The Starknet Foundation recently declared an additional allocation of 50 million STRK for its DeFi Spring program, as per an announcement made on Monday.
DeFi Spring 2.0 marks the Starknet Foundation’s renewed dedication to enhancing the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem within Starknet, an Ethereum Layer-2 rollup platform.
The timeline for DeFi Spring 2.0:
Following a successful initial phase where the Foundation allocated 40 million STRK to back DeFi projects, this fresh allocation brings the total earmarked amount for the program to 90 million STRK.
DeFi Spring 2.0 is scheduled to operate from July 1, 2024, until at least December 31, 2024.
To ensure a just and impartial distribution of STRK, the Starknet Foundation is working alongside OpenBlock Labs across four protocol categories: DEXs, borrowing and lending, perps and options, and a novel “other” category showcasing “DeFi protocols that accept user deposits.” Projects falling under this new category also grant yield or returns to users.
Benefitting the ecosystem’s growth:
Launched in February of this year, the DeFi Spring program saw Starknet distribute 14.4 million STRK over 16 weeks, engaging over 106,000 users. The program aimed to expand the DeFi ecosystem of the Layer 2 blockchain network and drew interest from 14 protocols.
As per the latest announcement, the initiative, conducted across the preceding four months, considerably spurred economic activities within the ecosystem of the L2 chain.
In spite of the project encountering market challenges and network glitches following the launch of its STRK token, Starknet observed a notable upsurge in total value locked (TVL). Presently, the total asset value housed in Starknet smart contracts sums up to $240 million. Data from DeFiLlama indicates a substantial rise, escalating from around $54 million in February when DeFi Spring commenced.
Projects engaged in DeFi Spring encompass the DEX protocol Ekubo, the borrowing and lending platform Nostra, and Starknet’s primary AMM mySwap.