$0.3906

Stacks is a Bitcoin layer for smart contracts, enabling decentralized applications to use Bitcoin as an asset and settle transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain. It leverages the security and value of Bitcoin, unlocking its capital for use in dApps. Through its Proof of Transfer consensus and Clarity language, Stacks can read the full Bitcoin state at any time. All Stacks transactions are hashed and settled on Bitcoin's layer 1, securing blocks with 100% of Bitcoin's hash power, making it resistant to reordering attacks.

Stacks was founded in 2017 by Muneeb, who completed his PhD on the foundations of the Stacks layer, published the whitepaper, and raised $50 million. The early team had previously built protocols on Bitcoin's layer 1. In 2019, they conducted the first SEC-qualified token offering for the public, including US investors, with full disclosure. From 2018 to 2020, the team focused on developing the Stacks infrastructure, including the Clarity programming language, as a secure and safe layer for Bitcoin.

Stacks stands out with several innovations. It will be secured by Bitcoin's entire hash power, providing Bitcoin-level finality. It introduces sBTC, a 1:1 Bitcoin-backed asset that can be moved in and out of the Stacks layer in a decentralized way, allowing smart contracts to write to Bitcoin. Stacks also enables atomic BTC swaps and assets owned by BTC addresses. Its Clarity language ensures safe, decidable contracts, and it can read the full Bitcoin state at any time. Additionally, Stacks is scalable, offering fast transactions that settle on Bitcoin.

The total supply of STX is predetermined, reaching approximately 1.818 billion by 2050. The Stacks ecosystem consists of various independent entities, developers, and community members. No single entity holds more than 10% of the circulating supply, and early investors typically hold less than 5%. These figures are self-reported and derived from on-chain data, so they may change over time.

Stacks relies on Bitcoin's proof-of-work blockchain as its base layer, benefiting from the combined hash power of thousands of miners, making attacks computationally and economically unfeasible. Additionally, Stacks introduces its own consensus mechanism called proof-of-transfer (PoX), where miners transfer BTC to mine STX, effectively leveraging Bitcoin's security to bootstrap the Stacks network.

STX can be traded on major exchanges such as Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, Upbit, and KuCoin. For a complete list of trading pairs and supported platforms, refer to the markets section. For guidance on purchasing cryptocurrencies with fiat currency, additional information is available.