The Starknet community has voted in favor of researching a transition into an independent, post-quantum layer-1 blockchain. The governance poll, which concluded on Thursday after seven days, saw 93.52% of voting power support the initiative. This vote recorded the highest participation in the network's history, with approximately 3,200 votes cast.
StarkWare and the Starknet Foundation have formed a working group to analyze the transition. StarkWare plans to publish a draft whitepaper in November for public review. The proposal confirms that STRK will remain the native token, and existing bridges to Ethereum will stay operational. The current vote is non-binding, meaning any future shift would require a separate, binding governance decision.
StarkWare initiated the discussion on October 8, citing concerns regarding the network's reliance on Ethereum for security and infrastructure. While Starknet already supports post-quantum signatures, its data availability and bridge infrastructure depend on Ethereum's development schedule. StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson noted that Ethereum's 2029 target for quantum safety is insufficient.
StarkWare has established a three-phase roadmap for quantum resistance, which includes smart-contract migration and cryptographic upgrades. The company's Quantum Hub has successfully processed a transaction on the live network using experimental technology. StarkWare aims to achieve full quantum resistance for Starknet by 2027, ahead of the timeline currently projected for Ethereum.
