Is Starknet Safe?
Risk Grade: C+ (39/100)
Starknet is rated as elevated risk — multiple novel mechanisms and notable interaction risks.
Moderate risk — advanced cryptography protects against fraud, but repeated outages and a single-operator sequencer undermine the security promises
An Ethereum Layer 2 that uses zero-knowledge STARK proofs for security and a custom programming language called Cairo. It holds $716M in deposits with $287M in funding. Its C grade reflects repeated sequencer outages, a non-standard codebase with limited security auditors, and a single company controlling transaction processing.
TVL
$259M
Mechanisms
9
Interactions
6
Value Grade
C
Key Risks for Starknet Users
The sequencer has gone down multiple times (September 2025, January 2026). During outages, you cannot trade, manage loans, or withdraw to Ethereum. If you have a leveraged position, you cannot save it
Cairo is a custom language that very few security auditors know how to review. Bugs that would be caught quickly in Ethereum's Solidity code could go undetected for months on Starknet
One company (StarkWare) runs the sequencer. There is no backup. If they go offline, censor transactions, or make an error, all $716M in user funds are affected
Top Risk Factors
- •Repeated sequencer outages (Sep 2025, Jan 2026) expose fragile liveness with 18 minutes of reverted blocks
- •Cairo VM is a non-EVM execution environment requiring entirely new tooling and audit expertise
- •Centralized sequencer with no permissionless fallback creates single point of failure for transaction inclusion
Risk Score Breakdown
Starknet's highest risk area is Vitality Risk (6/10). Here's how each dimension contributes to the overall 39/100 score:
Read the Full Starknet Risk Report
This protocol has 2 collapse scenarios. 3 high-severity interaction risks identified. See the full mechanism classification, interaction matrix, and deep-dive recommendations.
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