Starknet Opens the Door to Leaving Ethereum for a Quantum-Safe L1

Starknet is asking its token holders to consider a move that would have sounded almost unthinkable a year ago: leaving its role as an Ethereum layer 2 and becoming an independent layer 1.

The immediate issue is not fees, throughput or a token launch. It is quantum security—and who controls the timetable for getting there.

Cointelegraph reports that Starknet opened a seven-day, non-binding poll on October 15, asking whether the network should study independence as a way to control its post-quantum security timetable instead of waiting on Ethereum-dependent infrastructure. STRK holders can support further research, oppose it or remain neutral while more questions are answered about security, governance, validator design and the economic cost of becoming a standalone chain.

Voting closes October 22, when the result will show whether holders want a formal research program rather than authorize any immediate code change, asset migration or break from Ethereum.

That distinction matters. A “yes” result would not move Starknet off Ethereum.

It would begin a research process that would have to produce a detailed technical plan, followed by more proposals and more votes.

The three choices are support for research, opposition, or a neutral result while unresolved questions remain. The result becomes visible when the poll closes, and no migration timetable has been announced.

StarkWare has discussed 2027 as a target for a fully quantum-resistant independent network, but that ambition is not the same thing as an approved launch date.

We are actively considering becoming an L1.

This would enable Starknet to become the first fully quantum-resistant network, with 2027 as our target. https://t.co/yaFlkp0R1P

— Starknet (@Starknet) October 8, 2026

Why Ethereum is part of the quantum question

Starknet already has an unusual head start. Its STARK proving system is hash-based, and its account-abstraction design lets users adopt new signature schemes without waiting for a complete network redesign.

But an Ethereum layer 2 cannot set every security assumption for itself. Starknet still relies on Ethereum for critical infrastructure, including data availability and its bridge.

Those pieces remain tied to Ethereum’s own post-quantum migration schedule.

The official Starknet Community Forum says an independent layer 1 would remove that dependency. The proposal also makes clear that STRK would remain the token, no replacement token is planned, and bridges to Ethereum would stay open.

The forum explains that Starknet’s core protocol already uses hash-based STARK proofs. Native account abstraction also lets users adopt post-quantum signatures without waiting for a protocol-wide account migration.

The unresolved surfaces sit around Ethereum-dependent infrastructure. The bridge and blob-based data availability inherit assumptions that Starknet cannot change alone while it remains an L2.

A “no” result would keep post-quantum work on the existing L2 path. A neutral result would leave the discussion open while the community asks for missing technical and economic answers.

Starknet becoming an L1 for post-quantum agility: good idea or bad idea?

Two giant elements we need to pay attention to:
(1) The quantum threat.
It may be MUCH closer than we think.

(2) AI.
It's becoming more powerful than we can process.
Is anyone willing to bet how much time… pic.twitter.com/bLsxzwX2mQ

— Eli Ben-Sasson | Starknet.io (@EliBenSasson) October 8, 2026

The tradeoff is bigger than the technology

Becoming an L1 could give Starknet more control, but it would also change the network’s core value proposition. Today, Starknet scales activity while ultimately settling to Ethereum.

An independent chain would need to defend its own security, decentralization and economic model.

That is why the current vote is wisely narrow. The quantum threat is serious enough to plan for, but the community does not yet have a finished migration design to judge.

If holders vote yes, the real work begins: defining the security model, proving that the bridge can remain safe, explaining how validators would operate, and showing that independence provides more protection than it costs.

For now, Starknet has not left Ethereum. It has done something more consequential than issuing another roadmap slide: it has put the question of leaving in front of its community.

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