Simply put, there isn’t much about Stacks that isn’t novel. starting with how it came about. Unlike most crypto projects, Stacks took up to eight years to build before it was released. During this time, the Stacks team spent a significant amount of time putting their idea through a rigorous peer-review process where academics from Princeton and Stanford pulled it apart to find any potential flaws.
With no need to hard fork or alter the original blockchain, Stacks examines the processes that enable Bitcoin and aims to expand its capabilities beyond what was previously thought to be possible.
It connects directly to the Bitcoin blockchain using its innovative consensus process, known as Proof of Transfer (PoX), to do this. To do this, it offers a brand-new smart contract coding language called Clarity, which is built on an intuitive syntax that makes it approachable while still retaining the highest level of security.
Due to Stacks’ lightweight architecture, a separate data storage solution is required, which is accomplished by contracting with commercial cloud storage companies via its own storage system, Gaia. Gaia differs from comparable strategies in that it enables people who are sceptical of cloud storage to keep their data on-site.
The Blockstack Naming Service, an integrated naming service, was also incorporated into the design of Stacks. Users now have the option to assign assets names that are readable by people. In turn, the assets are protected using a mix of public and private keys.
Last but not least, as if all of this blockchain innovation weren’t enough, Stacks has gained support from the US government. This took the form of money in the millions of dollars for its development and, perhaps more significantly, SEC support for its initial coin offering, making Stacks the first blockchain token to ever accomplish this.
What Gives Stacks Value?
Owners of Stacks (STX) coins can stack their tokens to receive Bitcoin as a reward while miners commit BTC to create new Stacks (STX) tokens. The relative pricing of STX vs. BTC is one of several variables that will determine how successful the mining system ultimately proves to be for miners.
Despite STX’s pricing being nothing short of fantastic in 2021, its long-term worth will depend on the adoption of the Stacks platform and the continuous expansion of smart contracts powered by Clarity. The price of STX may drop to the point that no miners are ready to commit their BTC in return for Stacks tokens should this growth stagnate. This is significant because consumers need STX to pay gas costs while executing smart contracts, and developers need STX to submit their contracts to the blockchain.
How Many Stacks (STX) Coins Are There in Circulation?
Although there is no cap on the total supply of STX, by 2050 it is anticipated that 1.8 billion will be in use.
There are 1,328,308,430 STX tokens available right now.
Other Technical Data
Although the precise distribution of STX’s initial supply is still a little unclear, estimations indicate that the founders and the original Stacks team received around 15% of the genesis supply, or 1.32 billion STX. These tokens are subject to a three to seven-year unlock period, with the following scheduled unlock anticipated in November 2021.
How is The Stacks Network Secured?
In order to safeguard the network against assault, Stacks uses Bitcoin’s Proof of Work consensus, which enlists the help of thousands of miners and nodes. This makes it impossible to undermine the network in terms of processing power and financial incentive.
To strengthen this even further, Stacks provides its own consensus process, the previously stated Proof of Transfer, in which miners commit BTC to mint STX, essentially connecting the security of the Stacks network to BTC as all transactions can be validated using Bitcoin.
The blockchain transactions in the most recent version of Stacks are capable of scaling independently of Bitcoin, on which it depends. Only a final verification and security are provided by the Bitcoin blockchain. As a result, just one hash is generated on the Bitcoin blockchain from thousands of transactions on the Stacks blockchain.
How to Use Stacks
The STX token’s main application is to power the Proof of Transfer consensus that links Stacks and Bitcoin. STX powers the consensus mechanism and facilitates the development of dApps, smart contracts, and immutable and transferable virtual assets. The transaction fees that support the execution of new contracts on the blockchain can be paid with STX. The method involves burning any STX tokens that were spent.
The STX coin also enables voting on Stacks protocol updates and selection of app reviewers, among other things.
Users can also stake their STX by stacking it; sure, the two phrases are interchangeable, but the process is rather straightforward. Users must possess a minimum quantity of STX before they may “lock up” on the network and receive rewards. At the end of each reward cycle, which lasts for about two weeks, the prizes are paid out in BTC and made available. The BTC that miners contribute in exchange for the privilege to mine new STX blocks is where the incentives come from.
