Stacks Community Overwhelmingly Approves Nakamoto Upgrade, Unlocking Bitcoin Innovation

The Stacks blockchain community overwhelmingly approved the Nakamoto Upgrade, a significant advancement that promises to enhance network speed and security. The upgrade enables faster transaction processing between Bitcoin blocks while maintaining Bitcoin's robust security. This paves the way for sBTC, a programmable version of Bitcoin that can interact with smart contracts and dApps on Stacks, unlocking new possibilities for DeFi innovation and expanding Bitcoin's functionality.

Stacks Community Embraces Nakamoto Upgrade, Unleashing Potential for Bitcoin Innovation

In a resounding endorsement of the Stacks blockchain's future, the community has overwhelmingly approved the Nakamoto Upgrade, a pivotal step towards enhanced speed, security, and the creation of a more robust development environment.

Stacks: A Layer-2 Solution for Bitcoin

Stacks, formerly known as Blockstack, is an open-source Layer-2 (L2) blockchain that addresses a significant limitation of Bitcoin: its lack of support for smart contracts. By operating alongside Bitcoin, Stacks enables developers to build decentralized applications (dApps) and decentralized finance (DeFi) features on top of Bitcoin's secure foundation. This unique approach extends Bitcoin's functionality without altering its core structure, effectively creating a more versatile Bitcoin for the Web3 ecosystem.

A Thriving App Ecosystem

With over 60 applications, Stacks boasts a rapidly expanding app ecosystem focused on unlocking Bitcoin's potential. ALEX (formerly StacksSwap), the world's leading L2 Bitcoin DeFi platform, offers a comprehensive DeFi platform for Bitcoin users, allowing for secure trading of STX and other Stacks tokens and providing tools for building DeFi applications. Arkadiko, a leader in NFT development on Stacks, offers a user-friendly platform for minting and trading NFTs.

Nakamoto Upgrade: Unleashing Faster Transactions and sBTC

The Nakamoto Upgrade addresses the critical issue of slow transaction speeds by enabling faster processing between Bitcoin blocks, while maintaining Bitcoin's robust security. This paves the way for sBTC, a wrapped digital token that mirrors Bitcoin (1:1) but has the added ability to interact with smart contracts and dApps on Stacks.

sBTC unlocks a treasure trove of possibilities for developers, allowing them to integrate Bitcoin's security and value directly into Stacks applications. The Nakamoto Upgrade serves as the foundation for sBTC, a programmable version of Bitcoin usable within Stacks, enabling a new wave of Bitcoin-based applications and activating dormant Bitcoin capital. By enabling programmability and versatility, Stacks, with sBTC at its core, positions itself as a key player in driving DeFi innovation.

Overwhelming Community Support

In a blog post published on March 19, Stacks shared the voting results, highlighting the overwhelming community support for the Nakamoto Upgrade. Nearly all stacked and non-stacked STX holders voted in favor of the release, with minimal dissenting votes.

As outlined in SIP-021 (Stacks Improvement Proposal), the Nakamoto Upgrade required at least 80% approval from stacked STX voters and 66% from non-stacked STX voters. Every single vote from stacked STX holders supported the upgrade, amounting to over 150 million STX distributed across nearly 400 accounts. An impressive 99.98% of non-stacked STX holders also endorsed the upgrade, contributing a total voting power of over 1.5 million STX through more than 2,300 accounts.

Increased Community Participation

Compared to the Stacks 2.1 vote, the Nakamoto Upgrade witnessed a significant surge in community participation. The total number of votes cast increased by 465%, with 2,717 accounts participating compared to just 481 in the Stacks 2.1 vote. Additionally, the total amount of STX used for voting rose by 25%, reaching 177 million STX from the previous vote's 142 million STX.

Nakamoto Upgrade Rollout Timeline

The Pre-Launch Testnet has been operational since March 11. With the community's near-unanimous approval secured, the Nakamoto Upgrade rollout will proceed according to the following timeline:

• Nakamoto Testnet: Expected on March 24, this will become the main Stacks testnet going forward.
• Nakamoto Mainnet Instantiation (Step 1): Scheduled between April 15-29, this will include most of the Nakamoto code but will not yet activate the new features. This allows signers to register on the network without affecting live operations.
• Nakamoto Mainnet Activation (Step 2): Planned to occur between May 15-29, this will activate all new Nakamoto features, including signer-based validation, faster blocks, and Bitcoin finality.
• A dedicated window between Steps 1 and 2 will be available for signers to register on the network and thoroughly test their setups to ensure a smooth transition. This allows them to become familiar with the system and identify any potential issues before they are relied upon for validating blocks.

sBTC Roadmap on the Horizon

The upgrade also paves the way for the future introduction of sBTC. According to the Stacks team, an sBTC roadmap is expected in the coming months.

The Nakamoto Upgrade represents a major milestone for the Stacks blockchain, significantly enhancing its speed, security, and development potential. With the community's resounding endorsement and the upcoming introduction of sBTC, Stacks is well-positioned to become a key player in the rapidly evolving Web3 and DeFi landscape.