With the distribution of STRK tokens fast approaching, what price can we expect for the launch of Starknet’s cryptocurrency? Perpetual futures markets have revealed their first numbers.
What price can we expect for the launch of Starknet’s STRK token?
Starknet, a second-layer solution for the Ethereum blockchain (ETH), has made its STRK token airdrop official, with a distribution date set for February 20.
Some 1.3 million Starknet addresses are eligible for this massive airdrop of 728 million STRK tokens. Eligibility criteria for this new airdrop are diverse, with the distribution aimed at Layer 2 users, developers and Ether solo stakers alike.
As with all token announcements, one question remains: at what price will STRK tokens be traded at launch, and therefore how much airdrop will be allocated to these wallets?
Thanks to perpetual futures contracts, it is possible to roughly estimate the price of the Starknet token to be launched in 5 days’ time. On the Aevo platform, for example, we can see that the STRK token is currently trading at around $1.8 per unit
Evolution of perpetual futures contracts on Starknet’s STRK token since their launch on Wednesday
On the Whales Market platform, prices are slightly higher, with STRK tokens priced at around $1.9. Based on the lowest price of $1.8, we can estimate the market capitalization of Starknet’s token at over $1.3 billion at launch.
This would make it the 67th most capitalized cryptocurrency, taking the place of stablecoin TUSD and placing it just behind Tokenize Xchange’s token TKX.
With STRK’s total supply determined at 10 billion tokens, the fully diluted market capitalization (FDV) of Starknet’s token would be $18 billion. In other words, at this figure, STRK would enter the top 10 most capitalized cryptocurrencies, taking the place of Avalanche’s Avax in 10th place.
A much-criticized airdrop
Starknet is a leading layer 2, and one of the hottest ZK Rollups. As such, the launch of its STRK token was particularly long overdue, and many tried to maximize their chances of being eligible for token distribution.
However, many of them were unpleasantly surprised to discover that they were simply not eligible for this airdrop, sometimes after several months of farming and with thousands of dollars invested in staking or in various decentralized finance protocols (DeFi).
According to the various testimonials gathered on X, many were excluded from the airdrop simply because they didn’t meet one of Starknet’s criteria, which was to hold at least 0.005 ETH in their wallet at the time of the snapshot. As a result of this dissatisfaction, some altcoins present on Starknet saw their share price fall sharply:
The @StarkWareLtd airdrop was so badly received, every shitter and alt on the chain saw itself get absolutely obliterated
( $owl, $spepe, $aku for reference but literally pick any) pic.twitter.com/NVSVapzgR0
– Shual (@0xShual) February 15, 2024
Criticism has since rained down on Starknet, and some have also pointed out that 13% of the total supply of STRK tokens will be paid out in one go on April 15 to investors and early contributors to the project.
The launch of airdrops often creates disappointment for those who weren’t eligible, and time sometimes comes to calm things down. We’ll have to wait a few more days to see what happens to the STRK token when it is launched
