stacks.btc (@Stacks): The Road to a Broader Bitcoin Economy: Stacks Ecosystem Milestones & Look Ahead 🟧

The Road to a Broader Bitcoin Economy: Stacks Ecosystem Milestones & Look Ahead 🟧 From Stacks now leveraging 100% of Bitcoin’s security budget to introducing sBTC, the community has taken major steps to bring Satoshi Nakamoto’s vision closer to reality. Here’s a recap of recent achievements and a glimpse into what’s next. 1. sBTC Mainnet Launch sBTC deposits are live on mainnet! Within just 4 days, the initial cap of 1,000 BTC was reached, signaling strong demand for programmable Bitcoin. Some next steps: - Accelerate deploying more BTC into Bitcoin DeFi use cases on Stacks. - Enhance the BTC-to-L2 UX. - Withdrawals and raising the BTC cap early next year. - Much, much more. 2. sBTC Ecosystem Adoption sBTC is now at the heart of many Bitcoin wallets and DeFi protocols, such as: - Lending & Borrowing: Zest, Granite (soon) - DEXs & AMMs: ALEX, Bitflow, Velar - Wallets: Leather, Xverse 3. Strategic Partnerships & Expanding Support The community has worked tirelessly to position sBTC as the premier BTC asset on L2. Key partnerships include: 1. Immunefi, The Leading Crowdsourced Security Platform in Bitcoin. 2. Coinflip, The #1 Global Bitcoin ATM Network. 3. Bitcoin Frontier Fund, Home of the Leading Bitcoin Startup Accelerator. 4. Portal Ventures, Leading Pre-Seed VC. 5. Learnweb3, The Largest Educational Platform for Bitcoin Devs. 6. Xverse, The Leading Bitcoin Ecosystem & Ordinals Wallet. 7. FordeFi, The First MPC Wallet to Fully Support Bitcoin DeFi. 8. Travala, The #1 Bitcoin and Crypto Travel Booking Portal. 9. Ankr, The #1 Provider of Bitcoin-Secured, Physical Infrastructure. Major institutional support is also driving adoption, with BitGo, Kiln, Figment, Blockdaemon, and others serving as Signers for the Stacks network. Additionally, Stacks developers are integrating sBTC into Solana, Aptos, Axelar Bridge, and many other powerhouses. 4. Nakamoto Release: Fast & Secure Transactions The Nakamoto Release brought improvements: - 100% of Bitcoin’s security budget now secures L2 transactions, making them as irreversible as Bitcoin itself. - Faster transactions: Simple token transfers are nearly instant, while DeFi transactions are being optimized by Bitcoin L2 Labs for greater speed via tenure extend. The first improvement has already gone live earlier in December. 5. Empowering Developers Developer adoption is surging: 1. Over 100,000 builders completed Stacks challenges via EasyA, and hundreds attended the Stacks Harvard hackathon. 2. LearnWeb3 will release an sBTC developer course with bounties in early 2025. 3. Buidl Battle: A Bitcoin startup tournament kicks off in February, onboarding the next wave of Bitcoin innovators. 6. Institutional & Global Growth The Stacks ecosystem continues to shine globally: 1. Stacks ranked #22 on the Coinbase 50 Index. 2. Grayscale launched a Stacks Trust. 3. The Stacks Asia Foundation is driving adoption in Asia. 4. Bitcoin L2 Labs is accelerating core development. 5. HEX Trust is expanding Stacks adoption in Asia and the Middle East. This is just a glimpse into what happened this year! As we close out the year, the Stacks community is setting the stage for a great 2025. With leading DeFi apps, institutional adoption of sBTC, and global recognition, the Bitcoin L2 ecosystem is poised for extraordinary growth. Thank you for being part of this incredible journey. Together, we’re building the future of Bitcoin! 🧡