Stacks (STX): A Compliant and Programmable Bitcoin Layer2 That Will Get Attention From Institutions

After much anticipation, the copycat season has finally arrived. The Altcoin Season Index broke through 88, a record high, which means that 87 of the top

With much fanfare, copycat season is finally here.

The Altcoin Season Index soared to a record high of 88, indicating that 87 of the top 100 projects by market value saw 90-day gains outpacing that of Bitcoin. Notably, older coins like XRP, HBAR, and XLM saw staggering gains.

This might just be the new Trump trade.

Following Trump's victory in the election, the market began anticipating potential policy dividends. Among the policies unveiled by the Trump camp was a possible exemption of US crypto assets from capital gains tax, which drew immediate attention from traditional funds. In this context, US crypto projects with strong regulatory compliance and traditional institutional backgrounds became a key focus for institutional investors.

Besides having qualified assets, there also needs to be a suitable channel to facilitate institutional entry. For instance, the asset is listed on Coinbase or Grayscale Select and has a corresponding Grayscale trust product.

According to TechFlow's統計, over the past 30 days, the average increase in Grayscale Trust's assets, calculated by weighted market capitalization, reached an astonishing 218.27%.

Based on this logic, which assets might garner attention next, considering both US regulatory compliance and the Grayscale concept?

Perhaps it's worth keeping an eye on Stacks (STX), a leading project within the BTC ecosystem. As one of only two cryptocurrencies to have passed SEC compliance review, STX has completed an extremely rare Regulation A+ issuance, making it one of the few crypto assets approved for public sale to retail investors in the United States.

Moreover, STX is also a Grayscale concept coin, and it can be purchased directly through Grayscale trust products.

Notably, today's STX is vastly different from what it was a few months ago. After the Nakamoto upgrade, it has become a true Bitcoin Layer2.

Before this, Stacks transaction confirmation had to wait for the Bitcoin network to generate a new block, which often took up to an hour to confirm. However, through Nakamoto's upgraded "fast block confirmation" mechanism, the transaction confirmation time has been shortened to a few minutes, all while maintaining the same security as the Bitcoin network.

What's even more groundbreaking is the upcoming launch of sBTC.

As a decentralized two-way anchoring solution for Bitcoin, sBTC aims to make Bitcoin, the "digital gold", truly programmable. Users can lock BTC on the Bitcoin mainnet and obtain an equal amount of sBTC on the Stacks network, thereby participating in smart contract interactions and enabling applications in DeFi, NFT, and other domains.

In a scenario where Bitcoin DeFi's total value locked (TVL) is less than 1% of the market, Stacks' technological innovations may hold the key to activating the entire Bitcoin ecosystem.

Stacks announced that it will roll out sBTC in two phases. The first phase will enable the Bitcoin deposit function on December 16, 2024; the second phase is expected to launch within 6-8 weeks of the first phase, at which point the Bitcoin withdrawal function will be opened.

For new assets, the most crucial aspect is who will use them, which boils down to finding application scenarios for the assets. Stacks has meticulously crafted a smooth landing strategy for sBTC, forging alliances, and attracting more institutions to join.

Currently, sBTC has garnered support from over 20 well-known institutions, including BitGo and Blockdaemon. For example, Bitcoin ATM operator Coinflip will integrate Stacks and sBTC. At present, Coinflip caters to 400,000 customers, and in the future, sBTC can be used directly at Bitcoin ATMs for conversion transactions.

Overall, Stacks is charting a course for the Bitcoin ecosystem that strikes a balance between innovation and practicality.