Getting paid to borrow money sounds like a financial fever dream. Sats Terminal just made it real on Starknet.
The BTC lending platform announced its integration with Starknet on July 22, enabling users to borrow USDC against their Bitcoin collateral through the Vesu lending protocol at a net APR of approximately -2.04% at a 50% loan-to-value ratio. In English: borrowers walk away with more money than they owe in interest, courtesy of STRK token rewards that more than cover the borrowing costs.
How negative interest actually works Negative APRs aren’t magic. They’re subsidized. Starknet has allocated at least 100 million STRK tokens toward its rewards program, and those incentives are what make the economics work for borrowers.
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Here’s the math on a concrete example. A borrower putting up 1 BTC as collateral can expect to earn roughly $1,997 annually from STRK rewards while paying approximately $1,344 in interest. That nets out to about $653 in the borrower’s pocket, just for taking out a loan.
The maximum loan-to-value ratio through Vesu can stretch up to 86%, though the juiciest negative rates come at the more conservative 50% LTV tier.
The integration runs through Vesu, a lending protocol on Starknet that positions itself as capital-efficient. Sats Terminal acts as the front-end interface, connecting Bitcoin holders to USDC liquidity without requiring them to sell their underlying BTC position. The loans are non-custodial, meaning users maintain control of their assets throughout the process.
Sats Terminal’s growing footprint The platform has onboarded over 100,000 unique wallets since its inception. Its backers include yzilabs, Coinbase Ventures, and Draper VC. Tim Draper himself highlighted the platform back in January 2026.
Co-founder Stanislav Havryliuk and his team have been building toward this kind of cross-chain integration. Moving onto Starknet, a ZK-rollup scaling solution originally designed for Ethereum, represents a bet that Bitcoin-native users want access to DeFi infrastructure beyond the Bitcoin network itself.
What this means for investors Negative rates funded by token rewards only work as long as the reward tokens maintain their value and the incentive programs keep running. STRK rewards that generate $1,997 annually today could generate significantly less if the token price drops or if Starknet decides to redirect those 100 million tokens elsewhere.
The 86% maximum LTV deserves attention from a risk perspective. High LTV ratios in volatile markets can lead to cascading liquidations. Conservative borrowers sticking to the 50% tier have meaningful buffer. Those pushing toward the ceiling are betting that Bitcoin’s price won’t move against them fast enough to trigger a margin call.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Skip to contentIn the last few weeks, Starknet made its leap into building a privacy solution that works for the practical crypto world with STRK20. STRK20 is Starknet’s privacy capability: it lets any ERC-20 token exist privately on Starknet through shielding, giving those assets shielded balances and private transfers. That capability has been live on mainnet for a while. Today opens up the next part: the Privacy SDK and Privacy Wallet API, so any builder, wallet, or app can build with that same capability instead of building the infrastructure and flows themselves. This is Push to Private: an open door for builders to build on and contribute to privacy that works for crypto.
Privacy, but make it practicalMost privacy products don’t fail because people don’t want them. They fail because they’re slow, expensive, isolated from real liquidity, hard to integrate, or hard to square with compliance. Starknet isn’t trying to win an argument about privacy as ideology. The goal is privacy that’s usable where onchain activity already happens: inside the assets, wallets, and apps people already use.
The Missing PieceSTRK20 has been live on Starknet mainnet for a while, giving users shielded balances and private transfers through supported wallets. With the open sourcing of the SDK, it’s now open to builders too. The Privacy SDK lets any team build custom integrations and explore new ways to bring privacy features into their own apps. On top of that, wallets like Ready are shipping their own Wallet APIs, so builders can add shielding functionality without building the flow from scratch.
The ToolkitPrivacy SDK: a TypeScript client (Apache 2.0) for wallets and advanced integrators who want to manage viewing keys, proving, and notes directly. It wraps the low-level steps: registering a viewing key, opening channels and per-token subchannels, generating proofs against a configurable proving backend, and submitting them onchain.
Privacy Wallet API (spec v0.10.3): the application-layer route most dapps should use. Through starknet.js, your app asks the user’s privacy-enabled wallet to shield, transfer, unshield, or swap; the wallet handles proving and notes under the hood, so your app never touches a viewing key. Ready extension + starknet.js v10.4.0 are the current start path, with Xverse’s Wallet API rolling out.
Both routes sit on top of the same foundation: STRK20 and the privacy pool that powers it, already live on Starknet mainnet.
How it worksSTRK20 is the capability; the pool is the infrastructure underneath it that actually holds and moves shielded balances.
The pool: not a mixer. Shielding deposits an ERC-20 into the pool, where the balance is held as an encrypted note (a UTXO). Private transfers spend existing notes and create new ones. Every private transaction carries a zero-knowledge STARK proof, verified onchain, confirming the notes are real, unspent, and that value is conserved, without revealing sender, receiver, or amount. Deposit and withdrawal amounts, and the fact that someone is interacting with the pool, stay visible; what happens inside it doesn’t.
Two ways in for builders: go direct with the SDK if you’re a wallet or advanced integrator who wants to own proving and note management. Go through the Wallet API if you’re building a normal dapp. You never touch viewing keys, notes, or proofs; the user’s wallet does that work.
For DeFi flows: anonymizer contracts do the work: app-specific contracts the pool calls atomically through a single entrypoint. The pool withdraws, your contract does its thing (swap, lend, or similar), and the result is credited back as private notes, all in one transaction. If any step reverts, the whole thing rolls back and funds return to the pool.
Want to run your own proving? Teams that need control over proving infrastructure can self-host using the open-source Prover Crate instead of relying on hosted proving. As a rough sense of cost: engineering benchmarks from a 12-core / 46 GiB machine generated proofs in roughly 29 seconds on a default build, faster with CPU-specific optimizations. Treat this as machine-dependent infrastructure data, not a laptop or phone number.
Coming next: private sub-accounts, which will let apps run everyday transactions (borrowing, staking, swapping) through accounts with no public onchain link back to a user’s main wallet. Not live yet; wallet and SDK support are still landing.
What’s possible with STRK20By integrating STRK20 in your app flows, you can allow your users to participate in Starknet’s existing privacy ecosystem.
Anonymous DeFi from day one: private swaps run against Starknet’s existing liquidity instead of a separate, isolated pool. No cold-start liquidity problem, no unshield-swap-reshield dance.Multi-call, one transaction: unshield, swap, borrow, repay, and reshield can all happen inside a single private transaction.No new wallet to install: STRK20 works through your existing signing key via Starknet’s native account abstraction, rather than asking users to adopt a separate privacy wallet.Confidential by default, disclosable when required: viewing keys give scoped, per-user visibility instead of an all-or-nothing choice between fully public and fully hidden.Built for speed: Starknet is targeting sub-5-second finality and sub-$0.20 transactions at scale.What builders can do with itConcrete, available now:
Let users shield and unshield supported assetsAdd private transfers to your appRoute private swaps through existing AMM liquidityStart building private lending and staking flows: anonymizer helpers are already in progress for protocols like Vesu and EkuboWhich route to use depends on who you are: wallets, DeFi protocols, and established teams typically go direct with the SDK plus their own anonymizer contract; most other dapps should start with the Wallet API through starknet.js.
Who else is building alreadyA first wave of ecosystem teams are already building privacy-enabled features on top of the stack:
avnu is Starknet’s trading and routing layer for STRK20 and private asset flows, starting with strkBTC.
Troves is building automated yield and vault strategies with private deposits and positions.
ForgeYields is building non-custodial cross-chain yield vaults on Starknet, and exploring how privacy can unlock institutional-grade allocation, letting depositors earn structured yield without revealing their positions, strategy exposure, or portfolio size on-chain.
Provable Games, the team behind Loot Survivor and other Starknet game infrastructure, is exploring how STRK20’s private token ownership can power private onchain organizations.
DeFa Invoicemate is building a private mainnet on Starknet, aiming to give lenders yield opportunities through TradFi and PayFi strategies, with a one-click toggle to keep wallet address and positions private.
Also building with the stack: Ready and Xverse on the wallet side, Endur (Starknet’s liquid staking layer, supporting private staking flows for shielded tokens like xstrkBTC), Polyhedge, and Ekubo.
And across the wider ecosystem: DashX, ArcX, Privily, Zylith, Vesu, Opus, and Cartridge are all building on or exploring the privacy stack in their own way.
Get BuildingGithub repo hereBuild pathways herePrivacy that works for crypto: built into assets, accessed through wallets, used across apps.
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Starknet Memory Protocol Draft Puts User-Owned AI Data On The Crypto Agenda is a useful reminder that crypto coverage is not only about token prices. Sometimes the more important story is the infrastructure, regulation, security, or product layer sitting underneath the market noise.
The immediate point is straightforward: a Starknet community draft proposes a user-owned memory protocol for AI agents. That gives readers something concrete to work with, rather than another vague sentiment update.
TL;DR A Starknet community draft proposes a user-owned memory protocol for AI agents. The design uses scoped, temporary, auditable access through capability tokens. It reflects a growing push to make AI-agent data control more user-owned. Why This Matters Now The timing matters because Starknet is already part of a wider conversation across the market. Traders want to know whether the development changes liquidity or risk. Builders want to know whether it changes what can be deployed. Compliance teams want to know whether it changes how platforms operate.
In that sense, the story is bigger than one headline. It sits inside the ongoing shift from speculative crypto cycles toward more practical questions: who can use these systems, how safe are they, and whether the underlying incentives actually work.
The best way to read it is with discipline. It is not a guarantee of immediate upside, and it should not be treated as one. But it does add a fresh data point to the way the market is thinking about Starknet.
The Starknet Angle For Starknet, the important part is the specific mechanism. If this is a security issue, the risk sits in dependencies and user protection. If it is a listing or product launch, the question is access and liquidity. If it is a governance or research proposal, the question is whether the idea can survive implementation.
That is where this update becomes useful. It is not just a label attached to a trend. It gives readers a way to understand what might actually change if the development gains traction.
Crypto has a habit of turning every announcement into a broad market claim. This one deserves a narrower read. The value is in seeing how it affects the users, developers, institutions, or traders closest to the issue.
The Risk Side There is also a caution attached. Source material can confirm that a development exists, but it cannot prove that adoption will follow. A proposal still needs support. A product still needs users. A chart still needs confirmation. A compliance tool still needs integration.
That is why the responsible reading is not to oversell the story. The stronger takeaway is that this adds to a pattern. The crypto market is steadily becoming more professional, more technical, and more sensitive to real operational details.
Readers should also watch for follow-up signals. That could mean developer feedback, exchange support, regulatory response, wallet adoption, liquidity data, or simply whether market participants continue reacting after the first headline fades.
What Comes Next The next stage will decide whether this remains a narrow update or becomes part of a larger market theme. In crypto, that difference matters. Plenty of stories look important for a few hours and then disappear. The ones that last usually show up again through usage, liquidity, enforcement, governance, or developer adoption.
For now, this gives the market another piece of information to weigh. It is specific enough to be useful, but still early enough that readers should keep the caveats in view.
That makes it worth covering without pretending it settles anything. The story is a signal, not a final verdict.
This report is based on information from community.starknet.io.
This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.
Privacy on a public blockchain has always felt like a contradiction in terms. Every transaction is visible, every wallet balance is readable, and your entire financial history is one block explorer search away from being an open book. Starknet thinks it has a fix.
On June 9, 2026, Starknet launched STRK20, a native privacy framework built into its Ethereum Layer-2 ZK rollup architecture. The system lets users shield any ERC-20 token balance, execute private transfers, and run private swaps, all without spinning up a separate privacy coin or fragmenting liquidity into isolated pools.
