Stacks (STX)USD

Stacks is a Bitcoin layer that adds smart contracts and decentralized applications to Bitcoin without changing the Bitcoin protocol. Muneeb Ali and Ryan Shea founded the project around 2017 under the name Blockstack, which was later renamed to Stacks. The Stacks mainnet and STX token launched in January 2021. Stacks uses a Proof of Transfer consensus mechanism: miners spend BTC to compete for the right to add blocks and earn STX rewards, while STX holders lock their tokens through a process called stacking to support consensus and receive BTC yield directly from miners. The native token, STX, is used to pay transaction and smart contract fees, reward miners, and participate in stacking for BTC returns and governance. STX follows a Bitcoin-like emission schedule with a capped maximum supply of approximately 1.818 billion tokens, expected to be fully issued around 2050. The design treats Bitcoin as a settlement layer for smart contracts and decentralized applications built on Stacks.