A third answer to the L2 question
Where ARB hoards and OP spends, Starknet gave STRK something neither rival has: fee payment. Users can pay gas in STRK itself, wiring a mechanical, usage-linked demand source into the token rather than leaving it pure governance. Small flow, but real — the only one of the three with a toll-booth role today.
The ZK positioning
Starknet scales with validity proofs and its own Cairo language — a maximalist technical bet: strongest cryptography, steepest developer migration. Ecosystems that require new languages grow slower and stickier; the thesis needs patience the event-driven L2 tape rarely grants.
The float paid for the wait
STRK launched into one of the heavier vesting schedules of its generation, with early tranches meeting a market that had waited years for the airdrop. Persistent scheduled supply against patient-thesis demand produced the class’s familiar lean, here with extra weight.
Reading it
Fee-payment share and network activity measure whether the toll-booth role matters yet; the unlock calendar is the standing supply tape; funding reads the leverage. The three-way L2 comparison — hoard, spend, employ — is one of the cleanest natural experiments in the map.