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How STRK20 actually works The framework runs on a note-based privacy pool: instead of broadcasting your token balance to the entire network, your assets are converted into encrypted “notes” that only you can open and spend. The proofs themselves are generated client-side using zero-knowledge cryptography, which means your device does the heavy lifting locally before anything touches the chain. On-chain, the network only verifies that a valid proof exists, not what the underlying transaction contains.
The first asset to use STRK20 was strkBTC, which went live on the framework following Starknet’s v0.14.2 protocol upgrade in April 2026. USDC support followed on June 25, 2026, extending privacy capabilities to one of crypto’s most widely used stablecoins. The system is designed so any ERC-20 token on Starknet can plug in without requiring separate liquidity. Supported wallets at launch include Xverse, AVNU, and Circle integrations.
The compliance piece, and why it matters STRK20 includes an encrypted viewing-key mechanism that allows users to selectively disclose transaction history to auditors, regulators, or legal counterparties without making that information public. Encrypted viewing keys can be held by third-party auditors, meaning a court order or compliance request can unlock a specific user’s transaction history without compromising anyone else’s privacy on the network.
What this means for Starknet’s competitive position Starknet’s rollout of STRK20 follows a deliberate build-up that began in March 2026 with initial privacy-related feature introductions, accelerating through the April 2026 full privacy engine implementation, and culminating in the June mainnet launch.
Starknet has signaled that upcoming phases will expand STRK20 into private lending products and cross-chain functionality.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
PANews July 12 news, Token Unlocks data shows that tokens such as DBR, ARB, YZY will see large unlocks next week, including:
deBridge (DBR) will unlock approximately 618 million tokens on July 17 at 8:00 am Beijing time, representing about 11.4% of the circulating supply, worth about $10.1 million;
Arbitrum (ARB) will unlock approximately 92.65 million tokens on July 16 at 9:00 pm Beijing time, representing about 1.65% of the circulating supply, worth about $8.5 million;
YZY (YZY) will unlock approximately 20.83 million tokens on July 17 at 11:00 am Beijing time, representing about 4.1% of the circulating supply, worth about $6.1 million;
Starknet (STRK) will unlock approximately 127 million tokens on July 15 at 8:00 am Beijing time, representing about 3.74% of the circulating supply, worth about $3.9 million;
Sei (SEI) will unlock approximately 55.56 million tokens on July 15 at 8:00 pm Beijing time, representing about 0.91% of the circulating supply, worth about $2.8 million.
Imagine two AI agents walk into a marketplace. One wants to buy cloud compute, the other wants to sell it. They negotiate a price, lock funds in escrow, execute the deal, and, if something goes sideways, resolve the dispute. No humans involved at any step. That’s the pitch behind Internet Court, which officially launched on July 10 with Starknet serving as its payments and settlement backbone.
What Internet Court actually does Internet Court describes itself as an “open skill” for agentic commerce. In English: it’s a standardized toolkit that lets autonomous AI agents handle every phase of a commercial transaction without needing a human to step in and click buttons.
The system is organized across six principal layers. Agent discovery and contract formation rely on ERC standards. Negotiation happens through A2A protocols. Execution uses tools from partners in the ecosystem. And when deals go wrong, adjudication is embedded directly into the smart contracts themselves, with pre-agreed settlement mechanisms kicking in automatically.
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Starknet’s specific role is handling the financial plumbing. Its zero-knowledge execution layer manages payments, escrow, and on-chain settlement. When Agent A pays Agent B, those funds flow through Starknet. When there’s a dispute, the adjudication logic executes on Starknet as well.
The broader stack pulls in several recognizable names. GenLayer and Kleros contribute to the execution and dispute resolution layers respectively. The x402 protocol handles payment authorization. The skill itself is accessible as a skill.md file, available through curl or GitHub, with a live clerk agent already running on Telegram via the project’s website at internetcourt.org.
The partners and the bigger picture The launch consortium includes Heurist, a decentralized AI inference platform, along with Alt AI and io.net, which provides distributed GPU infrastructure.
Internet Court’s thesis is that agents won’t achieve real economic autonomy until these layers are unified. A single composable skill that handles the entire transaction lifecycle is, at least in theory, the missing infrastructure that makes agent-to-agent commerce practical rather than just demonstrable.
What this means for investors The integration of on-chain dispute resolution is perhaps the most underappreciated piece. Internet Court’s approach of embedding adjudication directly into smart contracts, with pre-agreed resolution mechanisms, offers at least a partial answer to the question of what happens when an AI agent makes a bad deal on your behalf.
The skill.md distribution model, essentially making the protocol as easy to integrate as reading a file, lowers the barrier considerably. The Telegram clerk agent is a live proof of concept accessible through internetcourt.org.
Kleros has been working on decentralized arbitration for years. GenLayer is building agent-specific smart contract infrastructure. Internet Court is pulling these projects into a unified stack rather than competing with them.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Starknet is rolling out its v0.14.3 upgrade to mainnet on July 8, bringing a suite of changes designed to make the Layer 2 network cheaper, faster, and harder to break. The headline features: dynamic gas fees that adjust to STRK’s token price, a 30% cut to target gas per block, and a quiet but meaningful shift toward quantum-resistant cryptography.
For a network whose native token is currently trading around $0.03 and whose total value locked sits at roughly $204 million, this is less a victory lap and more a necessary step to stay competitive in an increasingly crowded L2 landscape.
What’s actually changing The most consequential piece of the upgrade is SNIP-35, a proposal that introduces dynamic L2 gas base fee adjustments. Instead of static minimum gas fees, the network will now automatically recalibrate fees based on two variables: the fluctuating price of the STRK token and real-time network congestion.
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The second major change involves block architecture. Starknet v0.14.3 reduces the target L2 gas per block by 30% while keeping the maximum block size unchanged. The result is smaller but more frequent blocks, which translates directly into shorter block production times and reduced transaction latency.
The upgrade also introduces Keccak support for client-side proving and transitions specific operations from Pedersen hashing to BLAKE hashing. The BLAKE switch is explicitly aimed at quantum resistance.
Breaking changes and developer migration Starknet v0.14.3 deprecates RPC v0.8, meaning any developer or application still relying on that version needs to migrate before the switch flips.
StarkWare, the primary development team behind Starknet, has been providing migration guidance ahead of the July 8 date. The testnet activation happened in June, following multiple delays from earlier targets like June 22, giving developers a window to test their applications against the new protocol.
The mainnet migration itself is expected to incur approximately 8 minutes of downtime.
What this means for investors STRK trading at around $0.03 puts it in a challenging position. The dynamic fee adjustment mechanism ties gas fees to STRK’s market price, creating a feedback loop where network revenue remains somewhat stable in dollar terms regardless of token volatility.
Watch the TVL numbers in the two weeks following July 8. If locked value climbs meaningfully from the current $204 million, it suggests the fee and latency improvements are translating into actual user behavior changes.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
PANews, July 1 – According to SoSoValue data, crypto sectors generally fell, with the Layer 2 sector down 3.57% in 24 hours. Among them, Mantle (MNT) fell 4.97%, Starknet (STRK) fell 4.93%, and Celestia (TIA) fell 9.54%. Meanwhile, Bitcoin (BTC) fell 1.89%, dropping below $59,000; Ethereum (ETH) fell 0.98%, dropping below $1,600.
In other sectors, the PayFi sector fell 0.29% in 24 hours, but Stellar (XLM) rose 11.00%; the CeFi sector fell 0.87%, Binance Coin (BNB) fell 1.19%; the Meme sector fell 1.05%, MemeCore (M) rose against the trend by 22.60%; the Layer 1 sector fell 1.41%, Cardano (ADA) was relatively resilient, rising 1.32%; the DeFi sector fell 2.79%, LAB (LAB) fell 14.83%.
Additionally, the SocialFi and NFT sectors were relatively resilient, rising 0.50% and 0.54% respectively. Within the SocialFi sector, Gram (GRAM) rose 1.01%; within the NFT sector, Audiera (BEAT) rose 7.87%.
Zero-knowledge scaling company StarkWare has released a quantum-resistant roadmap for Starknet, arguing that other chains will remain exposed if the industry is “too stubborn or stupid” to act.
In an announcement on Tuesday, Starknet framed its three-phased quantum-resistant roadmap as evidence that the crypto industry has no excuse for remaining vulnerable to future quantum computing attacks.
“The tried-and-tested cryptography exists to secure every crypto key in the world, if necessary changes are made, and the only reason anyone will remain vulnerable is if heads remain buried in the sand,” said Eli Ben-Sasson, CEO at StarkWare.
Efforts to quantum-proof blockchains are accelerating as some researchers warn that quantum computing could outpace blockchain’s defenses and cryptographically relevant quantum machines could be ready before 2030.
The Bitcoin community remains divided on how to approach securing old coins against the quantum threat, while other networks are forging ahead with quantum roadmaps.
Ben-Sasson said Starknet can become resistant to quantum attacks by “seizing on its architecture advantage.” Its underlying cryptography is zero-knowledge STARK (Scalable Transparent Argument of Knowledge) proofs, which are “inherently post-quantum safe.”
Ben-Sasson said that if Starknet can become quantum-resistant by “seizing on this cryptography,” then anyone else can do it by choosing the right cryptography. “We need to be nimble in blockchain and crypto,” he said.
“There’s an awful irony in the notion that a young industry born from rejecting the way things have always been done is stalling and procrastinating about making changes for quantum security.”He added that crypto has an “elliptical illusion,” distorting reality around elliptic-curve cryptography, the current standard for securing blockchains.
Believing that this will be quantum resistant is “false confidence” that is leaving the industry “dangerously complacent,” he said.
Some migration problems are genuinely hard, involving technical trade-offs, governance decisions, and dependencies that no single team controls, he added, but said: “difficulty is not an excuse for delay.”
“The crypto industry shouldn’t need wake-up calls from the White House or anyone else. We should all be acting and seizing on the best cryptography that exists.”Starknet’s three-phase roadmap The first phase involves swapping out some of its current security math (Pedersen hashing) for quantum-resistant versions and adding quantum-resistant signatures.
Phase two focuses on migration tooling that quietly upgrades existing smart contracts to the new quantum-safe standard, without forcing developers to manually rebuild apps.
Phase three covers dependencies that Starknet cannot resolve alone, which largely depend on Ethereum’s quantum upgrade roadmap.
Circle, Ethereum, Solana, Tezos and Algorand have all proposed quantum-proof roadmaps, while the Bitcoin community remains at loggerheads.
Magazine: Bitcoin slides to $58K, XRP hits $1 but onchain data promising: Market Moves
Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.
Zero-knowledge scaling company StarkWare has released a quantum-resistant roadmap for Starknet, arguing that other chains will remain exposed if the industry is “too stubborn or stupid” to act.
In an announcement on Tuesday, Starknet framed its three-phased quantum-resistant roadmap as evidence that the crypto industry has no excuse for remaining vulnerable to future quantum computing attacks.
“The tried-and-tested cryptography exists to secure every crypto key in the world, if necessary changes are made, and the only reason anyone will remain vulnerable is if heads remain buried in the sand,” said Eli Ben-Sasson, CEO at StarkWare.
Efforts to quantum-proof blockchains are accelerating as some researchers warn that quantum computing could outpace blockchain’s defenses and cryptographically relevant quantum machines could be ready before 2030.
The Bitcoin community remains divided on how to approach securing old coins against the quantum threat, while other networks are forging ahead with quantum roadmaps.
