Starknet Voters Back Research on Independent Post-Quantum Network

Starknet voters have endorsed research into whether the Ethereum Layer 2 network could become an independent, post-quantum Layer 1, but the advisory poll did not approve a migration. More than 93.5% of voting power supported the research proposal in a seven-day poll that closed Thursday, according to Starknet governance information and StarkWare. The result leaves Starknet operating as an Ethereum Layer 2 while technical work proceeds. StarkWare and the Starknet Foundation will study the possible transition and develop technical plans. StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson said a draft whitepaper is expected in November for public scrutiny. Any decision to move to an independent Layer 1 would require a separate, binding governance vote; no transition date has been agreed. The proposal says STRK will remain Starknet’s native token and that no new token is planned. Ethereum bridges to Starknet are also to remain open during the research. Those provisions describe the intended approach while the network evaluates its options, rather than a completed change to its architecture. The technical question centers on Starknet’s dependence on Ethereum. Although Starknet uses hash-based STARK...