Starknet is a permissionless, Validity-Rollup, also known as a zero-knowledge rollup (ZK rollup) for Ethereum. It operates as a Layer 2 (L2) blockchain, enabling any dApp to achieve massive scale for its computation without compromising on Ethereum’s composability and security.
Starknet aims to achieves secure low cost transactions and high performance by using the STARK cryptographic proof system. Starknet contracts and the Starknet OS are written in Cairo, a custom-built and specialized programming language.

StarkNet is airdropping 700 million STRK to various early StarkNet and Ethereum users in the form of provisions. Starknet users, developers and community contributors, StarkEx users, Ethereum protocol contributors and stakers and developers of select non-crypto open-source projects are eligible for the airdrop.You can visit the below eligibility page to check if you are eligible. The claim page will be available on February 20th, 2024, at 12pm (UTC), and eligible participants will need a Starknet wallet to claim the STRK tokens.

Step-by-Step Guide:
Visit the StarkNet airdrop eligibility checking page.
Connect your wallet.
If you’re eligible, the number of STRK tokens you can claim will be displayed.
Eligible users are:
Starknet users who’ve performed more than five transactions in total, were active for three months or more, transacted with $100 volume or more, and had 0.005 ETH or more in their account by November 15th, 2023
Starknet early community members
Starknet developers
StarkEx users such as users of dydx, Immutable, Sorare and rhino.fi who’ve performed at least eight transactions before June 1st, 2022
Ethereum contributors such as Ethereum Protocol Guild members, Ethereum developers and EIP Authors
ETH stakers who’ve staked ETH with Ethereum’s proof-of-stake (PoS) model up until the Merge (September 15th, 2022) including solo stakers, stakers who used liquid-staking mechanisms or centralized exchanges and stakers who didn’t use a liquid staking mechanism or centralized exchange but aren’t considered solo stakers according to Rated Network.
Open-source developers who’ve committed at least three times before November 15th, 2023, and with at least one commit between January 1st, 2018, and November 15th, 2023, to one of the top 5,000 GitHub projects (ranked by GitHub stars)


The claim will go live on February 20th, 2024, at 12 pm (UTC) and will be available to claim until June 20th, 2024.
You will need a Starknet wallet like the Argent wallet to claim the STRK tokens.

Using STRK

STRK will be used for several functions crucial to Starknet’s journey toward decentralization:

• Paying network fees: Starting with Provisions, users will be able to pay transaction fees using STRK. Fees on Starknet are currently paid in ETH, and following Provisions, users will have the choice of paying fees in ETH or STRK. Note: While end users will be able to pay fees in STRK, the Starknet protocol continues to use ETH to pay fees on Ethereum to secure the network and its data.
• Governance: Following Provisions, recipients of STRK will be able to participate in governance over various issues that will shape Starknet’s future. More information on Starknet’s governance can be found in the Starknet Governance Hub.
• Staking: In the future, STRK will be used for staking within a proof-of-stake (PoS) model to choose among a decentralized network of sequencers, thus ensuring Starknet’s decentralized operation.

Blockchains aim to achieve three core attributes: security, decentralization, and scalability. In the blockchain world, a well-known trilemma is that it's possible to achieve only two of these concurrently in a given system, inevitably requiring a compromise on the third. Ethereum places a higher emphasis on security and decentralization, impacting its scalability. Growth in the number of Ethereum users leads to slow transaction speeds and high gas prices, hindering Ethereum’s widespread adoption.
How can we make Ethereum scalable without undermining its security and decentralization? This is where the Starknet Validity Rollup comes in. Combining Ethereum and Starknet achieves massive scalability.
Starknet achieves scale by shifting transaction processing off the Ethereum Mainnet (what we call off-chain) while retaining a summary of the transactions onchain. Transactions are grouped in batches into blocks, processed off-chain, and then summarized into a single onchain transaction. Since transactions occur off-chain, it's vital to ensure the integrity of the transactions and their execution without having to re-execute them. Starknet addresses this by employing STARK (Scalable, Transparent ARgument of Knowledge) proofs for verifiable computation. Starknet then transmits only essential information about the block and the proof to Ethereum, where it is verified with minimal computational effort.

Starknet utilizes the power of STARK technology to ensure computational integrity. By validating off-chain transactions with advanced math and cryptography, Starknet overcomes Ethereum’s scalability limitations. Starknet is a Validity Rollup that provides unlimited scale while retaining Ethereum’s security and decentralization.