Ben-Sasson said Starknet can become resistant to quantum attacks by “seizing on its architecture advantage.” Its underlying cryptography is zero-knowledge STARK (Scalable Transparent Argument of Knowledge) proofs, which are “inherently post-quantum safe.”
Ben-Sasson said that if Starknet can become quantum-resistant by “seizing on this cryptography,” then anyone else can do it by choosing the right cryptography. “We need to be nimble in blockchain and crypto,” he said.
“There’s an awful irony in the notion that a young industry born from rejecting the way things have always been done is stalling and procrastinating about making changes for quantum security.”He added that crypto has an “elliptical illusion,” distorting reality around elliptic-curve cryptography, the current standard for securing blockchains.
Believing that this will be quantum resistant is “false confidence” that is leaving the industry “dangerously complacent,” he said.
Some migration problems are genuinely hard, involving technical trade-offs, governance decisions, and dependencies that no single team controls, he added, but said: “difficulty is not an excuse for delay.”
“The crypto industry shouldn’t need wake-up calls from the White House or anyone else. We should all be acting and seizing on the best cryptography that exists.”Starknet’s three-phase roadmap The first phase involves swapping out some of its current security math (Pedersen hashing) for quantum-resistant versions and adding quantum-resistant signatures.
Phase two focuses on migration tooling that quietly upgrades existing smart contracts to the new quantum-safe standard, without forcing developers to manually rebuild apps.
Phase three covers dependencies that Starknet cannot resolve alone, which largely depend on Ethereum’s quantum upgrade roadmap.
Circle, Ethereum, Solana, Tezos and Algorand have all proposed quantum-proof roadmaps, while the Bitcoin community remains at loggerheads.
Magazine: Bitcoin slides to $58K, XRP hits $1 but onchain data promising: Market Moves
Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.
StarkWare released what it described as crypto’s “strongest” post-quantum roadmap, setting out a three-phase plan to make Starknet quantum-ready by replacing remaining elliptic-curve dependencies and introducing migration tools for existing contracts.
The proposal builds on what StarkWare called Starknet’s “architectural advantage,” with its zero-knowledge STARK proofs relying on hash-based cryptography that the company said is post-quantum secure by design.
StarkWare said the plan could make the network quantum-ready within months, according to a statement shared with The Block on Tuesday.
Per the statement, the first phase of the roadmap would replace Pedersen hashing with BLAKE2 across state commitments, contract addresses, and network configuration, while also introducing post-quantum consensus signatures such as Falcon-512.
The second phase focuses on migration tooling for legacy contracts, while the final phase addresses external dependencies that remain linked to Ethereum, including bridge syscalls and blob data availability, which depend on Ethereum's own post-quantum transition.
"This document says: here is how we'll do it for Starknet. It's our path to making Starknet a safe haven for funds whatever quantum may bring. And the subtext is that if we can do it by seizing on this cryptography, then anyone else can do it by choosing the right cryptography," StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson said.
Industry preparedness Ben-Sasson said the cryptographic tools needed to secure digital assets against quantum threats already exist and argued that remaining vulnerabilities would stem from inaction rather than technical limitations.
He added that every crypto key could be protected if the necessary changes are implemented and criticized what he described as industry stubbornness around post-quantum migration.
The executive also coined the term "elliptical illusion" to describe what he called misplaced confidence that blockchains built on elliptic-curve cryptography will remain secure without significant changes as quantum computing advances.
Elliptic-curve systems underpin transaction signatures and ownership verification across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and much of the broader digital infrastructure used today.
The roadmap follows a separate development earlier this year when StarkWare researcher Avihu Mordechai Levy published a proposal for quantum-safe Bitcoin transactions that operates without a soft fork or modification to Bitcoin's underlying protocol.
The approach, referred to as QSB, replaces elliptic-curve assumptions with hash-based constructions including Lamport signatures. Levy reported the method achieves roughly 118-bit second pre-image resistance under a quantum threat model while remaining compatible with Bitcoin's existing script limitations of 201 non-push opcodes and 10,000 bytes.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
Survey: 88% of enterprises plan to adopt stablecoins within the next year, with cross-border payment costs reduced by an average of 35%.
Payment infrastructure company Cybrid has released a new survey report indicating stablecoins are rapidly gaining traction in enterprise payment scenarios. The survey found that 42% of participating enterprises already use stablecoins for cross-border payments, while 88% said they are likely or very likely to adopt stablecoins within the next 12 months—only 2% of firms stated they will continue to rely entirely on traditional payment systems. According to the report, enterprises using stablecoins save an average of 35% on cross-border payment costs, with firms processing over $100 million in monthly payments achieving an average cost reduction of 47%. Payroll and contractor payments represent the most prominent use case, followed by supplier payments, customer payments, investment and revenue management, and treasury management, among others. Additionally, 71% of respondents identified a clear regulatory framework as the primary factor driving further mainstream adoption of stablecoins, outranking considerations such as infrastructure provider credibility and system integration. The survey was conducted from April to May this year, covering 468 senior executives from tech, financial services, and e-commerce sectors in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
3 hours ago
FalconX secures EU MiCA license, allowing it to offer compliant crypto services to institutional clients in Europe.
Institutional digital asset broker FalconX announced it has obtained the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) license issued by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), enabling it to provide compliant digital asset trading, custody, liquidity and related institutional services across the European Union (EU) and European Economic Area (EEA). FalconX stated that this license allows it to operate across EU member states under a unified regulatory framework, eliminating the need for individual country-specific licenses. Currently, the firm serves over 2,000 institutional clients worldwide, including asset management firms, hedge funds, banks and family offices, with cumulative transaction volumes exceeding $2.5 trillion and over $8 billion in institutional financing disbursed. FalconX noted that as the MiCA regulatory framework is fully implemented, institutional clients’ demand for compliant trading, custody and liquidity services continues to grow, and regulatory credentials are becoming a key competitive advantage in Europe’s digital asset market.
3 hours ago
Guo Wengui sentenced to 30 years in prison in connection with a fraud case involving over $1 billion.
A US court has sentenced Miles Guo (also known as Ho Wan Kwok) to 30 years in prison. In 2024, a jury convicted Guo on multiple charges including racketeering, fraud, and money laundering, with his formal sentencing now issued. Prosecutors stated that Guo defrauded over $1 billion from global victims through a series of related scam schemes spanning five years. Notably, in 2021, he promoted the cryptocurrency project Himalaya Coin (H-Coin), claiming the tokens were backed by 20% gold reserves and promising to cover all investors’ losses, raising approximately $500 million in total. Additionally, the court previously ordered the forfeiture of nearly $900 million in Guo’s illegal proceeds, as well as his luxury mansion in New Jersey and multiple high-end vehicles. Guo had close ties to Steve Bannon, a former senior advisor to US President Donald Trump; Bannon was arrested in 2020 aboard Guo’s yacht.
3 hours ago
The first-half 2026 funding rankings have been released, with Kalshi and Polymarket raising a combined $1.8 billion.
According to statistics, the 14 largest global funding rounds in the first half of 2026 raised a total of $4.3 billion, with prediction markets, AI, and payment sectors drawing the most investor interest. Specifically, prediction market platform Kalshi topped the list with a $1.2 billion funding round, while Polymarket secured $600 million—together, the two raised $1.8 billion, accounting for over 40% of the total capital of the top 14 rounds. In the AI space, Replit, Exa AI, and OpenRouter closed funding rounds of $400 million, $250 million, and $113 million respectively. For blockchain projects, Canton Network, Arc, and Morpho raised $355 million, $222 million, and $175 million respectively. Meanwhile, payment, RWA, infrastructure, and compliance projects including Rain, Slash, Goldcom, Alpaca, and Elliptic also featured on the list.
3 hours ago
Open Standard launches stablecoin Open USD, with over 140 institutions including Visa, BlackRock, and Coinbase participating.
Open Standard has announced the launch of Open USD (OUSD), a new stablecoin for global fund flows, noting that over 140 enterprises have joined its ecosystem, including financial, payment, and crypto industry players such as Visa, Stripe, Mastercard, American Express, BlackRock, BNY, DBS, Coinbase, OKX, MetaMask, Aave, Ripple, Fireblocks, Solana, and Polygon. According to the introduction, Open USD follows three core design principles: supporting zero-cost, large-scale minting and redemption for enterprises; returning all reserve asset yields to partners after deducting a small management fee; and being governed by a board of directors composed of independent firm Open Standard and its partners, rather than controlled by a single issuer. Open Standard states that Open USD will officially launch later this year, with the goal of building an open, low-cost, high-throughput stablecoin infrastructure with a sharing economy mechanism to meet the needs of the internet economy and global enterprise-level payments.
3 hours ago
Pump.fun is discontinuing support for its tokenized agent issuance feature, stating it will focus on optimizing retail user trading experience.
Pump.fun announced it will immediately cease support for its Tokenized Agent token issuance feature. The feature will no longer be available for new token launches, though projects that have already activated it will remain unaffected. The platform noted that over recent months, consistent community feedback has pointed out that excessive issuance options have sparked unnecessary user vs. user (PVP) competition. Moving forward, Pump.fun will prioritize issuance models and product features that explicitly enhance retail trading experiences.
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
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PANews June 26 news, USDC announced on X that USDC privacy features are now live on Starknet, enabled by STRK20 — Starknet's privacy feature for ERC-20 tokens with built-in compliance capabilities. Users can shield, send, and unshield USDC while maintaining privacy of balances, amounts, and counterparty information on the public ledger. USDC remains a USD-denominated stablecoin, and the new privacy features are suitable for payments, fund flows, payroll, and on-chain financial activities on Starknet.
Skip to contentHow STRK20 brings confidential stablecoin payments to DeFi
Stablecoins have become the unit of account for onchain finance. They settle trades, move treasury, pay contributors, and back most of the liquidity that DeFi runs on. But every one of those transfers carries a cost that rarely gets named: it is permanently, irreversibly public.
On Starknet, this has changed with privacy features for USDC, built with STRK20. With STRK20, Starknet’s native privacy framework, USDC on Starknet gains confidential capabilities: shieldable, privately transferable, and usable across DeFi, without leaving the standard ERC-20 behind.
The transparency problem with blockchain transactionsSend stablecoins on any chain and you broadcast the full transaction to anyone watching: the sender, the recipient, the exact amount, and the timestamp, all written to a public ledger forever. For a base layer that’s a feature. For the entity actually moving the money, it’s an exposure.
A treasury rebalance reveals position size and intent. A market-making wallet leaks its strategy with every fill. Counterparties can map your entire balance history before you’ve signed a single agreement, and MEV searchers can reconstruct your behaviour from a single linked address. The transparency that makes the network trustworthy makes its most important asset hostile to anyone who needs discretion, which is to say most enterprises, most institutions, and a fair number of individuals who simply expect their finances to be their own.
Workarounds exist, but they fragment liquidity, demand new tokens, or wrap privacy in a separate app users have to trust and migrate to. None of that is the same thing as privacy on the asset you already hold.
Introducing USDC privacy features with STRK20STRK20 is a privacy framework for all ERC-20 tokens on Starknet. It lets any ERC-20 support shielded balances and private transfers without altering the token contract and without asking wallets or apps to rebuild from scratch. USDC is among the first stablecoins on Starknet to have these privacy capabilities.
The model is:
– Shield USDC to hold a private balance, invisible to outside observers on the public ledger.
– Unshield at any time to return to standard, fully transparent ERC-20 behaviour.
– Transfer shielded USDC privately, with asset type, amount, and participating wallets all hidden from outside view.
Crucially, this is privacy at the protocol level, not an app integration. It’s the same USDC, in the same wallet, private when you need it to be and visible when you don’t. There’s no second token, no bridge into a walled garden, no duplicated balance to reconcile.