How to Choose a Stacks Wallet
Although STX can be stored exclusively in Stacks’ own wallet, a wide variety of third-party wallets are also compatible with the tokens. Therefore, it is encouraged that those looking to mine or invest in STX do their own research before choosing a wallet.
The most secure way to store bitcoins with offline storage and backup is with hardware wallets, also known as cold wallets, like Ledger or Trezor. They can be more expensive and may require more technical expertise. As a result, they might be more suited to holding more STX for users with more experience.
Software wallets are an additional choice that are both free and simple to use. They might be custodial or non-custodial and can be downloaded as desktop or smartphone apps. With custodial wallets, the service provider is in charge of managing and backing up the private keys on your behalf. Non-custodial wallets keep the private keys on your device using safe components. Although practical, they are thought to be less secure than hardware wallets and may be better suited to individuals with less experience or smaller STX amounts.
Online wallets, often known as web wallets, are also cost-free, simple to use, and available from a variety of devices via a web browser. However, they are regarded as “hot wallets” and might not be as secure as hardware or software alternatives. You should choose a trusted company with a solid reputation who has experience in security and custody because you are probably entrusting the platform to manage your STX. They are therefore best suited for people who hold fewer coins or engage in more frequent trading.
You can safely store and exchange your STX tokens with the help of Kriptomat’s secure storage service. You may store your STX with Kriptomat and benefit from its user-friendly features and enterprise-grade security.
When you select our secure platform as your storage option, buying and selling STX, as well as exchanging it for any other cryptocurrency, can be done in a matter of seconds.
Stacks Mining
It needs miners since Stacks uses BTC to power the production of STX. Instead of actively mining STX in this situation, the miners use previously mined BTC to create new STX coins. Miners must commit BTC only to have the opportunity to mine STX, and this opportunity is partially dependent on luck and partially based on the amount of BTC each miner has committed.
Two important elements determine how profitable this operation will be. One is whether the miner is granted permission to mine a block of STX at all, and as it has been said, this privilege will probably go to those miners who can contribute more BTC. The relative cost of STX compared to BTC is the second factor. It may become unprofitable to mine until the relative price of STX recovers if the price of Bitcoin rises while STX remains flat. Another effect is that a miner who invests BTC in the mining process would see STX’s value decline during the roughly sixteen-hour mining procedure, which would reduce their profits.
A miner’s payout per block will decrease from its current 1,000 STX value to 500 STX, then 250 STX, and finally 125 STX due to the STX tokens’ issuance following a halving timetable that closely resembles that of BTC. This will continue to be the mining reward after it hits 125 STX.
Revolutionary Ambition
There isn’t a single aspect of Stacks that will give you the impression that the developers lacked desire, whether you only gave it a quick glance or gave it a thorough examination. The project’s primary goal is to transform Bitcoin’s use case, which is the largest and most potent blockchain in existence.
They have also taken a very bold and ambitious approach to realising this aim. The fact that theirs was the first SEC-backed ICO in US history should come as no surprise. It is yet unclear how their aspirations will turn out, including whether they will be able to reach the stars or if they will meet the same end as Icarus.
There is a great deal of doubt regarding whether anyone will still be eager to exchange BTC in exchange for the option to mine STX as cryptocurrencies see another positive movement in the markets. In either case, we will all be keeping a careful eye on Stacks’ future moving forward.
Who Are the Founders of Stacks?
In 2013, former students of Princeton University Muneeb Ali and Ryan Shea co-founded Stacks. After earning degrees in mechanical engineering and computer science, Ali started working on Stacks right away. As CEO of Hiro PBC, he continues to use the platform today. Ryan Shea, the other co-founder of the platform, served as co-CEO from 2013 until he resigned in 2018 to focus on his own stealth venture, which he believes will address the biggest issues confronting humanity in the twenty-first century.
The idea for Stacks came about as a reaction to the internet becoming a closed, user-owned system that is increasingly concentrated in the hands of major players. In his doctoral dissertation at Princeton, Muneeb defined the architecture for a new trust-to-trust design for the internet, and he presented his vision for the future generation of the internet in a 2016 TEDx talk.
