Ethereum News Today: Mysterious STRK Surge Puzzles Analysts as Crypto Markets Remain Volatile

STRK, the native token of Ethereum scaling solution Starknet, surged over 26% in the last 24 hours, trading at $0.224 as of Nov. 19, 2025. The price movement followed a sharp upward trend in STRK-to-ETH conversion rates, with the token's value against Ethereum climbing 27.75% in the past day. This follows a 18.53% increase on Nov. 15 and a 9.01% gain on Nov. 16, according to historical data.

The token's performance has been volatile but largely upward over the past month, with STRK rising 97.26% against ETH in 30 days. Analysts and market observers have not yet attributed the surge to a specific catalyst, though the broader crypto market has seen renewed interest in Ethereum-based layer-2 solutions. Starknet, a zero-knowledge (zk) rollup, continues to attract attention for its scalability and governance model, with STRK used for transaction fees, staking, and governance participation according to Coinbase.

While the price rally has drawn speculation, the token's fundamentals remain tied to its utility within the Starknet ecosystem. Coinbase, a major crypto exchange, lists STRK as an Ethereum ERC-20 token, with a current market capitalization of $1.02 billion. The token's 24-hour trading volume reached $493.47 million, reflecting increased liquidity and investor activity.

The surge comes amid broader market uncertainty, including a 43-day U.S. government shutdown that disrupted federal programs like SNAP but did not directly impact crypto markets. Meanwhile, other equities and commodities have faced headwinds, with analysts downgrading some stocks and highlighting risks from inflation and tariffs.