How it worksShielding moves USDC into a privacy pool where balances and transfers are protected by zero-knowledge proofs rather than published in the clear. A private transfer proves the transaction is valid (funds exist, the sender is authorised, nothing is double-spent) without revealing what moved, how much, or between whom.
Proof generation happens operator-side; verification happens at the sequencer level, using the same infrastructure Starknet already uses to prove its own blocks. Unshielding reverses the process, returning USDC to the public ledger whenever the user chooses.
And it won’t price privacy as a tax. Unlike approaches that skim a percentage of transaction value, STRK20 charges a fixed fee per transaction, closer to a gas fee than a toll. That flat cost is what makes private stablecoin payments viable at real volume rather than only for the largest transfers.
Confidential DeFi on Ready X and XversePrivacy that strands your assets isn’t very useful, so STRK20 is built for assets to stay composable. From the privacy pool, users will be able to swap in and out of USDC confidentially on Ready and XVerse wallets
That means you can hold a private balance and still participate in onchain markets without re-exposing yourself the moment you want to do something with it. These are the first integrations, not the last; more DeFi venues will follow as the framework rolls out.
Compliance architecture and viewing keysPrivacy and auditability are usually framed as a trade-off. STRK20 is designed to deliver both, by building compliance rather than bolting it on.
When a user shields, they automatically register a viewing key. The key is scoped to that user and that user alone. If a legitimate legal request is made, a designated third-party auditing entity can use it to reconstruct *that specific user’s* transaction history, and nothing else. No other participant in the pool is affected, and access sits with authorised bodies under legal process, never with counterparties, observers, or the users themselves peering into one another.
The result is privacy for users by default, with a clean, scoped path to auditability for regulators when the law requires it.
Why StarknetNone of this is incidental to Starknet; it’s a direct consequence of what the network was built on. Years of zero-knowledge research and engineering by StarkWare produced a STARK-based proving and verification stack efficient enough to make private payments both cheap and scalable, rather than a premium feature reserved for whales.
That same efficiency is why STRK20 can support complex private payments at scale where other privacy designs hit a wall. And it isn’t experimental: verification runs on the very infrastructure Starknet has used to prove its own blocks in production for over five years. Shielded USDC inherits that foundation.
Stablecoins gave onchain finance a unit of account. STRK20 is set to give it a private one.
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Confidential stablecoin payments are here on Starknet. Follow the rollout and get the technical details at strk20.starknet.io
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Starknet (STRK), Zcash (ZEC), and Artificial Superintelligence Alliance (FET) are outpacing the short-term recovery in the cryptocurrency market, posting double-digit gains over the last 24 hours. The privacy coins and Artificial Intelligence (AI) token regain strength, aiming to extend the recovery further.
Starknet prepares for a potential breakout rally Starknet edges higher by 10% at press time on Thursday, extending the 21% rise from the previous day. The zero-knowledge-based Ethereum layer-2 recovery exceeds a local resistance trendline on the 4-hour chart, marking the highest trading price since February 2.
The privacy coin trades above the R1 Pivot Point at $0.2657 on the same chart, as the Relative Strength Index (RSI) at 72 enters the overbought zone, indicating strong buying. If STRK holds a decisive close above $0.2657, it could target the R2 Pivot Point at $0.3139.
Corroborating the upside, Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) extends the uptrend with rising green histogram bars suggesting a rise in bullish momentum on the 4-hour timeframe.
STRK/USDT 4-hour price chart.If STRK fails to hold the momentum, it could retest the 50-period Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at $0.1973.
Zcash recovery aims to rechallenge the $750 resistanceZcash trades above $670 at the time of writing on Thursday, extending a rebound from the 50-period EMA on the 4-hour chart towards the $700 mark. However, the critical resistance for the privacy coins lies higher at the $750 supply zone, which has remained intact since November 7.
The upswing in ZEC prices marks a trend shift with the MACD crossing above its signal line, indicating renewed bullish momentum. However, the declining RSI, currently at 58, reflects underlying weakness in buying pressure.
ZEC/USDT 4-hour price chart.If ZEC flips before crossing $700, it could test the 50-period EMA at $609 or the S1 Pivot Point at $501 if the correction extends.
Artificial Superintelligence Alliance remains vulnerable in a retestArtificial Superintelligence Alliance token drops 3% by press time on Thursday, after recording 10% gains on the previous day. Still, the intraday pullback could be a retest of the resistance trendline breakout on the 4-hour chart, formed by connecting the highs on November 8 and 18.
A potential post-retest rebound in FET could target the R1 Pivot Point at $0.3543.
The momentum indicators on the 4-hour chart indicate bullish strength, as the MACD rise remains steady, with successively higher green histogram bars. Additionally, the RSI at 61 approaches the overbought zone with a fluctuating uptrend as buying pressure rises.
FET/USDT 4-hour price chart.On the flip side, if FET slips below the 200-period EMA at $0.3133, it would nullify the trendline breakout, risking the 50-period EMA at $0.2944.
[PRESS RELEASE – Singapore, Asia, July 29th, 2024]
Elastos BeL2 will partner with StarkWare to integrate Starknet ZKPs and Cairo programming language with BeL2 for Native Bitcoin DeFi apps Starknet integration enables BeL2 to deliver smart contracts and dapps without moving Bitcoin assets off the mainnet Starknet Grant validates strength of BeL2 innovation and leadership in the Native Bitcoin ecosystem Elastos BeL2 (Bitcoin Elastos Layer2) has secured a $25,000 grant from Starknet, a technology leader in zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP). This significant endorsement highlights the Elastos BeL2 infrastructure and its critical role in advancing Native Bitcoin DeFi, particularly native Bitcoin lending. By integrating Starknet ZKPs and the Cairo programming language, Elastos’ BeL2 will enhance its ability to deliver smart contracts and decentralized apps (dapps) without moving Bitcoin (BTC) assets off the main network. This strategic partnership with Starknet demonstrates the growing acceptance and maturity of the BeL2 infrastructure, reinforcing Elastos’ commitment to market leadership in the evolving Bitcoin DeFi market.
Starknet, developed by StarkWare, is renowned for its advances in ZKP technology, which enhance the privacy and security of blockchain transactions. ZKPs allow one party to prove to another that a statement is true without revealing any information beyond the validity of the statement itself. This technology is fundamental to scaling blockchain networks, which will enhance BeL2’s ability to integrate complex smart contracts while maintaining Bitcoin’s integrity and security.
“We are delighted to receive this Starknet grant and announce our partnership to build tighter integrations with its ZKP technology and the Cairo programming language,” said Sasha Mitchell, Head of Bitcoin Layer 2, Elastos. “This is a major milestone for BeL2 and a real endorsement of the maturity and capabilities of our core technology. This support will allow us to further build out our Native Bitcoin lending innovation, as we look to leverage the growing acceptance of Bitcoin as a viable alternative financial system.”
Closer integration with Cairo will enable BeL2 to use this powerful programming language to enhance Bitcoin’s capabilities and deliver secure, efficient, and scalable decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. Specifically, the relationship with Cairo strengthens BeL2’s leading technical innovations, which include:
ZKPs to ensure secure and private transaction verification Decentralized arbitration using collateralized nodes to supervise and enforce fairness in Native Bitcoin DeFi BTC Oracle facilitating cross-chain interactions where information, not assets, are exchanged while Bitcoin remains on the main infrastructure BeL2’s vision extends beyond technical innovation to pioneering a new financial system. The goal is to build a Bitcoin-backed Bretton Woods system, addressing global debt crises and enhancing Bitcoin’s role as a global hard currency. This new system will be anchored by the integrity and security of Bitcoin, providing a stable foundation for decentralized financial applications.
As the integration with Starknet and the Cairo programming language expands, BeL2 will deliver further advancements in smart contract capabilities, decentralized arbitration, and innovative financial products. At Token 2049, BeL2 will demonstrate further innovations in its core technologies, particularly around arbiters, which will underline the Elastos vision to deliver a more equitable, decentralized financial system anchored by Bitcoin.
About Elastos Elastos is a public blockchain project that integrates blockchain technology with a suite of reimagined platform components to produce a modern Internet infrastructure that provides intrinsic protection for privacy and digital asset ownership. The mission is to build accessible, open-source services for the world, so developers can build an internet where individuals own and control their data.
The Elastos SmartWeb platform enables organizations to recalibrate how the Internet works for them to better control their own data.
Layer-2 crypto projects are moving again. A radical increase in social interaction has been observed in the layer-2 ecosystem, with recent information from Phoenix Group and LunarCrush revealing both impressive peaks of interactions on large networks. On the latest report released on 28 November 2025, ZK has been the most social-activity project with regard to layer-2.
The network showed 4.8K engaged posts and 372.3K total interactions, which is significant and proves the increased interest of the community and a powerful narrative developing around the solutions based on ZK-based scaling.
This momentum is timely as layer-2 crypto technologies are gradually being considered as an indispensable component of enabling blockchain scalability to achieve faster execution and lower costs without sacrificing the security. The supremacy of ZK implies the emergence of investor confidence, high activity of developers and active online discussion that promotes its visibility.
Linea Secures Second Position With Over 2 Million Interactions Close behind, Linea ranked second highest in the social activity category with the number of engaged posts being 3.9K and massively interacting with 2.1 million posts.
The level of participation is an indication that Linea remains one of the most debated layer-2 crypto ecosystems, presumably due to its developer friendly infrastructure and ongoing ecosystem expansions.
The consistent action of social platforms by Linea implies a stronger community and gradual project momentum. The growing list of dApps, integrations, and collaboration seems to be fueling traffic of users on social media.
Starknet Maintains Strong Engagement With 494K Interactions Starknet was ranked third place with 3.6K engaged posts and 494K interactions, which supports its status as a key player in the zk rollup competition. Due to its attention to smart contract creation in Cairo and its highly scalable nature, Starknet is becoming stronger in the developer and crypto communities.
The extent of online engagement implies continued expectations of the Starknet roadmap milestones and ecosystem upgrades, as well as more users engaging with its growing DeFi ecosystem.
Optimism and Celo Highlight Mid-Tier Strength In the middle of the ranks are Optimism (OP) and Celo whose continuous updates of their ecosystems and community-focused efforts propel them.
Optimism had 2.2K engaged posts with 72.2K interactions, and it is constantly engaged due to its robust governance framework and Superchain story.
In the meantime, Celo shared 2.1K engaged posts and a staggering 985.1K interactions, proving that the discussion of its switch to an Ethereum layer-2 architecture remains a very strong topic on the Internet platforms.
Arbitrum, Stacks, and Polygon Show Stable Growth Arbitrum (ARB) also registered 1.9K active posts and 129.4K interactions, which is a stable engagement since it is one of the biggest and most popular layer-2 crypto network.
Stacks (STX), which continues its Bitcoin-layer innovations, registered 1.8K posts and 168.4K interaction, which is a positive indicator of the growing interest in Bitcoin-compatible smart contract ecosystems.
The Polygon (POL) continued to have a stable dialogue in the community, creating 1.4K posts and 67.7K interactions, even though the market activity was lower.
Mantle and Immutable X Round Out the Top 10 Layer-2 Crypto List The last two of the leading layer-2 crypto projects were Mantle (MNT) with 1.4K posts engaged and 102.9K interactions, and Immutable X (IMX) with 1.2K posts engaged and 164.1K interactions. The two ecosystems are still shaping their reputations well, with Mantle and Immutable X gaining market dominance in the gaming and NFT spaces respectively.
Social activity is one of the most effective signals of market mood and user activity as layer-2 crypto projects are becoming the cornerstones of blockchain scalability.
