Stargaze (STARS)

Data Delay

Overview

Stargaze is a platform for creating, collecting, and trading non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, in the Cosmos ecosystem. An NFT is a blockchain record that identifies a particular digital item, such as an artwork, collectible, or membership pass. Stargaze offers a marketplace where people can trade these items and a launchpad where creators can release new collections. Its associated token is called STARS. (forum.cosmos.network)

Stargaze began as its own blockchain. In 2026, its applications and NFT collections began moving to the Cosmos Hub, where Stargaze operates as an application rather than a separate network. This change matters when learning about STARS: the token once paid fees and secured Stargaze’s chain through staking, while ATOM is the Cosmos Hub’s gas token and the default payment token for new Stargaze collections. STARS remains part of Stargaze’s plans as an ecosystem token. (docs.stargaze.zone)

History & Team

Stargaze grew out of an effort to give Cosmos creators a place to launch and trade NFTs. Its early development centered on a dedicated blockchain, which gave the team room to build NFT tools around the needs of artists, collectors, and other projects. By 2022, Stargaze had launched its first collections and opened its consumer-facing platform. (medium.com)

The project was co-founded by software developers Shane Vitarana, Jorge Hernandez, and Jake Hartnell. Vitarana wrote about Stargaze’s early testnet in 2021. Hernandez continued working on the project’s chain technology, while Hartnell later left the founding team. Stargaze’s development has also involved contributors responsible for creator tools, operations, and community work. (medium.com)

The move to the Cosmos Hub marks the largest change in Stargaze’s history. A proposal put forward in November 2025 outlined the transfer of its marketplace, launchpad, creator tools, names service, and NFT collections. NFT migration began in March 2026. The aim was to bring these products closer to other activity on the Hub while retaining the Stargaze brand and STARS token. (forum.cosmos.network)

Technology & How It Works

NFTs and smart contracts

Stargaze’s NFT tools use CosmWasm, a system for running smart contracts in Cosmos. A smart contract is code that carries out blockchain actions according to set rules. On Stargaze, contracts manage tasks such as creating a collection, minting its NFTs, listing items for sale, and recording ownership changes. The project’s move to the Cosmos Hub became possible in part because the Hub added support for CosmWasm applications. (forum.cosmos.network)

Stargaze has used an NFT contract standard called sg721. Each NFT has an identifier and metadata that describes it. The metadata can point to an image or another digital file. Stargaze’s creator guidance describes storing these files through systems such as IPFS, then linking them to the NFT contract. This separates the blockchain record of the item from the file used to display it. (docs.stargaze.zone)

From mint to resale

A creator sets up a collection, chooses its mint rules, and publishes it through the launchpad or creator tools. Some launches allow anyone to mint during a set period; others give selected wallets early access through a whitelist. Creators can also set a royalty address and percentage so the marketplace directs a share of eligible resale payments to that address. After minting, holders can list NFTs, make offers, or transfer them. (docs.stargaze.zone)

Cosmos also has the Inter-Blockchain Communication protocol, known as IBC, for connecting compatible chains. Stargaze has used interchain NFT technology to support movement between networks. Migrating existing collections to the Cosmos Hub is a separate process: Stargaze has arranged automatic migration for selected collections and a claim process for others. (forum.cosmos.network)

Tokenomics & Utility

STARS before and after migration

STARS was created for Stargaze’s original blockchain. Its launch included an airdrop to Cosmos participants, including ATOM stakers and people providing liquidity in the Osmosis ecosystem. On the original chain, holders could delegate STARS to validators, take part in governance, and use the token for network activity. Validators and staking belonged to that chain’s proof-of-stake design. (forum.cosmos.network)

Stargaze also introduced a fee-sharing system called Fair Burn. Under the documented model, part of the STARS collected through marketplace and launchpad fees was burned, meaning it was removed from circulation, while the rest went to STARS stakers. That model describes how fees worked on Stargaze’s original network; the move to the Hub changes the role of validator staking. (docs.stargaze.zone)

The Hub migration plan keeps STARS while ending the original chain’s token inflation and validator-staking model. It describes STARS as a token for selected transactions, mints, and Stargaze features, including a planned loyalty program. ATOM has a different role: it pays gas on the Cosmos Hub and is the default token for new collection mints, bids, and trades on Stargaze. Keeping those roles separate is the clearest way to understand the project’s changing economic model. (forum.cosmos.network)

Ecosystem & Use Cases

Stargaze serves both sides of an NFT launch. Creators can prepare artwork and metadata, set mint dates or supply limits, organize early-access lists, and choose whether to add royalties. Collectors can discover collections, mint new items, and trade existing ones through the marketplace. These tools allow an independent artist to publish a small series or a community to release a larger set of collectibles. (docs.stargaze.zone)

