Starkware Restore Access to $520K Temporarily Locked in Depreciated Wallets

Starkware has, in its Wednesday, August 30 tweet, confirmed restoring funds locked in the depreciated accounts. The post indicated that Starkware is restoring funds temporarily locked in wallets for users who failed to upgrade accounts following the August 21 deadline lapse.

Starkware Restores Access Funds Temporarily Rendered Inaccessible

The firm indicated agreeing to restore access to funds locked from users in the outdated wallets after version 0.12.1 went live. The accounts suffered a freeze when the users failed to upgrade by the August 21 deadline. The post assured the affected users that the accounts were restored for them to access their funds immediately. Nonetheless, the company cautioned that Argent and Braavos users would take longer to regain access, citing technical reasons.

Ana Vukina, who serves as the customer support executive at Argent, says the restoration is a big reprieve for the Ethereum Layer 2 wallet, which failed to upgrade to the smart contract version released by Starknet. The lapse of the August 21 deadline rendered the accounts as depreciated, thereby unusable.

Vukina informed a disenfranchised Starknet client over Discord that wallets that failed the upgrade were lost. She lamented that the users ignored the constant reminders conveyed since last year for users to upgrade their wallets.

Vukina added that the upgrade involved a network-specific change that neither party could exercise control. She indicated that Starkware warned that wallets that failed the upgrade would lose the assets.

Starknet Undergoing Inevitable Upgrades to Boost Efficiency 

Starknet involves a decentralized layer-2 network profiled as scaling Ethereum-based transactions. It utilizes ZK-rollups to accomplish this objective, thereby bundling multiple transactions for subsequent posting to Ethereum’s primary blockchain as a single transaction. 

Vukina elaborated that Starknet portrays a rapidly developing network characterized by undergoing major upgrades. Also, it has recently undergone multiple changes in readiness for full launch. 

Vukina reiterated that Starkware and Argent have, in the past, been warning the users concerning the upgrade. Both informed users to find alternative social channels where they would save the funds. Users whom Vukina blamed for ignoring the advice expressed displeasure with the initial approach by Starknet. 

Displeased Users Question Starknet for Overlooking Alternatives

A disappointed Starknet user, Belgio, decried that networks allowing loss of access to the user funds deserve crashing. The user downplayed the excuse of network upgrades by indicating that individuals may occasionally become inactive, dismissing the argument that Starknet often communicated.

Other users decried that Starknet is to blame for failing to consider alternatives to protect the user funds. Instead, the approach adopted slowed Stakrware’s innovation pace. 

One victim of the locked funds indicated that Starknet should have upgraded while moving the assets to a claim address. Subsequently, they would issue proof of recovery of the assets. 

Review Shows 15% of Network’s Accounts Out of Date

Meanwhile, a review of assets locked in the Starknet accounts exceeds $95 million, as per Starkscan data. An estimated 1%, translating to $528014, is locked within the accounts labeled out of date.

The Starkscan data shows that 15% of the 2.266 million accounts of the network are out of date. It translates to 337,122 accounts, indicating that 1,928,953 accounts had their users heeding the advice to upgrade before the August 21 deadline lapsed. 

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