What is Stargaze (STARS)?

Quick Facts

  • Blockchain: Cosmos ecosystem, app-specific Layer 1
  • Consensus: Delegated proof-of-stake via Tendermint
  • Smart contracts: Powered by CosmWasm
  • Native token: STARS (governance, staking, fees)
  • Fee model: Fair Burn — 50% burned, 50% to stakers
  • Founded by: Shane Vitarana, Jorge Hernandez, and Jake Hartnell
  • Mainnet launch: October 2021
  • Interoperability: IBC protocol and Gravity Bridge

Introduction

Stargaze is a decentralized, community-owned NFT marketplace and Layer 1 blockchain built within the Cosmos ecosystem. It provides a dedicated home for NFT creators, collectors, and traders — combining specialized infrastructure with the broad interoperability of the Cosmos network.

The platform's native token, STARS, underpins the entire ecosystem, enabling governance participation, network staking, and payment of fees.

History & Background

Stargaze was founded by Public Awesome, a developer team led by Shane Vitarana, Jorge Hernandez, and Jake Hartnell. The project launched its mainnet in October 2021 with an initial goal of becoming a premier NFT platform in the Cosmos ecosystem.

From its early days, Stargaze focused on building creator-friendly tooling and a community-governed marketplace, rapidly becoming the leading NFT blockchain within Cosmos.

How Stargaze Works

Stargaze is an application-specific blockchain built using the Cosmos SDK and CosmWasm smart contracts. It uses the Tendermint consensus engine, a Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) mechanism where validators propose and vote on blocks, requiring a two-thirds supermajority to finalize transactions.

The platform connects to the broader Cosmos network via the Inter-Blockchain Communication (IBC) protocol, enabling seamless cross-chain asset transfers. Ethereum interoperability is available through the Gravity Bridge.

A standout technical feature is zero gas fees for NFT trading, making the platform highly accessible to creators and collectors alike.

Tokenomics

The STARS token serves multiple roles within the Stargaze protocol. Holders can stake STARS to secure the network and earn staking rewards, vote on governance proposals, and pay network fees.

Stargaze's Fair Burn fee model splits all protocol fees evenly: 50% of fees are permanently burned and 50% are redistributed to stakers and delegators. No fees flow to the core team, reinforcing the community-first design.

Token distribution at launch included community airdrops to ATOM and OSMO stakers, staking rewards, team allocations with vesting periods, and a community treasury reserve.

Circulating supply ? 2.94 billion STARS
Total supply ? 2.99 billion STARS
Max supply ? -- STARS
Updated 4w ago

Ecosystem & Use Cases

Stargaze hosts a range of NFT-focused products:

  • NFT Marketplace — buy, sell, and trade NFT collections with on-chain auctions and raffles
  • NFT Launchpad — a zero gas fee platform for launching new collections
  • Stargaze Studio — a no-code tool allowing creators to launch NFT storefronts without technical expertise
  • Stargaze Names — an on-chain naming service mapping Cosmos wallets to readable names
  • NFT Loans and Raffles — additional DeFi-adjacent utilities built into the marketplace

Team, Governance & Community

Stargaze governance is fully on-chain and controlled by STARS token holders. Any holder can submit proposals, and the community votes on protocol upgrades, fee parameters, and ecosystem initiatives.

The platform operates two key governance bodies: a Protocol DAO for network-level decisions and a Curation DAO for managing NFT collection listings and marketplace standards.

Advantages

  • Low fees: Zero gas fees for NFT trading lower barriers for creators and collectors
  • IBC interoperability: Seamless cross-chain transfers with the Cosmos ecosystem and Ethereum
  • Fair Burn model: Deflationary fee mechanism rewards long-term stakers
  • No-code tooling: Stargaze Studio makes NFT collection creation accessible to non-developers
  • Community governance: Fully decentralized on-chain decision making

Risks & Challenges

  • Ethereum competition: Most NFT volume and mindshare remains on Ethereum and its Layer 2 networks
  • Ecosystem size: Cosmos NFTs represent a smaller market than Ethereum-native NFTs
  • Token inflation: Staking reward emissions can exert sell pressure on STARS over time
  • Adoption dependency: Long-term success relies heavily on growing both creator and collector communities

Long-Term Vision

Stargaze aims to evolve beyond a pure NFT marketplace into a Web3 social networking protocol, where NFTs function as content posts and creators build communities directly on-chain. With continued expansion of Cosmos IBC connections and creator tooling, Stargaze positions itself as the interchain home for digital art and decentralized creator economies.

Frequently Asked Questions

Stargaze is a decentralized, community-owned NFT marketplace and Layer 1 blockchain built within the Cosmos ecosystem. It provides specialized infrastructure for minting, trading, and collecting NFTs, powered by the native STARS token.

STARS is used to pay network fees, stake to secure the network, vote on governance proposals, and participate in the Stargaze curation DAO. Stakers also receive a share of marketplace fee revenue through the Fair Burn model.

Fair Burn is Stargaze's fee structure where 50% of all protocol fees are permanently burned and 50% are redistributed to stakers and delegators. No fees go to the core team, keeping the model community-focused.

Stargaze uses the Cosmos IBC (Inter-Blockchain Communication) protocol to transfer assets across Cosmos-based blockchains. Ethereum interoperability is provided through the Gravity Bridge.

Stargaze Studio is a no-code platform that allows creators to launch NFT collections and storefronts without any technical or programming expertise. It integrates with Cosmos wallets like Keplr for managing collections and tracking royalties.

Stargaze was founded by Shane Vitarana, Jorge Hernandez, and Jake Hartnell under the developer team Public Awesome. The mainnet launched in October 2021.

Stargaze features zero gas fees for NFT trading, which significantly lowers the cost barrier for creators and collectors compared to Ethereum-based NFT platforms.

Governance is fully on-chain and managed by STARS token holders through a Protocol DAO for network upgrades and a Curation DAO for marketplace and collection standards. Any token holder can submit and vote on proposals.