Collections on the platform include digital art, profile-picture projects, and items connected to online communities. Bad Kids, for example, is among the collections included in Stargaze’s move to the Cosmos Hub. Stargaze has also developed a names service and creator software called Studio. Together, these products support identity, collection management, and trading within the wider Cosmos community. (automigration.stargaze.zone)

An NFT’s benefits depend on its particular collection. One may represent artwork, while another may give access to a community activity or digital experience. Stargaze provides the tools to issue and exchange the item; the creator defines what the item is meant to represent. The platform’s terms explain that rights to an NFT’s associated content can depend on the creator’s separate terms. (stargaze.zone)

Advantages & Challenges

Stargaze’s main strength is its focus on NFTs within Cosmos. It combines a launchpad, marketplace, and creator tools in one familiar setting. CosmWasm gives developers a way to build features around collections, while IBC links Stargaze’s history to the wider interchain ecosystem. Operating on the Cosmos Hub also puts its applications alongside Hub users and ATOM-based activity. (forum.cosmos.network)

Its main challenge is the transition between two designs. Older explanations of Stargaze describe an independent chain where STARS paid gas and holders staked with validators. The Hub-based platform uses ATOM for gas and makes it the default token for new NFT activity. Existing collections also move through different migration paths: some arrive automatically, while others require claims. Stargaze’s continued development must bring these pieces together into a clear experience for creators and collectors. (docs.stargaze.zone)

A broader challenge comes from the nature of an open creator platform. Stargaze can supply minting and trading tools, but the artwork, promised benefits, and community activity behind each collection come from its creator. The quality and purpose of one project can therefore be very different from another. (docs.stargaze.zone)

Where to Buy & Wallets

STARS is available for swaps on Osmosis, a decentralized exchange in the Cosmos ecosystem. Osmosis has supported STARS trading pairs, including a pair with ATOM. A decentralized swap exchanges one token for another through an on-chain pool rather than through a traditional exchange account. (coingecko.com)

Keplr is a wallet option for using Stargaze and other Cosmos applications. Stargaze’s creator guidance also identifies Leap as a supported Cosmos wallet. A wallet holds the keys used to approve token transfers, NFT mints, and other blockchain actions. On the Cosmos Hub, users need ATOM to pay transaction gas, even when an activity involves another asset. STARS acquired on Osmosis and STARS associated with the original Stargaze chain may appear in different network contexts, so the chain shown in a wallet matters. (docs.stargaze.zone)

Regulatory & Compliance

The rules affecting Stargaze involve both its fungible STARS token and the NFTs traded through its platform. In the United States, the Internal Revenue Service treats digital assets, including cryptocurrencies and NFTs, as property for federal tax purposes. Sales and exchanges can have tax consequences. Stargaze’s own service terms also require users to follow applicable laws and restrict use involving sanctioned locations or parties. (irs.gov)

In the European Union, the Markets in Crypto-Assets regulation, or MiCA, sets rules for many crypto-assets and related services. Its scope excludes assets that are genuinely unique and non-fungible. STARS is a fungible token, while the treatment of an individual NFT depends on its characteristics and the rights it represents. An NFT label alone does not settle how an asset is classified. (esma.europa.eu)

STARS has no established, project-wide halal or Shariah-compliant designation. An Islamic-finance assessment would consider how the token is used and whether particular transactions involve prohibited elements such as interest or gambling. Buying digital artwork, trading a token, and taking part in a separate financial product are distinct activities for that purpose. The project’s NFT tools and its historical staking model do not, by themselves, provide a single religious ruling for every use of STARS. (forum.cosmos.network)

Future Outlook

Stargaze’s next stage centers on building NFT products on the Cosmos Hub. Its migration plan names improvements to the marketplace, launchpad, and creator tools as areas for development. It also outlines possible work on new forms of NFTs and simpler ways for people to create or trade them. These are development goals rather than completed features. (forum.cosmos.network)

For STARS, the important question is how often people use its planned roles alongside ATOM. The Hub supplies the network and gas token; Stargaze supplies the NFT applications; and STARS is intended to remain connected to selected platform activities. How that relationship develops will shape the token’s place in the Cosmos creator ecosystem. (forum.cosmos.network)

Summary

Stargaze began as a Cosmos blockchain built around NFTs and is moving its marketplace, launchpad, tools, and collections to the Cosmos Hub. STARS remains its associated token, but its role is changing as ATOM becomes the Hub-based platform’s gas token and default token for new NFT activity. Stargaze’s lasting contribution is a set of tools that lets Cosmos creators publish digital items and gives collectors a place to discover and exchange them. (docs.stargaze.zone)