{"id":96138,"date":"2026-04-13T15:40:38","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T12:40:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/?p=96138"},"modified":"2026-04-13T15:45:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T12:45:16","slug":"starkware-to-downsize-and-restructure-into-two-divisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/starkware-to-downsize-and-restructure-into-two-divisions\/","title":{"rendered":"StarkWare to Downsize and Restructure into Two Divisions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The company behind the <a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/what-is-a-layer%e2%80%912-solution-in-blockchain\">L2<\/a> network <a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/what-are-starknets-blockchain-and-cryptocurrency\">Starknet<\/a>, StarkWare, will lay off part of its staff and reorganize into two business divisions, as announced by the project&#8217;s CEO, Eli Ben-Sasson.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I am sharing here a message I shared with the StarkWare team following things I said at an All Hands meeting:<\/p>\n<p>========<br \/>StarkWare is adapting its strategy, with a clear goal \u2013 to lead blockchain. <\/p>\n<p>So far, we\u2019ve secured our position as technology leaders: we built the best ZK\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Eli Ben-Sasson | Starknet.io (@EliBenSasson) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/EliBenSasson\/status\/2043636641747661271?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 13, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>He did not disclose the scale or timing of the layoffs but emphasized that these steps will help StarkWare return to a startup model and achieve product-market fit more swiftly.<\/p>\n<p>According to Ben-Sasson, the optimization will make the structure &#8220;more agile.&#8221; StarkWare will take full control over the proof stack (Cairo, Sierra, quantum-secure STARK cryptography). This will reduce reliance on external L1s and third-party applications.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>&#8220;We have created the best first-layer scaling stack, but infrastructure alone is not enough. Applications demonstrate the power of the technology, but we are not playing to our full potential. We are capable of more. [\u2026] To achieve this, we must change how StarkWare operates,&#8221; he wrote.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">New Structure<\/h2>\n<p>As part of the restructuring, StarkWare will create two divisions. The first, application-focused and revenue-oriented, will be led by current CPO Avihu Levy. The second, an updated Starknet development, will be overseen by the current head of product, Tom Brand, who will also become the general manager.<\/p>\n<p>Levy recently <a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/developer-introduces-emergency-quantum-protection-for-bitcoin-without-softfork\">proposed<\/a> a method for quantum-resistant Bitcoin transactions without a soft fork and will now focus on developing commercially successful products based on the company&#8217;s technology stack.<\/p>\n<p>Ben-Sasson also announced other personnel changes:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Chief Financial Officer Ran Grinstein will now be responsible for personnel management, security, and the IT sector;<\/li>\n<li>Head of core network development Gideon Kempfer will move to the position of chief architect;<\/li>\n<li>Chief Operating Officer Oren Katz has resigned but will continue to perform his duties until the end of April;<\/li>\n<li>The legal department will remain under the leadership of Catherine Kirkpatrick Bos.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Decline in Revenue<\/h2>\n<p>The structural changes come amid a sharp decline in the project&#8217;s financial performance. While at the end of 2023, Starknet&#8217;s network revenue reached $6 million per month, in the first half of 2026, the total amounted to only about $48,000.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/img-f7ccda4b307c547e-1685292085705177.webp\" alt=\"DefiLlama: Starknet network revenue\" class=\"wp-image-278378\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/defillama.com\/chain\/starknet?tvl=false&#038;chainRevenue=true&#038;groupBy=monthly&#038;appRevenue=true\">DefiLlama<\/a>. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The decline partly reflects broader trends in the crypto industry. Starknet&#8217;s competitors also suffered after the activation of the <a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/ethereum-developers-activate-dencun-hard-fork-on-mainnet\">Dencun update<\/a>, which sharply reduced L2 fee revenues.<\/p>\n<p>At the time of writing, the project&#8217;s <span data-descr=\"total value locked\" class=\"old_tooltip\">TVL<\/span> stands at $241 million. At its peak in January 2026, the figure reached $330 million.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier in March, Crypto.com and Algorand <a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/crypto-com-and-algorand-initiate-layoffs-amid-ai-integration-and-market-decline\">announced<\/a> significant layoffs. Since the beginning of the year, similar steps have been taken by <a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/messari-appoints-new-ceo-amid-staff-reductions\">Messari<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/op-labs-reduces-workforce-by-20-following-bases-transition-to-its-own-stack\">OP Labs<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/polygon-reduces-workforce-following-250-million-acquisition-of-payment-firms\">Polygon<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/mantra-project-reduces-workforce-amid-unsustainable-costs\">Mantra<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The company behind the L2 network Starknet, StarkWare, will lay off part of its staff and reorganize into two business divisions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":96139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"1","news_style_id":"1","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"StarkWare to downsize and restructure into two divisions.","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[46,1179,1276,1177,1374],"class_list":["post-96138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-ethereum","tag-layer-2-solutions","tag-layoffs","tag-starknet","tag-starkware"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"12","promo_type":"1","layout_type":"1","short_excerpt":"StarkWare to downsize and restructure into two divisions.","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96138"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96140,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96138\/revisions\/96140"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}