Stacks

STX is the native token of the Stacks blockchain, a layer 2 blockchain network that leverages the security of the Bitcoin blockchain to settle transactions.

Stacks started life as Blockstack PBC. The corporation was founded in 2013 by Muneeb Ali and Ryan Shea of Princeton University. The pair joined tech incubator Y Combinator in 2014 to develop the protocol. With the launch of Stacks 2.0 in 2020, the protocol decentralized control over the network to miners. Blockstack PBC rebranded to Hiro Systems and opted not to run a node. A Delaware-registered non-profit called the Stacks Foundation, has stewarded the network since April 2020.

STX launched in October 2019.

Stacks is a layer 2 blockchain network that relies on the consensus mechanism called proof of transfer (PoX). Under PoX, miners spend bitcoin to receive newly minted STX tokens. STX holders can also “stack” their tokens (lock up tokens to support the network) to earn bitcoin. By mining STX with BTC, miners are recycling the product of other people’s work which means the Bitcoin network doesn’t need to add smart contracts or change. Those coins are good to use on STX, which does support smart contracts.

STX is used to pay for transactions on the Stacks blockchain. Stacks however uses those tokens to settle transactions in BTC. STX is also used to power Stack’s smart contracts. These are written in a smart contract language called Clarity, which Blockstack PBC built with Algorand.