The past year was one of tremendous growth in the number of projects, tools, and dApps built on Starknet alongside a definite evolution of Starknet’s ecosystem, displaying new use cases that broaden Starknet and single it out as a hub for innovation across Layer 2 (L2) solutions, and blockchains more generally. This report will present the state of the Starknet ecosystem as it enters 2025. It will showcase the evolution of the Starknet ecosystem over the last year while also analyzing different trends and causes behind the changes to the ecosystem. It concludes by highlighting several emerging themes that are shaping the ecosystem’s trajectory into 2025.

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General growth of the ecosystem

In 2024, the Starknet ecosystem grew in projects by 168%, going from 72 user-centric projects in November 2023 to 193 projects by November 2024. That’s 121 brand-new dApps and tools for Starknet users, not even mentioning new developer tooling projects. new-shaked-gif-3 This general growth in projects could be attributed to several grant programs allocated by the Starknet Foundation and to constant optimizations to Starknet’s infrastructure, allowing developers and builders to build whatever they will on Starknet.

Game on: Categories with the biggest growth

Gaming boom

From 4 to 51 projects in a year, the growth in gaming projects the past year is the most significant expansion in our ecosystem, making it the largest category in our 2024 ecosystem mapping. A growth we expect to continue in 2025. This growth solidifies Starknet’s status as a fertile ground for onchain gaming, and also reflects a growing developer and user interest in onchain gaming. This phenomenal growth can be attributed to:

  1. Native Account Abstraction: Starknet has native AA, which developers have recently leveraged extensively to provide a seamless Web2-like UX experience essential for gaming. Some of the features allowed by native AA are passkeys, which enable you to use your wallet without a seed phrase; session keys, which let you start a long session without having to sign each and every transaction; and paymaster, which enables users to interact with Starknet without paying any gas fees or having tokens in their wallets. The Cartridge controller implements all these features, letting you onboard an onchain game by simply creating an account with one-click and start playing without any interruptions.
  2. Most performant L2: Starknet currently has the highest throughput and among the lowest fees across all L2s, both essential for immersive, real-time games.
  3. Developer-friendly tooling: Out of 47 new gaming projects this year, at least 29 are powered by Dojo, a game engine and toolchain for developing fully onchain provable games.
  4. Grants from the Starknet Foundation: SNF has generously backed many gaming projects through its Seed Grant Program and its gaming-centered Propulsion Pilot Program. You should definitely check the amazing work done by grant recipients XAR.

Other notable growth areas

20 new projects in “Other DeFi Protocols”

The expansion in this diverse category was brought about by the constant optimizations to Starknet’s infrastructure, best-in-class UX, and SNF’s grant programs.

“NFT-Degen-Social” +16 new projects

The growth in this community-centered category is due to a sentiment shift in how the crypto sphere views Starknet with a recent flourish in degen culture on Starknet. For example, check out the memecoin platform Unrug.

6 more wallets

In 2023, Starknet only had its two native wallets, Argent and Braavos, and a Metamask snap. During 2024, 9 different wallets, including notable additions like Keplr and Ledger, have decided to integrate with Starknet. This growth reflects Starknet’s appeal and maturity in the eyes of wallet providers, who sense its potential for user onramp.

New categories adding some flavor

The Starknet ecosystem expanded its scope in the past year with the introduction of two entirely new categories. We expect these categories to further expand in 2025:

CEXs

The launch of the STRK token in February 2024 has attracted major centralized exchanges, including Binance and Crypto.com, among others, to integrate with Starknet, making it easier for a broader user base to onramp to Starknet.

AI

The integration of AI within the Starknet ecosystem reflects a broader trend of exploring the potential of combining AI’s analytical capabilities and automation with blockchain’s transparency and security. This combination is particularly interesting in the context of Starknet’s use of validity proofs. We’ll mention some exciting AI projects later in this report.

Trends in ecosystem evolution

The evolution of Starknet’s ecosystem the past year has been shaped by several noticeable trends:

  1. Expansion of use cases: Starknet has evolved from primarily focusing on AMMs and DeFi tools to hosting a wide array of dApps, including gaming, AI, and social projects. This expansion reflects its growing maturity as a network and its appeal to developers from various industries. As of today, there’s quite a lot you can do on Starknet: Native STRK staking and liquid staking with Endur, onchain gaming with Realms.World, prediction making on various topics with Raize Club, providing funds for liquidity pools with Ekubo and Creating a Starknet ID with StarknetBro.
  2. Integration with centralized systems: The addition of CEX support for STRK indicates a bridging of the gap between decentralized and centralized finance. By integrating with CEXs, Starknet is lowering the barriers and making it easier for the general public to onboard and join the ecosystem. We might also see major bridge services joining in soon enough so stay tuned.
  3. Enhancement of tools: Tools and dashboards have evolved from basic utilities to include analytics and portfolio management. Check out Dune and Argent Portfolio.
  4. DeFi diversification: Beyond traditional AMMs and money markets, DeFi protocols on Starknet now encompass niche financial services like Layer Akira and Raize Club, reflecting maturation in financial innovation.
  5. DeFi Spring Program: Most of the DEXs and Money Markets in our ecosystem participate in the DeFi Spring Program, which boosts the DeFi protocol’s liquidity and incentivizes liquidity providers by making them earn more.

Emerging themes

Several themes have started gaining momentum over the past year; they’re here to stay and will shape the direction of the ecosystem in the year ahead:

  1. AI agents: Starknet is on par with other chains integrating AI with the multi-agent framework eliza.
  2. Gaming renaissance: Starknet is clearly establishing itself as the central hub for onchain gaming.
  3. DeFi momentum: DeFi is also experiencing a high point with new projects and growth.
  4. Degen culture: Excellent vibes and memes on Starknet with degen culture on the rise.
  5. Broader accessibility: The inclusion of major CEX players and wallets, such as Ledger and Keplr, makes onboarding easy for mainstream adoption.
  6. Staking: Phase 1 of STRK staking launched recently, introducing new utilities to the STRK token and marking another big step in Starknet’s journey toward decentralization.
  7. SN Stack: The tech stack behind Starknet is now publicly available for apps to build their own custom chains using the best zero-knowledge technology out there, choosing between three different flavors-StarkWare Sequencer, Madara, and Dojo.

Wrapping things up

2025 is here. It’s clear that the previous year has been pivotal for the Starknet ecosystem, defined by more than just massive growth in project numbers. The gaming boom, STRK staking, DeFi momentum, and degen vibes are all signs of an ecosystem ready to take center stage in 2025. Significant shifts, such as integrations with CEXs, more wallet providers, and the SN Stack, demonstrate that the Starknet ecosystem is spreading and will reach more users. The next wave of blockchain innovation will definitely come from the Starknet ecosystem.