A gentle hand-holding guide for your first steps using Starknet
Background
When I tried to get started using Starknet, I found it difficult to know exactly what to do. While I’ve heard a lot about the wonders of Starknet and how it can save me money in fees while providing security and trustlessness, I’m a blockchain newbie. In my quest to onboard to Starknet and try out some of the applications in the ecosystem, I found a lot of helpful information, but I also didn’t find a lot of information.
So this post provides the information that I couldn’t find and provides links to information that someone else made the effort to provide elsewhere.
What can you do on Starknet? You can swap tokens, invest using financial dApps, play games and build your NFT collection. For more information, visit the dApps page on Starknet.io.
Prerequisites
Although this is a guide for newbies, you will gain more out of using Starknet and this tutorial, if you understand Ethereum basics. You should understand the terms Layer 1 (L1) and Layer 2 (L2), and on-chain and off-chain, and what they mean in the context of Ethereum.
You should also understand what wallets are, the difference between hot and cold wallets, EOAs and contract accounts. You can find this information on the Ethereum website.
High-Level Steps
Each of these steps is detailed either in other sections of this blog post, or in external documentation on another site.
1. Set up an Ethereum wallet.
There are many. For a list, see Ethereum wallets, and for a helpful guide, see How to “create” an Ethereum account. Both are on the Ethereum site.
You can use a search engine like Google to help you decide on the right one for you. I found that Best Ethereum Wallets of 2023 helped me, and to get started, I decided to use MetaMask. For information on setting up a wallet, see the documentation for the wallet you choose.
2. Deposit some ETH to your Ethereum wallet. You can use your credit card or your bank account with an exchange such as Binance or Coinbase.
3. Set up a Starknet wallet, which includes funding the wallet and deploying your account on Starknet. For more information, see ‘Setting up a Starknet wallet’ below.
NOTE: You can also add funds directly to your Starknet wallet from a credit card or bank by using an on-ramp service, such as Banxa or Ramp.
After you complete these procedures, you’ll be ready to start actually doing something.
For example, this tutorial walks you through swapping ETH for another cryptocurrency using Jediswap. There are lots of other things you can do, such as providing liquidity to a pool, buying NFTs, minting your own NFTs, and playing games.
Let’s Get Started – Setting Up a Starknet Wallet
Once you have an Ethereum wallet with some ETH, you can install and set up a Starknet wallet.
See the up-to-date list of available Starknet wallets on the Starknet site. For more information on a specific wallet, including installation instructions, see that wallet’s site. Whichever one you choose, make sure that you install it as a browser extension.
In this blog post I used wallets by Braavos and Argent.
After you finish installing, you need to set up the wallet by adding funds to it. You can use StarkGate, a bridge that transfers funds between your Etherum wallet on L1 and your Starknet wallet on L2. You can go to StarkGate from a link in the wallet, or go to https://starkgate.starknet.io/.
Procedure
- Click Connect Wallets, and then Get started.
StarkGate prompts you to select an Ethereum wallet.
- Click the wallet that you want to use. In this example, click MetaMask, as it is already installed.
- When your wallet prompts you to connect, approve the connection.
StarkGate completes the connection. Your Ethereum wallet is now connected. - When StarkGate prompts you to connect a Starknet wallet, click Connect Starknet Wallet.
- When the wallets that you have connected to your browser appear, click the wallet that you want to use.
- When the wallet prompts you to, approve the connection. For example, this is what appeared when I clicked ArgentX:
and this what appeared when I clicked Braavos:
StarkGate completes the connection.
Your Starknet wallet is now connected, and it prompts you to add funds. In order to deploy your account on Starknet, you need to add funds.
NOTE: Deploying an account incurs a small gas fee on Ethereum. But don’t worry, you only have to deploy the account once.
- Confirm that you’re on the Deposit tab.
- StarkGate lets you select from several different types of tokens. This example uses the default token, ETH. Check that the available balance in your Ethereum wallet is enough to transfer funds and pay for the gas required to transfer the funds.
- Enter the amount of ETH you want to transfer.
Your Ethereum wallet prompts you to confirm the transfer. Your wallet might also show you the estimated transaction cost. For example, MetaMask shows approximately how much gas is required to execute the transfer, as well as the cost of the required gas in ETH and USD. - Confirm the transfer in your Ethereum wallet.
- StarkGate confirms the transaction and displays its status, including links to Etherscan and StarkScan, so you can view the transaction on both Ethereum and Starknet:
After a short time, typically a few minutes, StarkGate should show updated balances in your Ethereum and Starknet wallets:
Swapping ETH for Another Token Using JediSwap
JediSwap is a community-driven Automated Market Maker (AMM) on Starknet that enables you to swap one type of token for another. The JediSwap documentation provides information on swapping and on adding liquidity. This procedure demonstrates swapping ETH for WBTC.
Procedure
1. Go to JediSwap at https://app.jediswap.xyz.
2. Connect your wallet by clicking Connect Wallet and then selecting your Starknet wallet.
3. When your wallet prompts you to approve the connection, click Approve.
Once JediSwap connects to your wallet, it shows your balance in each token that it supports. For example, my wallet has about 0.05 ETH.
4. Select the tokens that you want to swap in Swap From and Swap To (est.), and click Swap. I swapped 0.025 ETH for WBTC.
5. Your wallet prompts you to sign the transaction by clicking Sign. Clicking Sign submits the transaction
6. JediSwap shows Transaction Submitted. Click Open in browser to view the transaction on StarkScan.
7. Open your wallet to see your balance and the assets that you own. For example, this is my Braavos wallet after the swap:
What Now?
Now that you’ve taken those first steps into Starknet, it’s time to plunge deeper into the ever-expanding Starknet ecosystem. As a permissionless network, Starknet sees new developers constantly creating novel dApps and features like stars bursting into being.
To safely navigate the uncharted waters of Starknet, follow these mappings:
- Research new releases. Regularly scan Starknet’s news sites and follow the core community to stay oriented on the latest dApps emerging from the void. This universe evolves fast.
- Do your own research before interacting with any dApp on Starknet. As with all permissionless platforms, do due diligence on dApp legitimacy and security before connecting your wallet.
- Seek fellow travelers. The Starknet forum at https://forum.starknet.io/ is ideal for learning from other pioneers’ journeys, asking questions, stay critical.
- Be wary of scams. Verify URLs, transactions, and addresses – don’t be lured into ambushes.
- And most importantly, enable wallet protections like 2FA, Hardware Signers, or Wallet Shields. This novel protection level is possible on Starknet because of native account abstraction.
By staying alert and doing thorough research, you can enjoy the full benefits of Starknet’s ever-growing array of dApps and integrations. As with any new technology, educated caution is very important. If something sounds too good to be true, it is possible. With some common sense, you can explore Starknet safely as it continues rapid decentralization.
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This guide was written by Steve Goodman, Principal Technical Writer at StarkWare Industries. You can send questions to @CityONewOrleans on Twitter.