Nostra CEO David Garai Steps Down Amid Token Controversy

YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) — David Garai, the founder and CEO of the Starknet-based DeFi project Nostra, has resigned from his position. This announcement comes just 11 days after the launch of Nostra’s NSTR token, which went live with an airdrop that had no vesting periods.

In a post on X, Garai stated,

“I have resigned as CEO of Nostra. I’m taking a lil break for the first time in 4 years and then I will be back. Stay tuned for my future plans.”

Following his announcement, the NSTR token saw a 4% drop before recovering slightly.

Garai assured the community that he hasn’t sold any of his tokens. He provided a list of team allocation addresses to verify his claim, stating,

“There is zero correlation between the timing of the resignation and whether the NSTR token was launched unlocked or locked. This is clearly evident by the fact that the team allocation has not been touched.”

Nostra’s Growth, Financial Snapshot, and Leadership Transition

Nostra has grown significantly over the past two and a half years. According to Garai, the app has become the largest and most profitable protocol on Starknet, boasting $2.5 million in annual revenue and over $180 million in total value locked (TVL). Currently, Nostra’s TVL stands at $148.63 million, down from a peak of $221.4 million just before the airdrop, as reported by DeFi Llama.

The Nostra app allows users to lend, borrow, swap, and bridge cryptocurrencies. It is backed by Nostra Labs, which will now be led by Richard Thomas-Pryce from Tempus Labs. Garai noted that under Thomas-Pryce’s leadership, Nostra will continue developing its product suite, including the upcoming Nostra Earn and STRK liquid staking.

Community Questions Timing of Nostra CEO’s Resignation After Token Airdrop

The timing of Garai’s resignation raised eyebrows within the community, especially given the recent token airdrop. Some community members questioned the timing. He emphasized that his resignation is unrelated to the token’s launch conditions.

The total supply of NSTR is 100 million tokens, with a current market cap of $9.3 million, according to CoinGecko.

All NSTR tokens were unlocked at launch, with 11% airdropped to the community. Additionally, 25% of the total supply is allocated to the project’s treasury, 14% to future airdrops, 26.2% to investors, and 23.8% to the team. Nostra described this as the “fairest launch in crypto.”

The community awaits the next steps for Nostra under its new leadership, as Garai steps back for a break.