Diego Oliva became CEO of StarNet Foundation

Key receivers

Diego Oliva has stepped down as CEO of StarNet Foundation, leading significant growth and project initiatives. James Strudwick takes over as the new CEO with a strong background in Web3.

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Diego Oliva has stepped down after a year and a half as CEO of the StarNet Foundation, according to a blog announcement published Tuesday. James Strudwick, previously Head of Ecosystem Development, will be appointed Executive Director.

“Diego Oliva, who has served as the first executive director of the Starknet Foundation (SNF) since March 2023, will step down after successfully establishing a strong team and structure within the foundation,” the foundation said.

Under Oliva's leadership, the Starknet Foundation has grown from a modest team of two part-time employees to a robust organization of over thirty full-time professionals, Starknet noted. During his tenure, he successfully executed several key projects and initiatives.

Now with a strong team and structure, Diego and the Foundation Board believe it is an opportune time to transition leadership. Diego will stay with the foundation for the next month to help with the transition.

Strudwick is expected to ensure the continuity of the foundation's activities when he takes over as executive director.

James has extensive experience in the Web3 space, having worked on advancing DeFi, L1 and L2 scaling projects. Since joining the team, he has demonstrated skillful and innovative leadership, energetic community building, and deep knowledge of ecology.

The announcement follows some controversy around the Starknet community over the past few months.

Shortly after the launch of Starknet's STRK token, 1.3 billion tokens were released to major contributors and investors, prompting criticism over timing and market impact.

Many developers and node operators are disappointed with the Starknet token airdrop criteria and classification. Many felt they had made a significant contribution to the ecosystem, but received little recognition. This caused a lot of outrage on social media.

Following the controversial airdrop, the project again became the subject of criticism after one of the developers called members of the community “e-beggars”.

Additionally, ZKX, a decentralized exchange based on Starknet, recently faced massive backlash following its sudden shutdown. Prominent investors including Amber Group and Hashkey Capital expressed their displeasure over the lack of communication and transparency following the shutdown.

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