{"id":71204,"date":"2026-04-14T08:51:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T01:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hbbgroup.net\/dramatic-change-starknet-creator-reveals-layoffs-amid-revenue-focused-pivot\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T08:51:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T01:51:14","slug":"dramatic-change-starknet-creator-reveals-layoffs-amid-revenue-focused-pivot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hbbgroup.net\/vi\/dramatic-change-starknet-creator-reveals-layoffs-amid-revenue-focused-pivot\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Dramatic Change&#8217;: Starknet Creator Reveals Layoffs Amid Revenue-Focused Pivot"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<h4 color=\"#333\">In brief<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>StarkWare became the latest firm building on Ethereum to reduce its headcount in the name of achieving greater efficiency.<\/li>\n<li>The team behind Starknet is being consolidated into two \u201cpurpose-focused units\u201d that will focus on revenue-generating initiatives, such as business development<\/li>\n<li>Several crypto-native firms have slimmed operations this year, with OP Labs and Polygon Labs situated as StarkWare competitors.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>StarkWare co-founder and CEO Eli Ben-Sasson indicated on Monday that the firm, which builds on <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/resources\/what-is-ethereum-quickly-explained-four-minute-guide\" target=\"_blank\"><span>Ethereum<\/span><\/a><span>, has become the latest to slash its headcount in a move to prioritize revenue.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Although the company, founded eight years ago, has built what Ben-Sasson described as \u201cthe best infrastructure in the world,\u201d StarkWare now finds itself in a position where honing efficiency to generate cash represents the most sustainable path forward, he <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/EliBenSasson\/status\/2043636641747661271?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener\"><span>said<\/span><\/a><span> in a post to X.<\/span><span><br \/><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cOur new strategy requires that we move fast, and we\u2019re too big and too inefficient for that,\u201d he explained. \u201cFor those staying, we recognize this is a dramatic change.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>StarkWare is known for developing an Ethereum <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/resources\/what-are-layer-2-networks-and-sidechains-ethereum-scaling-explained\" target=\"_blank\"><span>layer-2 scaling network<\/span><\/a><span> that leverages <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/resources\/zero-knowledge-proofs-explained-learn-guide\" target=\"_blank\"><span>zero-knowledge proofs<\/span><\/a><span>, an advanced form of cryptography that has played an essential role in the Israel-based firm\u2019s ability to raise $287 million across a total of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crunchbase.com\/organization\/starkware-industries-ltd#company_funding\" target=\"_blank\"><span>eight funding rounds<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<blockquote>\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\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\">April 13, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>In his post, Ben-Sasson said the company\u2019s team is being consolidated into two \u201cpurpose-focused units,\u201d which will be responsible for overseeing initiatives tied to business development, engineering, product, and go-to-market strategies.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Last month, the team behind Starknet competitor Optimism <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/360921\/optimism-layoffs-amid-ethereum-scaling-shifts-base-migration\" target=\"_blank\"><span>disclosed<\/span><\/a><span> that 20 employees had been let go as the firm seeks to make quicker decisions and reduce overhead. Ben-Sasson didn\u2019t describe the breadth of cuts that StarkWare was making in his X post on Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span>Decrypt <\/span><\/i><span>has reached out to StarkWare for comment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In recent years, StarkWare has positioned itself as an infrastructure specialist developing solutions that are intended to extend <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/resources\/what-is-bitcoin-four-minute-instant-guide-explainer\" target=\"_blank\"><span>Bitcoin<\/span><\/a><span>\u2019s use within decentralized finance. In February, for example, \u201cprivate Bitcoin\u201d <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/359344\/private-bitcoin-debuts-starknet-zcash-like-features\" target=\"_blank\"><span>debuted<\/span><\/a><span> on Starknet with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/resources\/zcash\" target=\"_blank\"><span>Zcash<\/span><\/a><span>-like features.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Over the past day, Starknet has generated around $3,500 in revenue, according to data provider <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/defillama.com\/chain\/base\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow external noopener\"><span>DefiLlama<\/span><\/a><span>. Over the same period of time, Starknet competitor <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/resources\/what-is-base-coinbases-layer-2-chain\" target=\"_blank\"><span>Base<\/span><\/a><span>, which was launched by crypto exchange Coinbase, has generated roughly $89,000 in chain revenue.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Polygon Labs, another layer-2 developer, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/354351\/polygon-bolsters-stablecoin-payments-push-acquiring-coinme-sequence\" target=\"_blank\"><span>said<\/span><\/a><span> in January that it would prioritize real-world payments after purchasing two crypto firms for a combined total of $250 million. The firm subsequently cut 30% of its headcount, or 60 employees, per <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.coindesk.com\/business\/2026\/01\/16\/polygon-labs-said-to-have-laid-off-60-staff-following-new-usd250-million-acquisition\" target=\"_blank\"><i><span>CoinDesk<\/span><\/i><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Starknet\u2019s native token changed hands around $0.03 on Monday, a 75% decline over the past year, according to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/price\/starknet\" target=\"_blank\"><span>CoinGecko<\/span><\/a><span>.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Ben-Sasson said that a pure focus on developing infrastructure has held the company back in some ways. Under its new mindset, he said the company will focus on \u201cdoing fewer things excellently\u201d and finding product-market fit through experimentation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cIt\u2019s a bit like going back to startup mode,\u201d he added. \u201cIt\u2019s a huge challenge, that requires a large and painful change, and will require immense effort.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Last month, Crypto.com said that the exchange was slashing 12% of its workforce, affecting around <\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/decrypt.co\/361693\/crypto-com-slashes-workforce-by-12-in-enterprise-wide-ai-pivot\" target=\"_blank\"><span>180 employees<\/span><\/a><span>. Still, that was far less than the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/decrypt.co\/359349\/block-stock-pops-jack-dorseys-bitcoin-company-dumps-4000-jobs\" target=\"_blank\"><span>4,000 workers<\/span><\/a><span> let go by Jack Dorsey\u2019s Block Inc. in February, among the sharpest reductions in tech so far this year.<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<h3>Daily Debrief Newsletter<\/h3>\n<p>Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In brief StarkWare became the latest firm building on Ethereum to reduce its headcount in the name of achieving greater [&hellip;]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":71206,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[220],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tien-dien-tu"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hbbgroup.net\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hbbgroup.net\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hbbgroup.net\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hbbgroup.net\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hbbgroup.net\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hbbgroup.net\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hbbgroup.net\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hbbgroup.net\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hbbgroup.net\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hbbgroup.net\/vi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}