Welcome to the 27th edition of my monthly recap, where I bring you the most important updates and developments from the Starknet ecosystem!
📣 Important news of the month
🔷 Bitcoin Finance without wrappers will be possible on Starknet
In collaboration with Alpen, the Starknet ecosystem is building the most trust-minimized bridge possible between Bitcoin and Starknet. Powered by Glock, this bridge will enable BTCFi without going through any wrappers.
Glock is a cryptographic verifier that allows Bitcoin to securely check complex off-chain computations with a minimal onchain footprint. Think of it as a smart lock: funds only move when predefined conditions are cryptographically verified on Bitcoin, not when someone manually signs off.
In practice, Glock-powered bridges can lock BTC on Bitcoin and unlock it elsewhere only if it is provably burned. Unlike multisig or wrapped BTC, these conditions are verified directly on Bitcoin.
Learn more about Glock and what it unlocks.
🔷 Native USDC and CCTP v2 finally coming to Starknet
Both Native USDC and CCTP v2 will go live on Starknet in the next few weeks.
Native USDC means that transfers will now rely on a mint-and-burn mechanism, rather than locking tokens on one chain and minting wrapped versions on another.
On its side, CCTP v2 introduces a smoother bridging UX and easier institutional on/off-ramps via Circle Mint for eligible users.
This marks a major unlock for stablecoin adoption on Starknet.
🔷 All Starknet Yield in one place
StarkWare has launched the Starknet Earn Portal, a unified interface for all yield opportunities on Starknet. This beta version starts with Bitcoin Yield and Starknet wallets only, but the end goal is to include:
- EVM wallet support
- All yield opportunities across STRK, ETH, USDC, USDT, and more
All with seamless bridging and a one-click UX.
🔷 The leading Bitcoin wallet is now fully compatible with Starknet
Xverse is now integrated across all Starknet apps, allowing Bitcoiners to move between Bitcoin and Starknet within a single UI and fully use the network. Xverse users can now:
- Hold STRK on Starknet and BTC on Bitcoin
- Bridge Bitcoin between both chains
- Access Starknet apps to generate yield
All within the same wallet.
🔷 Solana fam joins Starknet
A Solana <> Starknet bridge has been launched by StarkWare on StarkGate (Starknet’s canonical bridge), enabling transfers of eight Solana-native assets to Starknet, powered by Hyperlane infrastructure.
Supported assets include SOL, DREAMS, TRUMP, JUP, BONK, PUMP, Fartcoin, and more will come based on community demand.
🔷 A new testing environment for better network stability
The Grinta upgrade in September introduced temporary instability on the network.
To prevent this to happen again, StarkWare will launch EchoNet, a new test environment that mirrors all Mainnet transactions in real time to identify discrepancies.
In short, it’s a more reliable and precise version of Testnet.
🔷 Dfns’ enterprise-grade wallet infrastructure now available on Starknet
Dfns has officially integrated Starknet into its enterprise-grade wallet infrastructure, allowing developers and institutions to create and manage Starknet wallets directly from the Dfns platform.
This integration provides real-time visibility, policy-based governance, webhook automation, and full compatibility with NFTs and DeFi apps on Starknet.
With this Tier-1 support, Dfns brings secure, automated, and auditable wallet management to Starknet, delivering institutional-grade control and programmability for enterprises and builders alike.
📢 Starknet Ecosystem Update
🔷 Ready is becoming a true onchain neobank
This month, Ready shipped two major updates for users.
First, Bank Deposits, a feature allowing users to deposit funds from their bank account directly to their Starknet wallets, bypassing CEXs and avoiding high fees. It supports 150+ countries and five currencies: EUR, GBP, MXN, BRL, and AED.
Second, Ready Card is now integrated with Google Pay, allowing users to pay with their phone using their Ready Card. Apple Pay is coming next.
Easy onboarding, great UX, fully self-custodial, and powered by Starknet, just use Ready.
🔷 Onchain gaming made accessible for normies and connected with DeFi
Jokers of Neons, a fully onchain poker-style game, is now live on both App Store and Google Play.
Blob Arena, a fighting game inspired by Pokémon and featuring IRL integration, is also now live on App Store and Google Play.
Additionally, the Cartridge Controller is now live on AVNU, allowing gamers to trade on Starknet with the best possible execution.
🔷 Developing in Cairo, now easier than ever
Cairo, Starknet’s native programming language, was initially designed for ZK-optimized, high-compute applications, but required developers to learn a new language.
That’s no longer the case, thanks to tools like:
- Cairo Coder, vibe coding with Cairo
- Starknet Play, build & deploy Cairo contracts in 30 seconds
- Cairo Blocks, a drag-and-drop smart contract builder
- Cairo Context MCP Toolkit, an MCP server enabling semantic search across Cairo docs using advanced vector search
Cairo is no longer a bottleneck. So if you need high compute and scale, just build on Starknet.
🔷 Layer Akira brings a full CLOB experience to Starknet
Layer Akira has integrated limit orders, completing its onchain CLOB offering. Users can now set precise prices and let the market come to them.
🔷 Loot Survivor community goes full buyback
The Loot Survivor community has approved a new proposal to use 200+ ETH from the treasury over the next eight months to buy back assets from the Lootverse ecosystem.
🔷 Starknet economics are finally improving
With the BTCFi era launch, major new apps launching, and maturing infrastructure, Starknet is entering a new phase of expansion. Here are some key metrics:
- 800M STRK staked, a 2x increase in 3 months (~19% of circulating supply)
- Combining STRK + BTC staking, $100M+ are now staked on Starknet
- 1,000 BTC bridged to Starknet (10x since BTCFi launch)
- Stablecoins hitting new ATHs weekly (~$150M)
- Ekubo weekly revenue surpassed $100,000 for the first time
- All app metrics trending up (revenue, TVL, users)
- Starknet consistently ranks in the Top 4 Rollups by daily app revenue
- 1M new blocks created in 40 days, compared to 1,130 and 257 days previously
- Record performance: 2630 UOPS (more than 2630 TPS) peak and 273 sustained over a full day
🔹 Alpha Zone 💅
Four new projects launched on Starknet Mainnet this month:
- POW!: Fully onchain clicker & educational game
- BlockRooms: First fully onchain FPS on Starknet
- Noon: Stablecoin issuer launching USN & sUSN
- PonziLand: New season live
And six new projects currently building:
- Prevarus: Game from former Hearthstone, Diablo & Xbox Live creators
- EgyptFi: Private, instant, and profitable crypto payment gateway
- Samurice: Turn-based combat game
- Bytros: Perp DEX with BTC collateral, powered by Extended
- Definite Protocol: Institutional delta-neutral hedging strategies
- Shift Protocol: Yield vaults built on Extended & Paradex
- Near Intents: Enables Starknet assets to trade with Zcash, Sol, BTC, and more
📰 Some of the Best Content of the Month
🔹 Paradex: The only Perp DEX built from first principles
A deep dive into why Paradex stands out and how it’s building new revenue streams.
🔹 BTCFi on Starknet: The good and the not-so-good
An analysis of BTCFi’s early impact, the challenges, and what’s coming next.
🔹Starknet Q3 Recap
If Starknet ships so much every month, imagine what happens in a full quarter. See for yourself.
None of the content of this newsletter is financial advice. Always do your own research.
Thank you for reading, and see you at the beginning of November for the next monthly recap ⏳