AUTHOR
With over five years of experience in crypto, blockchain, and tech content, Ishtiyaq makes complex topics easy to understand. He simplifies blockchain and digital currency concepts for a wide audience, ensuring that beginners and experts alike can grasp key ideas. His clear and engaging writing helps readers stay informed about the latest trends, developments, and innovations in the crypto space. Whether explaining blockchain technology, digital assets, or DeFi, Ishtiyaq breaks down complicated ideas into simple, digestible content. His goal is to help people navigate the fast-changing world of cryptocurrency with confidence, clarity, and a deeper understanding.
Key NotesBinance plans on temporarily suspending deposits and withdrawals on some networks.Users will not be able to deposit and withdraw tokens based on Ethereum networks during this period.Trading is not affected by the suspension. Cryptocurrency exchange Binance intends to briefly halt deposits and withdrawals for select tokens on May 7, 2025, starting around 09:45 (UTC), in order to accommodate the Ethereum network upgrade and hard fork, aiming to maintain optimal user experience
Binance disclosed that it plans on temporarily suspending the deposits and withdrawals of tokens based on the following networks “Ethereum (ETH), Arbitrum (ARB), Optimism (OP), zkSync Era (ZKSYNC), Base (BASE), Manta Network (MANTA), Starknet (STRK), Polygon (POL), Metis (METIS), Scroll (SCR), Cyber (CYBER), Metal DAO (MTL), Celo (CELO) and Worldcoin (WLD)”.
This temporary suspension is intended to support the smooth execution of the Ethereum network upgrade and hard fork. According to the announcement, only deposits and withdrawals will be impacted, while trading on the affected networks will remain operational. Binance also stated that it will manage all technical aspects on behalf of its users.
The crypto exchange added that once everything is “deemed to be stable”, the deposits and withdrawals for the select tokens will begin.
Hard forks typically result in the creation of a separate blockchain that runs alongside the original one. All current nodes and miners must transition to the new chain. Hard forks are used to improve the functionality of the network, such as fixing security vulnerabilities, introducing new functionalities, upgrading the cryptocurrency’s core system, or undoing previous transactions.
Past and Future Network Upgrades The crypto exchange will also suspend the withdrawals and deposits for the Optimism and Metal DAO networks on May 9. Once the update is completed, withdrawals and deposits will begin automatically without additional announcements.
Previously, the crypto exchange has temporarily disabled deposit and withdrawal functions across various networks to facilitate upgrades and hard forks. For instance, transactions involving tokens on the THORChain (RUNE) network were paused on May 1 at 14:00 (UTC) to support a scheduled upgrade.
Similarly, on May 5, at around 06:00 (UTC), Binance suspended deposits and withdrawals for tokens on the IPTA network to accommodate its network enhancement and hard fork.
Disclaimer: Coinspeaker is committed to providing unbiased and transparent reporting. This article aims to deliver accurate and timely information but should not be taken as financial or investment advice. Since market conditions can change rapidly, we encourage you to verify information on your own and consult with a professional before making any decisions based on this content.
Bitcoin News, Cryptocurrency News, News
Rose is a crypto content writer with a strong background in finance and tech. She simplifies complex blockchain and cryptocurrency topics, offering insightful articles and market analysis to help readers navigate the evolving crypto landscape.
Privacy in DeFi has always been something of an oxymoron. You can be pseudonymous, sure, but every swap, stake, and transfer is readable on-chain by anyone with a block explorer and five minutes to kill. Starknet is betting that its zero-knowledge architecture can change that equation without triggering compliance nightmares.
The Ethereum Layer 2 network, built by StarkWare, has rolled out the “Shieldnet” branding to describe its growing suite of privacy features. These include shielded balances, private transfers, and the ability to interact anonymously with DeFi applications. All of it runs on Starknet’s ZK-native infrastructure, which means the cryptographic proofs that secure the rollup double as the engine powering user privacy.
From STRK20 to strkBTC: the privacy stack takes shape The foundation was the STRK20 framework, which went live on March 10, 2026. That upgrade introduced the core privacy primitives: shielded token balances and the plumbing needed for confidential transactions.
A follow-up called the Shinobi upgrade landed on April 21, 2026, further refining the architecture. Then came strkBTC on May 12, 2026, the first STRK20-compatible asset. It’s a wrapped Bitcoin token on Starknet that gives holders the option to shield their transactions while still plugging into DeFi protocols like any other token.
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Users can choose whether to keep their BTC holdings visible or shielded. The design also includes viewing keys, which let holders selectively reveal transaction data for audits, tax reporting, or regulatory purposes.
Starknet’s official channels began promoting the Shieldnet branding around May 23, 2026, packaging these features into a coherent narrative for users and institutions alike. There is no separate Shieldnet token. The existing STRK token remains the ecosystem’s native asset.
What users actually get Starknet users can now interact with dApps, including Ekubo swaps and staking protocols, without broadcasting every detail of their financial activity to the world.
This selective disclosure model is what Starknet is positioning as “compliance-ready privacy.” A hedge fund can keep its trading positions private from competitors while still providing auditors with the keys they need.
The numbers behind the narrative As of late May 2026, the network reported total value locked of $655 million and roughly 47,000 daily active users.
The STRK token has seen notable market activity around privacy-related announcements. Each privacy upgrade, from STRK20 to strkBTC to the Shieldnet branding itself, has generated market attention.
What this means for investors The institutional angle is worth watching closely. Traditional finance players have repeatedly cited on-chain transparency as a barrier to DeFi adoption. If Starknet’s privacy tools prove robust and regulators don’t object, the $655 million TVL figure could look like an early inning.
The US Treasury’s actions against Tornado Cash demonstrated that even non-custodial privacy technology can attract enforcement attention. Starknet’s viewing key model is a more measured approach, but it hasn’t been tested against actual regulatory scrutiny.
The absence of a separate Shieldnet token is a positive signal for existing STRK holders. It means the privacy narrative accrues to the existing token rather than fragmenting value across a new asset. For traders tracking the STRK ecosystem, the next catalyst to watch is whether additional assets beyond strkBTC adopt the STRK20 shielding standard, and whether any major DeFi protocol integrates Shieldnet’s privacy features as a default rather than an opt-in.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Skip to content Privacy built into the DeFi you already use
For years, private DeFi has forced users into a trade-off. You could have privacy, but it usually meant leaving your normal wallet, using a separate privacy application, or accepting a user experience that felt disconnected from the rest of DeFi.
As a result, private DeFi never became normal DeFi. STRK20 changes that.
STRK20 is Starknet’s privacy framework for ERC-20 assets. It enables shielded balances, private transfers, and private app flows through supported wallets and applications, making privacy usable where onchain activity already happens.
This is what makes the next wave of Starknet DeFi different. Users can still trade, swap, lend, borrow, and stake, but these actions can now happen with an additional layer of privacy.
That is the unlock: privacy integrated into DeFi that already exists.
Privacy starts in the wallet The first major change users will notice is simple: supported assets can be shielded directly from the wallet.
Ready X and Xverse will be two of the primary interfaces for shielding assets. In the first phase, users will be able to shield, unshield, manage shielded balances, and execute supported swaps.
This matters because privacy should not require users to remember a separate website or move into a separate product. It should appear inside the wallets and apps they already use to manage assets and interact with DeFi.
Under the hood, different applications can support this in different ways. Some flows may be handled directly through wallet interfaces. Others may be initiated by DeFi applications that connect to the wallet through privacy APIs and anonymizing contracts.
Starknet’s direction is clear: users should be able to manage visible balances, shielded balances, and supported private DeFi flows from familiar wallets and apps.
Swapping through avnu and Ekubo Swaps are where STRK20’s design becomes clear.
Imagine a user starts with shielded USDC and wants to swap into ETH.
From the user’s perspective, the action should feel familiar: choose the input asset, choose the output asset, confirm the transaction, and receive the new shielded balance.
The important part is what the user does not need to do. They do not need to move into a separate private DEX, wait for a new private market to form, or rely on isolated liquidity for that pair.
The swap can still route through existing Starknet liquidity. avnu can route the trade across available venues, while Ekubo can serve as a core liquidity venue where swaps execute.
That is what makes the design practical: STRK20 connects privacy to the existing DeFi market structure Starknet already has.
What happens under the hood in an anonymous swap The anonymizing contract is what makes this feel simple to the user while still routing through normal Starknet liquidity.
In the USDC to ETH example, the user signs a private transaction with three main parts.
Shielded USDC is unshielded into the anonymizing contract, creating the open note that can be used inside the swap flow. The anonymizing contract executes the swap through existing Starknet liquidity using the route and arguments provided. The anonymizing contract returns the output amount, creating a new private note for the user, which is privately redeposited to the user’s account in the pool. The user starts with shielded USDC and ends with shielded ETH. The result is one atomic transaction: USDC exits the privacy pool, the swap happens through existing public liquidity, and ETH re-enters the privacy pool as a private balance.
This does not mean every detail disappears. Amounts moving through public liquidity are still visible. What changes is the direct link between the user’s wallet and the DeFi action. The user is no longer simply broadcasting the swap from their ordinary public address.
There is one practical consideration: anonymity depends on the size and quality of the privacy set. If only one person has ever shielded a specific asset, that activity is easier to reason about from the outside. As more users shield, transfer, swap, and manage supported assets, the anonymity set strengthens.
That is the practical design choice. STRK20 does not create a separate private DEX with separate liquidity. It lets users access the liquidity Starknet already has while breaking the direct public link between the user’s wallet and the DeFi action.
Private lending and borrowing through Vesu Lending is where private DeFi starts to become especially powerful.
A public DeFi loan reveals a lot. Observers can often see what a wallet supplied, what it borrowed, how large the position is, and how that position changes over time. For individuals, this exposes personal financial activity. For larger holders, funds, and institutions, it can reveal capital movements and strategy.
STRK20 introduces a path toward more private credit activity on Starknet, but the first phase will be more manual than wallet-based swaps.
For example, a user could start with shielded strkBTC and want to borrow USDC against it. In the early flow, they need to unshield the strkBTC, supply it as collateral on Vesu, borrow USDC, and then shield the USDC after the loan is executed.
The collateral inside Vesu is still visible while it is locked in the public lending market. The privacy benefit comes from the user’s ability to start from a shielded balance and shield the borrowed asset after execution.
Credit is one of the most important functions in any financial system. This is why lending protocols, such as Vesu, are an important part of STRK20’s broader DeFi vision. Bringing privacy to lending does not mean hiding risk from the protocol. It means reducing unnecessary public exposure while keeping DeFi functional, composable, and useful.
Staking with private assets through Endur Staking brings the yield layer into private DeFi.
Endur is building liquid staking infrastructure for Starknet assets, including STRK and strkBTC. As Starknet expands both staking and BTCFi, liquid staking tokens can become a core part of Starknet DeFi. STRK20 adds a new dimension to this: assets such as xSTRK and xstrkBTC can become shieldable.
Example flow: a user starts with strkBTC, stakes it through Endur, and receives xstrkBTC. Once supported, that xstrkBTC can be shielded, allowing the user to hold a yield-bearing BTC position privately.
Privacy should not force assets to become idle. Users should be able to protect visibility while still earning yield.
At launch, staking may not be fully private from every interface. Some users may stake through the normal Endur flow and then shield xstrkBTC afterward. As wallet and app integrations improve, staking should become more directly accessible from the same private asset experience.
This is one of the clearest examples of practical privacy. It applies privacy to a normal user goal: earning yield.
What is available now, and what’s to come The first phase of STRK20 is the start of private DeFi on Starknet.
