Starknet Ecosystem Updates: September 16, 2024

**Major staking upgrade complete on Starknet** The STRK unbonding period has been **reduced from 21 days to just 7 days** - a 3x improvement in flexibility for stakers. **BTC staking is now fully operational** with the same 7-day unbonding period, allowing Bitcoin holders to participate in Starknet's consensus mechanism. **Key details:** - BTC holds 25% of consensus power, STRK maintains 75% - Supported tokens: WBTC, LBTC, tBTC, and SolvBTC - Additional BTC wrappers can be added through governance - Same flexibility applies to both BTC and STRK stakers This upgrade delivers significantly more agility for stakers while maintaining the same staking rewards structure. [Learn more about BTC staking](https://www.starknet.io/staking/bitcoin-staking-user-guide-for-starknet/)

**Vesu v2 is now live** with a redesigned user interface and new strategies, maintaining its core mission to simplify BTCFi Season participation. Key features include: - **New UI design** for improved user experience - **Enhanced strategies** for earning opportunities - **100M STRK incentive program** available for users The platform continues to focus on making Bitcoin DeFi accessible to everyone. This launch follows recent BTC staking integration updates that enabled Bitcoin participation in Starknet consensus. *Ready to explore the new Vesu v2 and claim your share of the incentives?*

A significant blockchain milestone approaches as developers prepare to add the **final block** tomorrow. This follows months of anticipation, with previous announcements in April hinting at the completion of what appears to be a major blockchain project or network upgrade. The timing suggests careful coordination for this final implementation step. No additional technical details have been provided about the specific blockchain or project involved. - Final block addition scheduled for tomorrow - Follows April announcement about nearing completion - Technical details remain limited This development marks the conclusion of what seems to be an extended blockchain development cycle.

A significant DeFi development is coming to Starknet with a new perpetual DEX launching tomorrow. Built by former Revolut team members, it will introduce: - Leverage trading capabilities - Traditional finance asset pairs - Yield farming opportunities In other news: - Layer Akira adds 8 new tokens with $10k lottery campaign - RocketX now bridges ~180 chains to Starknet - Cartridge Controller adds Gmail login support - Byte Beasts integrates Worldcoin verification - New NFT collection Schizodio sells out in under 24 hours [Full weekly recap](https://starknetresearch.substack.com/p/starknet-roundup-182)

Starknet announces version 0.13.6, scheduled for Testnet on June 30 and Mainnet on July 8. This update lays groundwork for S-Two, StarkWare's next-gen STARK prover. Key improvements: - S-Two will cut proving time from 24 to 3 minutes for 2B L2 gas blocks - Proving costs expected to reduce by 50% or more - Resource counting enabled - Transaction costs and UX remain unchanged *Note*: Cairo Native temporarily disabled on Testnet, planned reintegration in Q3. [Full release notes](https://community.starknet.io/t/sn-v0-13-6-pre-release-notes/115680)