Starknet — Cairo VM, native account abstraction
Starknet is not EVM — it runs the Cairo VM with first-class account abstraction. Different decoder, same audit-trail discipline.
Starknet's design choices put it apart from the other Ethereum zk-Rollups. The Cairo VM is purpose-built for STARK proofs rather than EVM-equivalent. Every account is a smart-contract account by default — no EOA-vs-SC distinction. Gas can be paid in STRK or ETH. The bridge to Ethereum mainnet uses zk-proof finality (typically 4–8 hours). For a finance team, the practical implication is that Starknet activity needs its own decoder path, but the accounting outputs match the rest of the EVM rollups.
What's tracked on Starknet
STRK and ETH transfers
Native dual gas-token model — STRK or ETH per transaction.
Cairo contract calls
Decoded against the contract's Cairo ABI.
Native account abstraction
Multi-sig, social recovery, and session-key wallets are first-class.
STRK staking
Validator staking with per-epoch reward accrual (post-staking-launch).
Ekubo, Avnu, JediSwap
Starknet DeFi positions with realized-gain tracking.
Common Starknet transaction patterns we classify
- Send / receive ETH (Starknet)
- Send / receive STRK
- ERC-20 transfer on Starknet (in / out)
- Starkgate bridge deposit (Ethereum → Starknet)
- Starkgate bridge withdrawal (Starknet → Ethereum)
- STRK staking deposit / withdrawal (validator delegation)
- Staking reward receipt (per-epoch)
- Ekubo concentrated-liquidity swap or position
- Avnu aggregated swap
- JediSwap swap or LP position
- 10KSwap swap
- Account deployment (every account is a contract)
- Multicall bundle (multiple calls in a single transaction)
What changes when you book Starknet
Every Starknet account is a smart contract, not an EOA
Starknet has no externally owned accounts in the Ethereum sense. Every wallet is a deployed Cairo smart contract, which means account deployment itself is an on-chain transaction with a gas cost. Wag3s tags the deployment transaction as a setup cost and distinguishes it from ordinary transfers or contract interactions, so the initial deployment fee does not inflate ongoing operating expense lines.
Gas can be paid in STRK or ETH — the token choice affects cost basis
Starknet allows users to pay transaction fees in either STRK or ETH. When fees are paid in STRK, the STRK spent is a disposal event subject to capital-gains treatment in most jurisdictions, in addition to being an operating expense. Wag3s tracks the fee token per transaction, applies the correct treatment, and breaks out STRK-denominated gas separately from ETH-denominated gas in the expense report.
Cairo VM requires a different contract decoder than EVM chains
Starknet contracts are written in Cairo and compiled to Sierra, not Solidity bytecode. The function selector scheme and event format differ from EVM standards. Wag3s maintains a dedicated Cairo ABI decoder for the major Starknet DeFi protocols so function calls are labelled correctly — swap, supply, repay — rather than appearing as raw hex data in your audit trail.
Starknet accounting questions
Why is Starknet different from zkSync Era?
zkSync Era is EVM-equivalent — Solidity bytecode runs natively. Starknet uses Cairo, which requires re-compiling Solidity contracts via Warp or writing Cairo directly. The accounting outputs are equivalent; the ecosystem of contracts is different.
Can I pay gas in STRK or ETH?
Both. The transaction declares its fee token. We track per-transaction with the right denomination.
How does Wag3s handle Starknet account deployment costs?
Every new Starknet wallet requires an on-chain deployment transaction (because every account is a Cairo smart contract). Wag3s tags this deployment transaction as a one-time setup cost in ETH or STRK and distinguishes it from ordinary operating expenses, so it does not inflate per-period gas lines. The cost basis of assets received after deployment is unaffected by the deployment fee.
Other chain coverage and tax guides relevant to this network.
Book Starknet the right way
Free during Alpha. Connect a wallet, see every transaction reconciled to journal entries.