVolume was 36,669,925.52 USDT. This figure represents only the quote-currency trading volume over the past 24 hours for the STRK/USDT spot pair; it does not represent net inflows and is not used to infer price direction.
Sources: Starknet official X, 2026-10-08: https://x.com/Starknet/status/2108113391525204034; Eli Ben-Sasson official X, 2026-10-08: https://x.com/EliBenSasson/status/2108110129572741426; StarkWare official quantum security roadmap, 2026-06-30: https://starkware.co/blog/the-architecture-advantage-starknets-quantum-readiness-roadmap/; Unchained report, 2026-10-08: https://unchainedcrypto.com/starknet-weighs-becoming-a-layer-1-to-chase-quantum-resistance-by-2027/; Binance public spot market data API.
[Fact check | October 8, 2026] Starknet’s official X account said the team is “actively considering” becoming a Layer 1, with 2027 set as the target for achieving the first fully quantum-resistant network. StarkWare co-founder and CEO Eli Ben-Sasson has also publicly asked whether this direction would benefit post-quantum flexibility. This is an evaluation and a goal, not an approved decision to transform the network.
The official quantum security roadmap StarkWare published on June 30 still sets out a three-phase process: first migrate some Pedersen hashes to post-quantum alternatives such as BLAKE2; then address migration tools for existing contracts; and finally resolve components that depend on Ethereum bridge messages and Blob data availability. The roadmap explicitly states that protocol-level changes require approval from Starknet governance. The third phase also depends on Ethereum’s own migration progress.
[My assessment] The new discussion brings the roadmap’s external dependencies and questions about the network’s role to the fore, but “becoming an L1” does not automatically mean greater security or decentralization. If Starknet were to move away from Ethereum settlement and data availability, it would need clear new designs for validators, consensus, data publication, bridge security, and application migration. More importantly, the existing official roadmap already describes a path to gradually improving quantum resilience while remaining an L2. No formal technical proposal has yet answered whether an L1 transition is a prerequisite, an alternative, or an option to pursue in parallel.
[Market implications and response] $STRK is directly tied to the Starknet ecosystem, and the market may interpret this evaluation as signaling potential changes to the network’s positioning and the token’s future utility. But no upgrade has been approved through governance, and there is no implementation timeline or tokenomics change, so this is not grounds to conclude that STRK will necessarily benefit. I treat this as an architectural question that remains to be validated and do not chase the price based on “L1” or “quantum-resistant” labels. Once a formal proposal is available, I’ll compare Ethereum settlement security, network decentralization, migration costs, and actual usage demand.
[What to watch] Look for: a formal proposal and vote on the governance forum; technical documentation covering consensus, validators, data availability, and bridging; migration steps announced for the testnet; any changes to the delivery of the existing three-phase roadmap; and participation in the migration from ecosystem applications and developers.
[What would invalidate this view] If the team withdraws its L1 evaluation, governance rejects it, or the 2027 goal is repeatedly delayed, expectations of a transition should cool. If post-quantum upgrades can be completed while retaining the L2 architecture, the claim that “becoming an L1 is necessary” loses its basis. Conversely, even if the plan moves forward, security audits, testnet results, and governance outcomes must still be awaited; a roadmap goal should not be treated as already achieved.
[Spot market data] Binance’s public spot API shows that STRKUSDT is in TRADING status and supports spot trading. At the time of the query, 2026-10-10 15:20:18 UTC, its rolling 24-hour quoteVolume was 36,669,925.52 USDT. This figure represents only the quote-currency trading volume over the past 24 hours for the STRK/USDT spot pair; it does not represent net inflows and is not used to infer price direction.
Sources: Starknet official X, 2026-10-08: https://x.com/Starknet/status/2108113391525204034; Eli Ben-Sasson official X, 2026-10-08: https://x.com/EliBenSasson/status/2108110129572741426; StarkWare official quantum security roadmap, 2026-06-30: https://starkware.co/blog/the-architecture-advantage-starknets-quantum-readiness-roadmap/; Unchained report, 2026-10-08: https://unchainedcrypto.com/starknet-weighs-becoming-a-layer-1-to-chase-quantum-resistance-by-2027/; Binance public spot market data API.