Stars Arena
Last changed 2026-10-10 · Score recalculated — Rescored under Scoring v2, the published formula (avoid.net/scoring): 33 → 51. Problems weighed by who is responsible: concerns that are not fraud −13.2, incidents the subject suffered −10, problems around the subject, caused by others −2.6; legitimacy credit long-running +2; fact-check adjustments (−5) now shown as page reliability, not in the score. Version history →
Why this score
| Every page starts at | 65 |
| Concerns that are not fraud | -13.2 |
| Incidents it suffered (e.g. hacks) | -10 |
| Problems around it, caused by others | -2.6 |
| Long-running | +2 |
| Sum | 41 |
Score: 51/100 (kept between 0 and 100)
How scoring works →Summary
Stars Arena was an Avalanche-based SocialFi protocol launched on September 27, 2023, modeled closely on Friend.tech, allowing users to trade tokenized access to creators. Within ten days of launch the platform suffered two sequential smart contract exploits, with the second on October 7, 2023 draining approximately $2.9 million in AVAX through a reentrancy vulnerability — the entirety of its TVL. Following a partial fund recovery via bounty negotiation and a security audit, the platform was acquired by a new team in November 2023, rebranded as The Arena, and relaunched with a rebuilt contract.
Connected Entities
4 entities · 59 linked investigations- Stars Arena→mentioned with→Avalanche(70%)
- Avalanche→mentioned with→Stars Arena(80%)
- Stars Arena→mentioned with→LayerZero — DVN Single-Verifier Configuration Risk(60%)
- Stars Arena→mentioned with→Friend Tech(80%)
Connected Through
4 shared actors · 80 investigationsDistinct actors this investigation shares with others — holders, traders, and named parties. Shared infrastructure (exchanges, pools) is excluded.
- ⌂LayerZero — DVN Single-Verifier Configuration Riskprotocol
- □Avalancheorganization
- □Stars Arenaorganization
- □Friend Techorganizationalso in
Timeline(11 events)
27 September 2023
Stars Arena launches on Avalanche, developed by pseudonymous 'theBuilder'. Platform modeled on Friend.tech, allowing trading of creator access tickets. TVL grows 3,400% to $1 million within the first week.
CoinGecko / Altcoin Buzz5 October 2023
First exploit: a broken getPrice() function allows an attacker to drain approximately $2,000 from the contract. The attack is economically inefficient, costing more in gas than it yields. Security researcher @0xlilitch publicly flags the vulnerability.
The Block5 October 2023
Ava Labs CEO Emin Gün Sirer publicly dismisses the vulnerability, characterizing the exploit as economically irrational and calling community concern 'FUD'. Stars Arena team calls it 'coordinated FUD' and deploys a new, unverified replacement contract.
CoinTelegraph7 October 2023
Second exploit: A reentrancy vulnerability in the new contract's sellShares() function is exploited. The attacker manipulates a share-price weighting variable during a deposit callback, draining 266,103 AVAX (approximately $2.9 million), the entirety of the platform's TVL. Funds are dispersed across 266 wallets. A subsequent DDoS attack disrupts the team's communications.
CoinDesk7 October 2023
Stars Arena suspends platform operations and posts a security notice advising users not to deposit funds. Smart contract attacker address identified as 0xa2Ebf3FCD757e9BE1E58B643b6B5077D11b4ad7A.
CertiK Incident Analysis11 October 2023
Stars Arena announces it has reached a bounty agreement with the exploiter. The attacker agrees to return approximately 90% of stolen funds in exchange for a 27,610 AVAX bounty (~$257,000) plus 1,000 AVAX. The exploiter signals cooperation via an on-chain signed message.
CoinDesk12 October 2023
Stars Arena confirms recovery of approximately 90% of stolen funds and announces it has secured outside funding to cover the remaining shortfall, committing to make all users whole upon relaunch. Platform announces pending audit by Paladin before reopening.
CryptoSlateNovember 2023
Stars Arena is acquired by a new team following near-collapse of the original project. Original pseudonymous developer 'theBuilder' exits. Contract is fully rewritten and submitted for independent Paladin security audit.
Avax.network official blog7 December 2023
Platform rebrands from Stars Arena to The Arena (arena.social) under new management.
CoinLiveOctober 2024
The Arena closes a $2 million pre-seed funding round with investors including Blizzard (Avalanche Ecosystem Fund), Ava Labs leadership, Balaji Srinivasan, Abstract Ventures, and D1 Ventures. Platform reports 200,000+ registered users.
Avax.network official blogMay 2025
The Arena launches V2, incorporating a bonding-curve token launchpad and native DEX. The DEX clears approximately $25 million in volume in its first week.
The Block ResearchDecision Log
- slot 455367866 · hash BvoxXwnsJyAre2uujuTByH2gZyFLPcx5uuMB2cuTgRRM
- slot 443526553 · hash 4Jq3iWcbFmWX5i2J5G1TJgAooCTEDxD15bjpo5dxaAgy
- slot 443526528 · hash 9btW2yUZznuNJei49tmxKT8XQKZvMcES1cmveCgsD4i8
- slot 423324664 · hash 6P8Ef2nq3fztHuQipZ4uTKiboT19GFjyrCahgCRghuvc
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (4 decisions). 17 of 19 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 5/31/2026, 7:00:12 AM
last updated: 10/10/2026, 6:47:56 PM
3 viewsavoid.net — verified advice for a post-truth world