StarkWare Launches Devonomics: 10% Fee Reduction for Developers

Two-layer network Developers will receive a 10% reduction in network fees from StarkWare and the Starknet Foundation as part of a pilot program dubbed “Devonomics.”

StarkWare CEO Uri Kolodny disclosed on December 12 that the company had implemented a transparent and open voting process to distribute a portion of the network fees: 8% provisionally to decentralized app builders and 2% to infrastructure engineers and core developers. Kolodny elaborated, “It is everything about giving the hands-on builders a strong voice in shaping the network.”

The initial distribution of the Devonomics initiative will encompass all transaction fees accrued since the inception of the platform until November 30, 2023. This is approximately 1,600 Ether, which is currently worth approximately $3.58 million at ETH prices.

According to Ben-Sasson, co-founder of StarkWare, the model is expected to undergo multiple iterations but has the potential to significantly influence the Ethereum ecosystem and aid developers in navigating the ongoing challenges of the cryptocurrency winter.

It is a bold experiment trying to change the way developers think about intellectual property and monetization and ensuring they get fairly rewarded for their work.”

Ben-Sasson explained that the cryptocurrency bear market and its financial ramifications are also causing a “phenomenal amount of blockchain brain drain” in the broader cryptocurrency ecosystem as talented developers abandon the sector.

Distributions will commence in ETH prior to the migration to the STRK governance token for Starknet. On December 1, It was reported that the foundation had not yet completed the distribution of STRK tokens and cautioned users about fraudulent activities and forgeries associated with the new L2 asset.

Developer count on Starknet as of Oct. 1, 2023. Source: Electric Capital

The launch of the new program coincides with a surge in developer engagement on the platform. Based on data provided by venture capital firm Electric Capital, the number of full-time developers working on Starknet increased by 14% in October, whereas the overall decline for blockchain projects declined by 28%.

This increase in the number of developers within the Starknet ecosystem was attributed by Ben-Sasson to the January 2023 revision of the native Cairo programming language.

“In summary, Cairo.” Ben-Sasson explains that the language, once considered an afterthought in a world dominated by Solidity, is now gaining recognition as the most remarkable approach to composing smart contracts.

“Its ergonomics and usability have taken huge leaps forward during 2023. Today, it’s even attracting interest outside the STARK ecosystem — an advance that doesn’t show up in the stats.”

StarkWare designed the initiative to aid both new and established developers, thereby promoting the growth of the Starknet ecosystem. At present, the exclusive operator and fee collector on Starknet is zero-knowledge rollup-based StarkWare. In the future, as the network continues to decentralize, this scenario is expected to evolve.

Additionally, Ben-Sasson discloses that Starknet aspires to amass the most developers within the Ethereum ecosystem. He boasts that the layer-2 network has more compute power and is more scalable than any other L2.

“As StarkNet will be orders of magnitude more scalable than Ethereum and have much more compute than exists on L1, it can surpass even Ethereum’s developer ecosystem,” the co-founder of StarkWare stated. Starknet disclosed its intentions to enhance the decentralization of three fundamental elements comprising its rollup solution in November.

According to the industry analytics platform L2beat, Starknet ranks as the ninth-largest layer-2 network with a total value of $137 million. Additionally, TVL has experienced growth of more than 2,600% since the start of 2023.