Through wallets like Ready X and Xverse, users can shield assets, manage shielded balances, and execute supported in-wallet swaps. These swaps can access existing liquidity through venues such as avnu and Ekubo, benefiting from the composability and scalability of STRK20’s design.
More advanced DeFi flows come next. Lending through Vesu, staking through Endur, and more complex private vault strategies from ForgeYields and Troves.
That is the phased rollout. Privacy starts with assets, then expands to broader DeFi workflows.
What private DeFi makes possible In one broader flow, the user can:
Shield BTC through strkBTC Stake into xstrkBTC Shield xstrkBTC Borrow USDC against xstrkBTC Shield USDC Trade privately with shielded USDC This is the private DeFi unlock: privacy that moves with the user across DeFi, from holding and staking to borrowing, trading, and earning yield.
Every private transaction requires 4 STRK tokens, no variable price points will apply.
Privacy becomes compatible with the activities people already come to DeFi for.
That is why Starknet’s approach matters. Privacy is built into the existing ecosystem, enabling private DeFi that is usable where crypto already works.
Private DeFi starts on Starknet.
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Robinhood launches trading of three new tokens: BAT, FLR, and STRK.
PANews reported on June 4 that Robinhood has added support for trading three new tokens: Basic Attention Token (BAT), Flare (FLR), and Starknet (STRK), covering users in compliant regions including New York State.
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US Three Major Indexes Mixed, HOOD Down Over 6.11%
PANews reported on June 6th that Starknet v0.14.3 will be launched on the mainnet this month, with the testnet launch scheduled for June 9th and the mainnet launch scheduled for June 22nd. The new version will support dynamic L2 Gas base fee adjustment based on STRK, improve block generation speed, reduce target L2 Gas consumption per block while maintaining the maximum block size, and deprecate RPC 0.8. Due to the significant changes in this update, the official team strongly recommends that all developers carefully read the pre-release notes to prepare for compatibility and upgrades.
Starknet has launched a new zero-knowledge privacy framework that it says is designed to enable shielded balances and private transfers for any ERC20 asset on its network, while incorporating disclosure mechanisms intended to support regulatory and compliance requirements.
The framework, known as STRK20, allows developers to add private transaction flows without building a separate privacy stack. It can scan support transfers, swaps, lending, staking, payments, and donations, while viewing keys allow only information responsive to legally binding requests to be disclosed, according to a statement shared with The Block.
The Starknet team said the framework is not a mixer. Mixing typically sends assets to a separate destination to obscure transaction history, whereas STRK20 embeds shielding directly into the asset flow. Privacy operates as a native mode of activity rather than a specialist detour, they noted.
"This is practical privacy in the truest sense," Damian Chen, VP of Growth at the Starknet Foundation, said. "It enables users, builders, and institutions to maintain confidentiality from the public while preserving compliance-ready disclosure paths when required by law."
The strkBTC launch gave STRK20 its first major use case, bringing shielded balances and private transfers to bitcoin activity on Starknet, per the statement.
Rather than treating privacy as a separate destination, strkBTC uses STRK20 to make shielding part of the asset experience itself, allowing bitcoin to move between public and private modes through supported Starknet wallets and applications.
Eli Ben-Sasson, CEO of StarkWare, predicted that ZK-powered privacy solutions like STRK20 will lead to more pinpointed regulatory actions over time.
He said current investigations into privacy infrastructure can affect large numbers of wallets and argued that advances in ZK technology could allow future investigations to target specific information with less collateral impact.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
PANews reported on June 9th that, according to The Block, Starknet has launched the zero-knowledge privacy framework STRK20, providing balance masking and private transfer capabilities for any ERC20 asset on the network, and has already been implemented on strkBTC. This framework allows developers to introduce privacy features for scenarios such as transfers, exchanges, lending, staking, payments, and donations without needing to build a separate privacy system. STRK20 uses an embedded "masking" mode in the asset path, rather than a traditional mixer structure, and introduces a viewing key mechanism to selectively disclose specific wallet information only upon receiving a legally valid request, thus balancing privacy protection and compliance requirements. Starknet CEO Eli Ben-Sasson believes that such ZK privacy solutions have the potential to make regulatory investigations more precise and reduce the collateral impact on a large number of wallets.
Key HighlightsPrivacy Features Integrated Directly Into ERC20 Token TransfersViewing Key System Enables Controlled Information AccessstrkBTC Serves as Initial Implementation of STRK20 Protocol Starknet introduces STRK20 protocol for confidential ERC20 token transactions. The framework implements balance shielding without relying on conventional mixer architectures. Selective disclosure via viewing keys enables compliance with regulatory inquiries. strkBTC emerges as the inaugural asset implementing Starknet’s STRK20 standard. The protocol positions itself as a privacy solution compatible with regulatory frameworks. Starknet has rolled out STRK20, a zero-knowledge-based privacy protocol designed for ERC20 tokens operating on its platform. The new standard enables confidential transactions and hidden balance features while maintaining channels for lawful information disclosure. It provides developers with a straightforward method to integrate privacy capabilities without additional external systems.
Privacy Features Integrated Directly Into ERC20 Token Transfers The STRK20 protocol enables any ERC20 token on Starknet to facilitate confidential transactions and balance concealment. Developers can implement these privacy features across various applications including token swaps, lending protocols, staking mechanisms, payment systems, and charitable contributions. Consequently, privacy functionality becomes natively integrated into standard token operations across the network.
Rather than employing traditional mixer technology, the framework utilizes an integrated masking approach. Conventional mixers typically route assets through isolated pools or multiple addresses to obscure transaction trails. STRK20 embeds the privacy layer directly within the ERC20 token’s transaction flow.
This architectural approach enables users to transition seamlessly between transparent and confidential transaction modes using compatible Starknet wallets and decentralized applications. It eliminates the requirement for standalone privacy infrastructure. As a result, developers can construct private token experiences with reduced technical complexity.
Viewing Key System Enables Controlled Information Access STRK20 incorporates a viewing key mechanism that facilitates regulated disclosure of wallet data. These cryptographic keys permit designated information sharing when legally mandated requests arise. The architecture doesn’t expose complete wallet transaction histories to public scrutiny.
The development team at Starknet emphasized that this approach distinguishes STRK20 from mixer-based privacy protocols. The goal is to safeguard transaction privacy while maintaining accessibility to compliance mechanisms. Financial institutions and application developers can leverage privacy features without eliminating their ability to respond to lawful requests.
Damian Chen, Vice President of Growth at Starknet Foundation, stated that STRK20 delivers functional privacy for end users, developers, and institutional participants. He emphasized that the protocol maintains confidentiality from public observation while supporting legitimate disclosure requirements. His statement positions STRK20 within the broader industry movement toward regulatory-compatible blockchain privacy solutions.
strkBTC Serves as Initial Implementation of STRK20 Protocol The protocol has been deployed on strkBTC, which represents bitcoin-backed assets on the Starknet network. STRK20 now empowers strkBTC holders to conceal balances and execute confidential transfers. This deployment provides the framework with its first significant production implementation.
The strkBTC launch demonstrates how ERC20 tokens can incorporate privacy features while remaining within Starknet’s application ecosystem. Users can transition bitcoin-linked assets between public and private modes through compatible infrastructure. Meanwhile, developers can integrate these capabilities into broader decentralized finance and payment platforms.
Eli Ben-Sasson, CEO of StarkWare, suggested that zero-knowledge privacy mechanisms could enable more precise regulatory enforcement in the future. He noted that current privacy-related investigations may impact numerous wallets beyond the specific subjects under review. Consequently, STRK20 positions Starknet’s privacy approach around controlled access, cryptographic shielding, and compliant disclosure protocols.
Oliver Dale
Editor-in-Chief of Blockonomi and founder of Kooc Media, A UK-Based Online Media Company. Believer in Open-Source Software, Blockchain Technology & a Free and Fair Internet for all. His writing has been quoted by Nasdaq, Dow Jones, Investopedia, The New Yorker, Forbes, Techcrunch & More. Contact [email protected]
Starknet has launched STRK20, a zero-knowledge privacy framework that gives ERC-20 assets shielded balances and private transfers, according to information shared with The Block.
Summary
STRK20 gives ERC-20 assets shielded balances and private transfers without requiring separate privacy infrastructure stacks. Viewing keys allow targeted disclosure for valid legal requests while protecting other users’ transaction histories. strkBTC provides the framework’s first live use case, adding optional privacy to Bitcoin activity. Developers can add confidential flows without building a separate privacy system for each token.
The framework supports transfers, swaps, lending, staking, payments and donations through compatible wallets and applications. Viewing keys can also provide limited transaction records when authorities present a valid legal request.
STRK20 brings private balances to Starknet tokens STRK20 lets users move assets between public and shielded states while keeping the same underlying ERC-20 token. A zero-knowledge proof confirms that each private action follows network rules without exposing a balance or full transaction history.
The system uses Starknet’s native proof infrastructure and Cairo-based contracts. Users place assets into a shared privacy pool, transact inside it and withdraw when needed. Starknet says this avoids creating isolated private tokens or splitting liquidity across separate markets.
Meanwhile, each participant registers an encrypted viewing key. An independent auditing party can use it to reconstruct one user’s activity after receiving a valid legal or regulatory request. Other accounts in the pool remain hidden.
“This is practical privacy in the truest sense,” Starknet Foundation growth vice president Damian Chen said. He described the design as a way to preserve public confidentiality while retaining a route for required disclosure.
Starknet said STRK20 differs from a mixer because privacy remains part of the asset’s normal movement. Mixers usually send tokens through a separate service to obscure transaction history. STRK20 instead adds shielding to supported wallet and application flows.
strkBTC becomes the first major STRK20 use case strkBTC became the first asset built on STRK20. The Bitcoin-backed ERC-20 token offers public and shielded modes, allowing users to hide selected balances and transfers before returning assets to a transparent state.
The rollout supports shielding through Ready X and Xverse wallets. Starknet is also expanding private swaps through avnu and Ekubo, while lending through Vesu and staking through Endur form part of the wider plan.
Some parts of these DeFi transactions may remain visible. Starknet notes that amounts routed through public liquidity can appear onchain even when the direct link to a user’s wallet is hidden. Privacy also strengthens as more users enter the shared pool.
Starknet expands a privacy plan announced in March As previously reported by crypto.news, Starknet introduced STRK20 in March for confidential ERC-20 balances and selective disclosure. Its v0.14.2 mainnet upgrade later added native proof verification for encrypted balances and private transactions.
StarkWare chief executive Eli Ben-Sasson said zero-knowledge systems could allow future investigations to request narrower information. The approach has not yet faced broad regulatory testing, and institutions will still need to assess its legal, security and operational controls before adoption.
Skip to contentSTRK20 brings privacy into the assets, wallets, and applications already used on Starknet.
Onchain privacy has felt harder to use than it shouldThe need is obvious: people, companies, and institutions need ways to use crypto without exposing every balance, transfer, position, and interaction by default. But in practice, privacy has usually meant accepting trade-offs across assets, wallets, applications, liquidity, and user experience.
That is not how privacy becomes useful at scaleFor privacy to matter in onchain finance, it has to work inside the environment people already use. It needs to support existing assets, applications, and liquidity, while still making sense for builders, institutions, and businesses that need confidentiality without giving up accountability.
That is what STRK20 brings to StarknetSTRK20 introduces a privacy framework for all ERC-20 assets on Starknet. It brings privacy into Starknet’s assets, wallets, and applications, allowing supported assets to move through private flows and applications to offer privacy directly to users.
