The Tweet Heard Round the Chain
The layer-1 wars turned personal Wednesday after Solana’s official X account publicly called for Ethereum Layer 2 Starknet to go to zero, citing a discrepancy between its billion-dollar valuation and abysmal user metrics. The post, which garnered millions of views instantly, claimed Starknet had “8 daily active users” and “10 daily transactions” despite a $15 billion fully diluted valuation (FDV).
“Send it straight to 0,” the account wrote, abandoning the usual corporate diplomacy for aggressive degen-speak. The market reacted swiftly: Starknet (STRK) slipped 5% to $0.08, deepening a 95% drawdown since its 2024 listing. Meanwhile, Solana (SOL) held strong at $147 (+3%), buoyed by the renewed social dominance.
The Receipt: Fact-Checking the “Ghost Chain” Claims
While the sentiment landed, the data was dated. On-chain analysts quickly noted the screenshot used by Solana referenced a specific low-activity snapshot from April 2024. Current Dune Analytics data paints a different, though still contested, picture: Starknet averages roughly 65,000 daily active users and 700,000+ transactions, driven largely by gaming and perp DEXs.
However, the core accusation, that Starknet’s valuation is propped up by “mercenary capital” rather than organic demand, struck a nerve. Critics argue that much of Starknet’s volume is wash-trading incentivized by points programs and airdrop farming, a common plague for L2s struggling to retain liquidity post-TGE.
“Solana has 8 bald marketing interns and 10 daily tweets, yet 1 billion followers.”, Eli Ben-Sasson, StarkWare CEO
Institutional Context: The Valuation Disconnect
This skirmish highlights a growing fracture in crypto market structure: the “High FDV, Low Float” fatigue. Investors are increasingly hostile toward VC-backed L2s launching with massive theoretical valuations that bleed out over years of unlocks. Starknet’s FDV, while currently closer to $900 million (not the $15B cited in the tweet), remains a target for traders tired of inflated governance tokens.
Solana’s aggression here is strategic. By punching down at an Ethereum L2, it frames itself not just as an alternative, but as the only viable venue for real users. Starknet’s rebuttal, pointing to a recent rise in TVL to $300 million, did little to arrest the immediate negative sentiment in the order books.
