# StarkWare weighs moving Starknet off Ethereum to a hash-based, quantum-resistant chain by 2027

The STRK token more than doubled in seven days and Starknet's value secured rose 40.1% in a week, although no formal proposal or vote exists yet.

- Published: 2026-10-12T05:41:53.098Z
- Canonical: https://polylog.news/crypto/2026-10-12/starkware-weighs-moving-starknet-off-ethereum-to-a-hash-base
- Publisher: Polylog (Crypto desk)
- Section: crypto
- Sources: [CryptoSlate](https://cryptoslate.com/starknet-doubles-in-a-week-as-ethereum-exit-plan-ignite-2-billion-trading-frenzy/), [Ethereum Research](https://ethresear.ch/t/erc-8403-an-account-as-one-hash-and-post-quantum-keys/26147), [Unchained](https://unchainedcrypto.com/starknet-weighs-becoming-a-layer-1-to-chase-quantum-resistance-by-2027), [Bankless](https://www.bankless.com/read/news/starknet-weighs-becoming-an-l1-to-chase-quantum-resistance.md)

Starknet, a zero-knowledge rollup that settles on Ethereum, is "actively considering" becoming an independent layer-1 (L1) blockchain. The goal is to be fully quantum-resistant by 2027, [according to Unchained](https://unchainedcrypto.com/starknet-weighs-becoming-a-layer-1-to-chase-quantum-resistance-by-2027). Eli Ben-Sasson, chief executive of StarkWare, the company that built Starknet, said an independent chain would let Starknet run its own security upgrades instead of waiting for Ethereum. [Bankless reports](https://www.bankless.com/read/news/starknet-weighs-becoming-an-l1-to-chase-quantum-resistance.md) that Ethereum's roadmap targets core post-quantum infrastructure around 2029, and that StarkWare cites faster progress in artificial intelligence as a reason to move sooner. There is no formal proposal and no governance vote.

The technical argument is narrow. Starknet's proofs are STARKs (Scalable Transparent Arguments of Knowledge). These rely on hash functions and are widely considered resistant to quantum attack. The settlement layer beneath them is different: Ethereum accounts and validators sign with elliptic-curve schemes, which a large enough quantum computer could break. An independent chain would replace Ethereum's security layer with a hash-based one. The cost is that Starknet would give up Ethereum's validator set and would need to recruit and decentralize a validator set of its own.

Markets moved before any governance step. A CoinGlass snapshot taken at 20:28 UTC on October 11 [showed STRK at $0.1190](https://cryptoslate.com/starknet-doubles-in-a-week-as-ethereum-exit-plan-ignite-2-billion-trading-frenzy/), up 17.7% in 24 hours and 116.7% in seven days. L2Beat data show Starknet's total value secured (TVS) at $747.5 million, up 40.1% over seven days. Starknet was the only large rollup in the L2Beat list with a gain that size, while Base and Arbitrum One each fell about 3%. L2Beat still rates Starknet "Stage 1," the middle of its scale for how much a rollup depends on its operators.

Ethereum researchers are working on the same problem from inside the protocol. A draft standard posted on Ethereum Research, [ERC-8403 (Ethereum Request for Comments 8403)](https://ethresear.ch/t/erc-8403-an-account-as-one-hash-and-post-quantum-keys/26147), sets common rules for adding and revoking keys under native account abstraction. Its author notes that today each account model defines those actions differently, so wallets must support all of them. The draft represents an account as a single hash and allows post-quantum keys, which would let users switch to quantum-safe signatures without leaving Ethereum. The two efforts reflect a choice every rollup now faces: wait for the base layer's timeline, or leave to set its own.

## What this means

The risk falls on Ethereum's rollup-centric model, in which rollups pay Ethereum for settlement and add to the case for holding ETH. A top rollup leaving over security timing would be the first major break in that arrangement. Recent precedent ran the other way: Celo moved from its own L1 to an Ethereum layer 2 in 2025 to gain Ethereum's security. STRK holders have priced in a narrative before any design exists, which leaves them exposed to execution risk. The $747.5 million in bridged value sits in Ethereum contracts, so any exit has to include a migration path for those funds. The likelier outcome over the next several months is a formal governance proposal that keeps an Ethereum settlement or bridge path during a transition, not a clean break. A sharp move by Ethereum's core developers to pull forward post-quantum account work, with drafts like ERC-8403 gaining client support, would weaken StarkWare's case and point toward a staged hybrid outcome.

## What to watch

- Whether StarkWare or the Starknet Foundation publishes a formal proposal with a validator design and a bridge-migration plan. Without one, the STRK rally rests on statements alone.
- Ethereum core developer calls for any change to the post-quantum timeline, including support for account-level key rotation of the kind ERC-8403 describes. An earlier date would remove Starknet's stated reason to leave.
- Whether Starknet's value secured holds after the rally. If deposits fall back, the 40% weekly rise reflected speculative capital chasing the token, not users committing to the chain.