That changes what crypto privacy can be: not an alternative environment for users willing to leave DeFi behind, but a native capability to an existing ecosystem that can add enhanced capabilities to improve the products, assets, and financial flows already being built on Starknet.
Privacy Starts in Your Wallet
This is the first phase of STRK20 live today on Starknet:Privacy begins in the wallet: Accessed through Ready X and Xverse. Shield the asset: Inside the wallet, users select the asset they want to shield. This is a one-click, near instantaneous action.Shielded Assets: Once shielded, a public balance becomes a private balance hidden from public view, controlled by the same wallet. Use private swaps: Once shielded, users can access private swaps using the same wallet, with routing across liquidity in the Starknet ecosystem.Use private transfers: Users can also make private transfers to others inside the privacy pools.Unshield when needed: Move assets back from a private balance to a public balance with a simple one-click flow. No waiting or hidden charge. This is a one-click action. How STRK20 Works
STRK20 uses a note-based privacy pool on Starknet. When an ERC-20 asset is shielded, it is deposited into the STRK20 privacy pool and represented as an encrypted note. Private actions spend existing notes and create new ones, allowing activity to be verified without exposing the full transaction details.
Each private transfer is validated by a zero-knowledge proof. The proof confirms that the notes being spent exist, belong to the spender, have not already been spent, and that input and output values balance. Starknet verifies the proof onchain before the pool state is updated.
Public observers can see encrypted notes and required protocol metadata. For private transfers, they do not see the sender, receiver, amount, or which private balances were used.
STRK20 is built for Starknet’s proving environment. Proofs are generated with Stwo, while Cairo is used across the proof logic and contract code. Encrypted notes are stored directly in Starknet contract storage. This matters because privacy systems depend on the soundness of the proving stack. StarkWare has spent years investing in the reliability and formal verification of core Cairo and STARK infrastructure, giving STRK20 a strong technical foundation to build on.
STRK20 also supports multiple token types in a single pool, avoids scanning the entire pool for note discovery, and removes the need for a separate note-commitment tree by storing encrypted notes directly onchain.
Together, these design choices give STRK20 private transfers, double-spend protection, efficient note discovery, multi-asset support, Starknet DeFi integration, and a path toward private onchain activity with defined disclosure when required.
For further reading: Technical Paper linked here
Disclosure, When Required STRK20 is built for privacy without removing accountability.
By default, private transfers do not reveal the sender, receiver, amount, or notes being spent. But STRK20 also includes an encrypted viewing key framework that gives a path to disclose specific transaction information when required.
This allows a third party auditing entity to trace specific information (such as a user’s transaction history) in response to a legitimate compliance or regulatory request, without exposing uninvolved users or the wider privacy pool.
The result is privacy with defined disclosure: confidential by default, accountable when required.
Why Starknet Takes A Different ApproachSTRK20 is designed around a simple principle: privacy should work inside normal onchain activity, not outside it.
Starknet makes this practical through STARK proofs, scalable verification, and Cairo-based execution. Private transactions require proof generation and onchain verification, and Starknet is built to make that computation efficient enough for regular use.
Shielded transactions cost 4 STRK, giving STRK20 a practical cost profile for wallet, payment, trading, and DeFi activity.
That foundation creates benefits across the ecosystem.
For users, privacy becomes easier to access because it is integrated into familiar wallet flows.For builders, privacy becomes easier to adopt because applications can integrate private flows via SDK, without needing to build an entirely separate privacy stack from scratch.For institutions, privacy becomes operationally useful because confidentiality can exist alongside a path for disclosure when required.For asset issuers, STRK20 gives supported tokens a path to privacy on Starknet without deploying a separate privacy-specific version or fragmenting liquidity.What STRK20 Enables Across Starknet
STRK20 is a framework that teams across the Starknet ecosystem can build into their own products.
Privacy can now appear across wallets, trading, lending, payments, vaults, games, identity systems, and new financial applications without every team needing to build a separate privacy stack.
It also creates room for products built around privacy from day one, including payroll, donations, treasury flows, private markets, and other forms of confidential onchain activity.
Below are some of the teams bringing these use cases to Starknet.
Wallets and identity
Ready and Xverse have integrated one-click shielding for assets on Starknet, with native private swapping routed using avnu. Support across both mobile and desktop extensions.Trading and liquidity
avnu provides trading routing across all Starknet venues and gasless execution for private asset flows through its Paymaster.Ekubo serves as a key liquidity venue where private swaps can settle against existing Starknet markets. Lending, yield, and vaults
Vesu will support shielded assets, bringing privacy to lending and borrowing.Endur, Starknet’s liquid staking layer, supports private staking flows for shielded tokens such as xstrkBTC and more.ForgeYields, a cross-chain yield allocator, is applying privacy to its protocol, enabling private yield farming for DeFi.Troves is building automated yield and vault strategies with private deposits and positions.Privily is building a privacy neobank and financial appchain, anchored on a STRK20 privacy-enabled stablecoin.Zylith is a call auction darkpool that enables private order flow while reducing timing and access-pattern leakage.Prediction markets
Polyhedge is building autonomous prediction agents that earn on idle capital, with position and intent kept private.Gaming
Provable Games, the team behind Loot Survivor, is exploring the opportunity to use STRK20 for hidden in-game information and private governance.For more use cases and ideas: 11 Things You Can Build with STRK20
What Comes NextToday’s launch is the first phase of STRK20 on Starknet: wallet-enabled privacy, shielded balances, and private swaps through supported wallets.
From here, support will expand across the rest of Starknet DeFi. That includes private lending, broader trading interfaces, expanded wallet support, and more applications integrating STRK20 into their core products.
The next phase is developer-facing. Starknet will open-source the wallet API and release SDK infrastructure so builders can add private flows without building a separate privacy stack from scratch.
That next phase will also extend STRK20 beyond Starknet-native users. Applications and users on other EVM chains, Solana and more will be able to access Starknet’s privacy pool as a privacy layer for cross-chain activity, bringing immediate cross-chain capabilities to private flows.
Where To StartSTRK20 is live, and there are several ways to get involved:
Use privacy on StarknetDownload Ready X or Xverse to shield supported assets and access private swaps.Download the Ready X WalletDownload the Xverse WalletExplore the Privacy HubVisit strk20.starknet.io the privacy hub, with activations, rewards, and ecosystem updates planned. Activations will roll out continuously over the coming weeks.Build with STRK20Request access to developer tooling, including the wallet API and SDK infrastructure. Access the STRK20 website here.Apply to the Proof of Privacy IncubatorTeams with privacy-focused ideas can apply to Proof, the Starknet Foundation-backed incubator.Applications will open this weekPrivacy where crypto worksOn Starknet, it starts with shielding in the wallet. From there, the goal is broader: privacy as a native capability across the assets, applications, and financial flows people already use, giving builders a way to add privacy to existing products or build entirely new privacy-first applications. This is how better applications get built on Starknet.
Join our newsletterReceive notifications on Starknet updates
Starknet launched STRK20 on Tuesday, a note-based privacy framework that lets users shield ERC-20 token balances and conduct private transfers and swaps on the Ethereum layer-2 network, with an encrypted viewing-key path for compliance.
Starknet rolled out STRK20, a note-based privacy layer for ERC-20 tokens, on Tuesday, allowing users to shield balances and conduct private transfers and swaps on the Ethereum layer-2 network.
The launch is the first phase of STRK20, a framework Starknet has been building since its v0.14.2 protocol upgrade in April, which introduced native in-protocol proof verification.
How STRK20 WorksSTRK20 operates as a note-based privacy pool rather than a mixer. When a user shields an ERC-20 token, it is deposited into the pool and represented as an encrypted note. Private transfers spend existing notes and generate new ones. Each transfer is validated by a zero-knowledge proof confirming that the notes spent exist, belong to the spender, have not been double-spent, and that input and output amounts balance.
Starknet verifies the proof on-chain before updating pool state. Public observers can see encrypted notes and required protocol metadata, but cannot see the sender, receiver, amounts, or which balances were used, according to Starknet's announcement.
Compliance Path Built InSTRK20 includes an encrypted viewing-key framework designed to address regulatory requirements. A third-party audit firm holds a viewing key that can be used to trace specific transaction history in response to a valid legal or regulatory request, without exposing uninvolved users.
The design mirrors the compliance disclosures built into protocols such as Aztec and Aleo: private by default, accountable when required.
The Competitive LandscapeStarknet's launch arrives as on-chain transaction privacy is under scrutiny. Zcash's Orchard shielded pool suffered a counterfeiting flaw disclosed last month that caused ZEC to lose more than half its value. A formal Ironwood upgrade to restore supply verification and add formal proof verification is now targeting a late-July mainnet date.
Aztec Network shipped Nyx v2 with private accounts governed by Ethereum keys earlier this year, and Sui launched a confidential-transfers feature in public beta this week. For the first time, three distinct L1/L2 networks are offering transaction-level privacy simultaneously.
STRK20 differs from those approaches in one respect: it targets existing ERC-20 assets rather than requiring users to move to a separate privacy-native asset. Any ERC-20 on Starknet can be shielded through the same pool without fragmenting liquidity.
What Is Not Yet AvailableThe current launch covers wallet-level shielding, private swaps, and private transfers. Broader DeFi integration, including private lending and borrowing, is not yet live. Starknet plans to open-source the wallet API and release an SDK for builders to integrate STRK20 into their own products in the next phase.
Cross-chain capabilities, which would allow users on Ethereum and Solana to access Starknet's privacy pool without bridging manually, are also planned but not yet available. No adoption metrics, wallet counts, or shielded volume figures were disclosed at launch.
StarkWare has launched a new privacy framework for Starknet tokens that allows users to conceal balances and transaction details while preserving tools for compliance reviews and regulatory disclosures.
Summary
StarkWare launched STRK20, a Starknet privacy standard that hides balances and transaction data while allowing disclosures for compliance reviews. Sui opened public testing for confidential transfers that conceal balances and transfer amounts but keep key transaction metadata visible. Recent developments at Zama and Zcash have increased attention on privacy systems that combine confidentiality with auditability. According to StarkWare, the newly released STRK20 standard brings privacy features to ERC-20 tokens on Starknet by enabling users to shield balances and transaction information on-chain.
The framework was announced on Tuesday as developers across the crypto industry continue looking for ways to offer transaction privacy without removing oversight mechanisms relied upon by institutions, exchanges, and regulators.
Providing details on how the system works, StarkWare co-founder and CEO Eli Ben-Sasson notes that STRK20 should not be viewed as a guarantee of regulatory approval or legal compliance. Instead, he said the framework follows a risk-based approach where privacy remains conditional.
Ben-Sasson explained that screening occurs before assets enter shielded pools and that viewing-key technology can be used to disclose information when lawful requests require access.
Unlike traditional privacy-focused cryptocurrencies that seek to obscure most transaction data, STRK20 introduces disclosure tools designed to balance confidentiality with accountability.
Under the model described by StarkWare, transaction details remain hidden from the public while authorized disclosure remains possible under specific circumstances.
Privacy tools are adding disclosure mechanisms Elsewhere in the sector, developers are adopting similar approaches to encrypted transactions. According to an announcement published on June 8, Sui opened public testing for confidential transfers on its Devnet. The feature encrypts token balances and transfer amounts while leaving sender and recipient addresses, token types, and transaction timestamps visible on-chain.
As reported by crypto.news, Sui stated that authorized parties can access relevant data when required for auditing or compliance purposes. A Testnet rollout is scheduled for later this year.
Rather than removing transparency entirely, the Sui design keeps selected transaction information visible while concealing financial details. The network described the system as a way to support privacy requirements without limiting access for compliance teams and auditors.
