What is Stacks(STX)?

Stacks is a Bitcoin Layer for smart contracts that allows smart contracts and decentralized apps to use Bitcoin as an asset and settle transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain.

Bitcoin is the most important, valuable, and long-lasting decentralized asset. The Stacks layer releases $500 billion in BTC money for decentralized apps by utilizing the Bitcoin L1 as a settlement.

Because of its Proof of Transfer consensus and Clarity language, Stacks has complete knowledge of the Bitcoin state and can read from it at any time.

All Stacks layer transactions are automatically hashed and settled on the Bitcoin L1. 100% Bitcoin hash power is used to secure stacks of blocks. An attacker would have to reorg Bitcoin in order to reorder Stack blocks/transactions.

Who are the founders of Stacks?

The "Stacks" blockchain, formerly known as Blockstack, is a decentralized computing platform that aims to bring smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps) to Bitcoin. It was founded by Muneeb Ali and Ryan Shea.

Muneeb Ali is a Pakistani-American entrepreneur and computer scientist who completed his Ph.D. at Princeton University. He is a strong advocate for user privacy and data ownership. Ryan Shea is also a computer scientist and entrepreneur who co-founded Blockstack alongside Ali.

The main goal of the Stacks blockchain is to leverage the security of the Bitcoin network while enabling the development of various dApps on top of it. The project achieved significant attention during the blockchain boom of the late 2010s, and it has continued to evolve its platform and ecosystem.

What makes Stacks unique?

• Proof of Transfer (PoX) Consensus Mechanism: Stacks utilizes a unique consensus mechanism called Proof of Transfer (PoX) that links it to the Bitcoin blockchain. PoX allows Stacks to settle its transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain, leveraging Bitcoin's security and capital to ensure a high level of security for its own network.

• Decentralized Apps (dApps) and Smart Contracts: Stacks support the execution of smart contracts and enable the creation of decentralized applications (dApps). While similar to other programmable blockchains like Ethereum, Stacks sets itself apart by building on top of the Bitcoin ecosystem and aiming to enhance Bitcoin's capabilities.

• Unique Consensus Mechanism: The PoX consensus mechanism is a distinctive feature of Stacks. By connecting to Bitcoin and relying on its security, Stacks achieves a unique approach to ensuring the integrity and security of its transactions.

• Scalability: Stacks is designed to scale independently of Bitcoin, its underlying blockchain. This capability allows Stacks to handle a high throughput of transactions, making it suitable for applications that require quick and efficient processing, such as payments and financial services.

• Unique Values: Stacks has a clear vision of creating an open and borderless economy that emphasizes values like trustlessness, permissionlessness, and decentralization. These principles make it an attractive platform for developers looking to build decentralized applications and smart contracts.

Explain the network security of Stacks.

Anchored to Bitcoin: Stacks is anchored to the Bitcoin network, which means that transactions on Stacks inherit the same finality and security as the Bitcoin blockchain. This integration ensures a high level of security for Stack transactions.

Proof of Transfer (PoX) Consensus Mechanism: Stacks utilizes a unique consensus mechanism called Proof of Transfer (PoX), which links it to Bitcoin. PoX allows Stacks to leverage the security and capital of Bitcoin by settling all transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain. This ensures a high level of security for Stack transactions.

Decentralized Network: Stacks is designed as a decentralized network, with numerous individuals and companies from around the world contributing to and building on the platform. This decentralization enhances the security of the network by reducing the risk of a single point of failure.

Secure Participation Keys: Stacks employs participation keys to enhance the security of users' assets, even if their participating node is compromised. Users generate and register participation keys to participate in proposing and voting on blocks, reducing exposure and enhancing security.

Scalability: Stacks' transactions can scale independently of Bitcoin, which it relies on. This capability allows Stacks to process thousands of transactions per second, making it suitable for high-throughput use cases such as payments and financial applications.

What are the future developments in Stacks?

The Stacks 2.1 upgrade is a hard fork of the Stacks blockchain, which seamlessly transitioned from 2.0 to 2.1 at block 781,551. Stacks operates under a decentralized model, and before the upgrade could be implemented, over 80% of Stacks holders had to vote in favor of it. Stacks 2.1 introduces several important changes, including improvements to the Stacking mechanism, support for native Taproot and Segwit addresses, and the possibility of creating decentralized Stacking pools.

Decentralized Stacking pools enhance the decentralization of the Stacks blockchain and allow more investors to participate in Stacking. Additionally, Stacks 2.1 simplifies the process of building bridges between Stacks and other blockchains, opening the door for asset transfers and the use of oracles and services required for DeFi applications.

Post 2.1, Stacks NFTs, tokens, and other assets can be sent to Bitcoin wallets, simplifying the onboarding experience for Bitcoin users and demonstrating the relationship between Stacks and Bitcoin blockchains.

The Stacks 2.1 upgrade serves as a crucial building block for future developments, including sBTC, which solves the "Bitcoin write problem" and lays the foundation for DeFi on Bitcoin. With the Nakamoto Release, Stacks will operate at a much faster speed, making transactions more efficient than the current setup anchored to Bitcoin's blocks, which typically occur every 10 minutes. These upcoming advancements promise to bring exciting opportunities and developments to the Stacks ecosystem.

To read more information about Stacks (STX), Suncrypto Price Explorer