How Does Stacks Work?
The interaction between two parties—miners and stackers (not stakers!—is at the heart of how Stacks operates). Proof of Transfer, often known as PoX, is a special consensus method that controls how they interact.
The fact that miners don’t actually mine anything in the Stacks blockchain may come as a bit of a shock. Instead, they trade already-mined Bitcoin (BTC) off the network and commit it in exchange for a chance to win STX coins. Check out the Stacks Mining portion of this article that is lower down for more information on how this type of mining operates under its own set of rules.
To connect with all of the applications in the Stacks ecosystem, each block mined on the Stacks blockchain holds user identity and transactional metadata. Any modifications to Stacks IDs or wallet balances can be confirmed using the Bitcoin blockchain because they are linked to the cryptocurrency. This also holds true for Stacks smart contracts, which are created and tested specifically for Stacks using a unique coding language.
A custom storage system named Gaia is used to store all of the remaining data that isn’t kept on the Stacks blockchain. Although the users of this cutting-edge storage solution can choose to forego cloud storage in favour of their own cold storage solution, they must have the necessary computer power. This unique storage solution depends on cloud storage providers like Azure and Dropbox.
The Stacks coin, or STX, is the native cryptocurrency token of the Stacks ecosystem and supports everything else by being used to register digital assets, like as user IDs and smart contracts, to the Stacks blockchain.
What is Stacks (STX)?
Stacks is a cryptocurrency project that aims to introduce smart contracts and decentralised apps to Bitcoin in order to maximise the potential of the blockchain. The project, which was formerly called as Blockstack but changed its name to Stacks in 2020, was created as a layer-1 solution that uses Bitcoin as its base layer. The Stacks (STX) token powers the platform, allowing for the execution of smart contracts, transaction processing, and the registration of new digital assets.
The Stacks ideology stems from the belief that huge players like Google and Facebook have too much influence over regular users and that the internet is not the decentralised medium of trade it could be. Because of its immense power, Google adopted the unofficial adage “don’t be evil,” which it later abandoned in 2018. The goal of Stacks is to create an internet architecture that makes it impossible for businesses to engage in evil behaviour. The developers even adopted this motto and posted it on a billboard next to Google’s California offices.
The smart contracts that Stacks adds to Bitcoin do not alter any of its attributes, including the very things that make it so popular, its security and stability, because Stacks is a layer-1 ecosystem rooted to Bitcoin.
Because Stacks dApps are open and modular, programmers can build on top of one other’s creations and create features that otherwise wouldn’t be possible. Additionally, everything that occurs in the Stacks ecosystem is supported by the most secure blockchain available because Stacks employs Bitcoin as its base layer.
The smart contracts that Stacks adds to Bitcoin do not alter any of its attributes, including the very things that make it so popular, its security and stability, because Stacks is a layer-1 ecosystem rooted to Bitcoin.
Because Stacks dApps are open and modular, programmers can build on top of one other’s creations and create features that otherwise wouldn’t be possible. Additionally, everything that occurs in the Stacks ecosystem is supported by the most secure blockchain available because Stacks employs Bitcoin as its base layer.
Stacks FAQ
How to Buy Stacks
Simply go to the Kriptomat how to buy Stacks page and select your favourite payment method to purchase STX.
How to Sell Stacks
By navigating the UI and selecting your preferred payment method, you may quickly sell STX if you already own it and keep it in a Kriptomat exchange wallet.
Stacks Price
The price movement of STX is influenced by a wide range of variables, including project announcements and developments, the movement of assets on exchanges, public opinion, and new economic and cryptocurrency trends.
Demand for the Stacks network’s outputs, particularly the smart contracts powered by the Clarity coding language, has a significant impact on STX price. For the payment of gas fees, these smart contracts rely on STX, but dApps based on Stacks also need STX for each user interaction.
The demand for STX will increase, which will have a direct impact on the price of the token if Stacks can draw in more users willing to pay fees and burn tokens to build smart contracts.