Taken together, the launches from StarkWare and Sui highlight how blockchain developers are increasingly incorporating controlled disclosure features into privacy products instead of relying on complete anonymity.
Recent events have increased focus on oversight At the same time, several privacy-focused projects have recently faced scrutiny over compliance and operational safeguards.
Earlier this month, blockchain privacy company Zama said it would speed up work on its compliance roadmap after approximately $12.5 million in USDC held within its confidential USDC wrapper was frozen under a court order. According to Zama, the restriction was later removed once the underlying legal request was resolved.
Following the incident, the company highlighted disclosure tools and regulatory coordination procedures available for encrypted transactions.
Meanwhile, developers behind Zcash recently disclosed a vulnerability that raised concerns about the possible creation of counterfeit tokens. According to the project, an emergency network upgrade completed in early June addressed the issue, and no evidence of exploitation has been found.
Zcash developers noted that reconstructing historical activity inside shielded pools can be difficult after vulnerabilities are disclosed, a limitation that has renewed discussion around how privacy systems can provide confidentiality while still supporting verification and oversight when needed.
The Starknet Foundation is betting that privacy and compliance can coexist on the same blockchain. Its new incubator program, called Proof of Privacy, is now accepting applications from teams building on STRK20, the privacy framework that quietly went live in early June.
Think of it as a startup accelerator, but instead of pitching the next food delivery app, teams are competing to build the most useful privacy tools in decentralized finance. The first cohort will receive eight weeks of mentorship and milestone-based support.
What STRK20 actually does The framework, which launched around June 9-10, introduces zero-knowledge privacy features for ERC-20 tokens. It lets users shield their balances and make private transfers without moving assets to a separate, purpose-built privacy chain.
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The technical architecture relies on client-side zero-knowledge proofs built with StarkWare’s Stwo prover and Cairo programming language. These proofs conceal the sender, receiver, and amount of a transaction from public observers.
STRK20 includes optional viewing keys that allow lawful disclosure. So a user can prove the legitimacy of their transactions to an auditor without exposing those details to everyone else on the network.
“This is practical privacy in the truest sense,” said Damian Chen, VP of Growth at the Starknet Foundation.
The framework is also designed to integrate with existing wallets and DeFi applications. An open-source SDK accompanies the release, enabling developers to build private swaps and other confidential financial primitives on top of the standard.
Why an incubator, and why now The Starknet Foundation is targeting teams that want to apply STRK20’s capabilities to real-world use cases like payroll, lending, and identity verification.
The eight-week program structure suggests the Foundation is looking for teams that already have a working concept rather than purely theoretical proposals. Milestone-based support implies that funding and resources are tied to demonstrable progress, not just promising pitch decks.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
Skip to contentStarkscan is the block explorer and self-serve data API for Starknet.
Starkscan is the block explorer and self-serve data API for Starknet. It gives developers, applications, and AI agents structured, decoded access to Starknet activity through a public API and CLI, and gives people a clean explorer for looking up transactions, contracts, and wallets. Starkscan is live in public beta at starkscan.co
Starknet is read by more than humansA growing share of activity on Starknet is no longer read by a person clicking through an explorer. It is read by software: applications, dashboards, wallets, scripts, bots, monitoring systems, AI agents, protocol teams, and trading tools that need structured access to what is happening onchain, often continuously and at scale.
That shift requires more than a traditional block explorer. Most explorers were built for one job: a person looking up a single transaction. They were never designed for an agent polling network state every few seconds, a dashboard tracking contract activity over weeks, or a wallet checking balances across thousands of accounts.
Starkscan is built for both audiences from the same data surface. The explorer is the human surface. The API is the programmable surface.
What is Starkscan?Starkscan is two products on one data layer:
A Starknet block explorer. A clean, readable interface for the moments when someone needs to understand what happened onchain. Look up a transaction, trace a contract call, check a wallet, and inspect decoded activity. Starknet-specific concepts: Cairo contracts, account abstraction, and privacy pool activity, are rendered as something you can actually read, not raw calldata.
A self-serve Starknet data API. Generate an API key in seconds and start querying decoded Starknet data: balances, transactions, transfers, contract events, and wallet activity. Predictable schemas and decoded outputs mean you can build against the API without scraping explorer pages or stitching together raw RPC responses.
Because both surfaces sit on the same data, anything you can see in the explorer, you can query programmatically and route into a workflow.
How the Starkscan API worksGetting onchain data out of Starknet takes one call:
The response is decoded JSON. No scraping, no manual ABI decoding, no assembling fragmented third-party infrastructure. Generate a key at starkscan.co/api-key and you are reading Starknet in under a minute.
The API and CLI are designed for workflows that read the network repeatedly:
Agents and scripts querying Starknet state and activity on a loopDashboards tracking transactions, volumes, and contract usage over timeWallets and apps checking balances, transaction status, and account activityMonitoring systems watching specific contracts for events or anomaliesProtocol teams auditing user activity across their deploymentsTraders and power users running frequent network scans without rate-limit gymnasticsBuilt for AI agents and automated workflowsAI agents are becoming first-class consumers of blockchain data, and they need data they can query repeatedly, parse reliably, and chain into multi-step investigations.
A concrete example: an agent can ask which wallets interacted with strkBTC in the last few hours, then inspect which of those wallets also touched the Privacy Pool contract. Starkscan exposes the underlying transfers, wallet activity, and contract events through the same API and CLI surface, turning what used to be a one-off explorer search into a repeatable, automated workflow.
This matters more as Starknet expands into new use cases, including privacy-enabled Bitcoin through strkBTC. As the network’s surface area grows, the ecosystem needs data infrastructure that keeps up, including visibility into privacy pool activity that other tooling does not decode.
Get startedStarkscan is live in public beta. Anyone can explore the network in the UI, generate an API key, and start building.
Explorer: starkscan.coAPI key: starkscan.co/api-keyDocs: starkscan.co/docsThis is the first version, and it will evolve with the ecosystem. Structured for agents. Readable for humans.
Frequently asked questionsWhat is Starkscan?Starkscan is the block explorer and self-serve data API for Starknet, built for the Starknet ecosystem. It lets people look up transactions, contracts, and wallets in a web UI, and lets developers and agents query decoded Starknet data programmatically via API and CLI.
Is Starkscan free to use?Starkscan is in public beta. Anyone can use the explorer and generate an API key to start querying Starknet data. See starkscan.co/docs for current access details.
How do I get a Starkscan API key?Generate one self-serve at starkscan.co/api-key. No sales contact or approval process is required. You can start querying within a minute.
How is Starkscan different from other block explorers?Most explorers are built for humans looking up individual transactions. Starkscan is built for continuous, programmatic reads as well: it pairs a human-readable explorer with a structured API that returns decoded JSON, with predictable schemas designed for agents, dashboards, wallets, and monitoring systems. It also decodes Starknet-specific activity such as Cairo contracts, account abstraction, and privacy pools.
Can AI agents use Starkscan?Yes. The API and CLI are designed for agent workflows: repeatable queries, decoded outputs, and consistent schemas that can be chained into multi-step investigations for example, tracing which wallets interacted with a token and then checking their activity against another contract.
What data can I query through the Starkscan API?Transactions, transfers, balances, wallet activity, contract events, and decoded Starknet-specific activity, including privacy pool interactions related to products like strkBTC.
Join our newsletterReceive notifications on Starknet updates
Starkscan just dropped a revamped block explorer and data API for Starknet, and the most interesting part isn’t the explorer itself. It’s who the platform is building for: not just human developers, but AI agents too.
The new offering bundles REST endpoints, a TypeScript SDK, a command line interface, and machine-readable documentation under a single API key. One key unlocks pretty much every way you’d want to query Starknet data, whether you’re a developer debugging a contract or an AI system autonomously pulling transaction histories.
What Starkscan actually built At its core, Starkscan provides decoded data for blocks, transactions, contracts, and tokens across Starknet’s mainnet. The network’s block height now exceeds 10.8 million.
The free-tier API key grants access to the full stack of tools: REST, SDK, CLI, and hosted MCP interfaces.
The machine-readable documentation is specifically designed for what Starkscan calls “agent-native querying,” building an on-ramp for AI systems to interact with Starknet programmatically.
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Starknet’s broader momentum Starknet, the ZK-rollup Layer 2 network developed by StarkWare, has been on a feature shipping spree.
The network introduced strkBTC on May 12, 2026, a Bitcoin bridging solution that uses zero-knowledge technology to bring shielded Bitcoin assets onto Starknet.
Around June 11, 2026, Starknet rolled out STRK20 privacy updates, extending the network’s confidential transaction capabilities.
A v0.14.3 upgrade is also in the pipeline, targeting performance improvements and user experience refinements across the network.
STRK, Starknet’s native token, functions as both a staking asset and the medium for transaction operations within the ecosystem.
What this means for investors Starknet is simultaneously expanding its asset base with strkBTC, enhancing privacy with STRK20, improving performance with upcoming upgrades, and now getting better developer tooling through Starkscan.
For STRK holders, more developer tools means more developers, more applications, and more transactions consuming STRK as gas.
Investors should track whether Starknet’s recent feature launches, particularly strkBTC and the privacy updates, drive sustained transaction volume growth or merely generate a brief spike of activity.
If Starkscan’s API becomes the default data layer for AI agents interacting with Starknet, it creates a sticky relationship that benefits both the explorer and the broader ecosystem. Watch for developer adoption metrics and API usage data in the coming months to gauge whether Starkscan’s bet on agent-native infrastructure is paying off.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
PANews, June 20 – Starknet AMM protocol mySwap disclosed that its mySwap CL protocol suffered a vulnerability exploit, resulting in approximately $300,000 being drained from liquidity pools. The team stated that the mySwap interface has been shut down for over six months and no longer accepts new liquidity injections, with the affected funds primarily consisting of residual LP positions spread across more than 100,000 positions. The attacker bridged the stolen funds and used Railgun to obfuscate the asset flows. The exploit nearly depleted all remaining liquidity in the protocol.
Starknet just made private DeFi about as easy as toggling on dark mode. The Ethereum layer 2 network has published a walkthrough for accessing its privacy features through compatible wallets, turning what used to be a multi-step cryptographic headache into something approaching a one-click experience.
The guide centers on Starknet’s STRK20 privacy framework, which went live around June 9. It allows users to shield ERC-20 assets directly from wallets like Xverse and Ready, then interact with DeFi protocols, including swaps, lending, and staking, without broadcasting every detail of their financial life to the entire blockchain.
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How the shielding actually works Starknet’s approach lets users convert standard tokens into shielded versions through their wallet interface. The framework is designed to maintain composability with public liquidity pools, meaning private transactions can tap into existing liquidity rather than being confined to isolated ecosystems where shielded assets could only interact with other shielded assets.
Transactions using the privacy features settle in under five seconds at low costs, according to Starknet. That’s roughly the same speed as a standard Starknet transaction, meaning the privacy layer doesn’t introduce meaningful friction.
strkBTC and the Bitcoin angle Starknet launched strkBTC back in May, a shielded representation of Bitcoin on its network. strkBTC lets Bitcoin holders participate in Starknet’s DeFi ecosystem without their BTC positions being publicly visible. Both Xverse and Ready wallets support one-click shielding and unshielding of strkBTC alongside other assets, making the process uniform regardless of the underlying token.
The compliance question The STRK20 framework includes compliance features built into its architecture: viewing keys are encrypted for an integrity council, creating a mechanism that blends user privacy with regulatory requirements. This design allows transactions to be private by default yet auditable under specific conditions, occupying a middle ground that could work for compliance-conscious players.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
