Stacks by the Numbers: Q1 2026 Ecosystem Snapshot

This report is produced by Tenero, an independent Bitcoin data analytics provider, as part of a quarterly series covering the Stacks ecosystem. Data sourced from Nansen, DeFiLlama, Electric Capital, and onchain metrics.

TLDR:

• sBTC holds $545M in TVL (Nansen), with the deposit cap fully removed and Bitcoin flowing into the network without restrictions
• Zest Protocol hit $41M TVL within two days of its V2 launch and currently sits at $75.9M, while the Bitcoin staking pilot product has attracted over $100M in participation
• Fireblocks, BitGo, Circle, and Nansen integrations went live, making Stacks the most institutionally connected Bitcoin layer
• Stacks sees its latest upgrade boost network capacity for DeFi and AI Agents increase by up to 30X (The block).
• Stacks ranks #5 in developer ecosystem growth (Electric Capital), with Clarity 4, the 3.3.0.0.6 network upgrade, and self-custodial Bitcoin staking R&D all advancing in Q1

Need more information about Stacks first? Read: Stacks in Five Minutes

The Headline Numbers

Stacks entered 2026 as the leading Bitcoin layer by BTC deployed and closed Q1 with continued momentum across capital inflows, protocol development, and institutional infrastructure. Here is where the network stands.

sBTC, the protocol for moving Bitcoin onto the Stacks layer, holds $545 million in TVL as reported by Nansen, with the deposit cap fully removed, meaning there is no longer an artificial ceiling on how much Bitcoin can flow into the network. On the DeFi side, capital actively deployed across Stacks protocols sits at $121 million according to DeFiLlama, with the leading protocols by TVL being Zest Protocol at $75.9M, Granite at $26M, and StackingDAO at $20M.

The Bitcoin staking pilot product (Dual Stacking) has attracted over $100M in capital since its launch in late 2025. Total network transactions in 2025 averaged approximately 20,000 per day with peaks exceeding 40,000 (Nansen), and Q1 2026 has seen an increase by ~20% in daily transactions. Over 400,000 wallets have been created on the network to date, with 15% of those new wallets created in Q1 2026.

Stacks ranks as the #5 fastest-growing developer ecosystem according to Electric Capital's Developer Report, leading all Bitcoin-focused projects in developer activity and ranking in the top 20 crypto projects overall by developer count.

Protocol Highlights

Several Stacks protocols shipped major product milestones in Q1 2026, expanding the range of financial use cases available to Bitcoin holders on the network.

Zest Protocol launched V2 in late February 2026, a full protocol rework that redefined how risk is managed in Bitcoin-native lending. The upgrade introduced improved capital efficiency, higher deposit caps, and smoother liquidation mechanics. Within two days of launch, Zest V2 hit $41M in TVL, with borrowing activity picking up immediately. As of this report, Zest holds $75.9M in TVL according to DeFiLlama, making it the largest lending protocol on any Bitcoin layer by deposits.

Bitflow continues to operate as the primary DEX and AMM on Stacks, routing Bitcoin liquidity through concentrated liquidity pools via its latest upgrade called the HODLMM. Bitflow's new HODLMM structure processed $160,000,000 in cumulative trading volume within the first two weeks, and currently holds $5M in TVL. Bitflow is also moving towards building for autonomous AI agents, releasing strategies and AI-targeted resources for agents to start trading on the leading Bitcoin-native DEX.

Hermetica operates a Bitcoin-backed, yield-bearing stablecoin (USDh) and announced the expansion of its Stacks product suite in Q1 with the introduction of a Bitcoin Earn Vault. The product allows investors to deploy Bitcoin capital into a vault that performs automated financial activities, generating Bitcoin yield for depositors. Closed early access for Earn Vault hBTC already saw over $1M in TVL.

AIBTC continues to build autonomous AI agents that use Bitcoin as capital on the Stacks network. In Q1, the platform had over 150 agents deployed executing 8.7K transactions. Onchain reports have shown early proof of AI agents autonomously earning Bitcoin, positioning Stacks as early infrastructure for an agentic Bitcoin economy.

Want to learn more about different ways to start earning Bitcoin on Stacks? Read: Bitcoin Yield Guide

Institutional Infrastructure

The institutional infrastructure around Stacks continued to expand through Q4 2025 and into Q1 2026, with several tier-1 integrations going live or being announced.

Fireblocks announced its integration with Stacks in early 2026, providing over 1,800 institutional customers with access to Bitcoin DeFi through the network. The integration gives institutional capital a compliant, custody-grade on-ramp into the Stacks ecosystem.

Circle's USDCx went live on Stacks, making it the only Bitcoin L2 in Circle's xReserve pilot program. USDCx brings tier-1 stablecoin liquidity to the ecosystem, enabling more capital-efficient DeFi activity and a smoother on-ramp for institutional participants.

BitGo provides institutional custody support for both BTC and sBTC on Stacks. Nansen has integrated Stacks into its analytics platform, bringing professional-grade onchain intelligence to the ecosystem. Wormhole integration, expected in 2026, will open cross-chain liquidity pathways for sBTC and STX.

Grayscale's Stacks Trust (STCK) went public on OTCQB in October 2025, becoming the first publicly quoted US investment product offering direct STX exposure. The 21Shares Stacks Stacking ETP (ASTX) has been live on European exchanges since April 2023, offering a 100% physically-backed, regulated product with automatic stacking reward compounding.

STX remains listed on over 59 exchanges globally, including Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, OKX, Upbit, KuCoin, and Bybit, across more than 100 trading pairs.

Governance and Treasury

The Stacks Treasury Committee approved a $27M 2026 operating budget and a 25M STX working-capital allocation. Budget priorities reflect the ecosystem's current focus: 35.2% for engineering and security, 22.2% for network growth and marketing, and 23.4% for working capital to deploy into DeFi liquidity.

The new operational entity, Stacks Labs, was formed in Q4 2025 with Hiro CEO Alex Miller as Interim CEO. The Stacks Endowment has launched its Grants Program and an Accelerator Program for founders building on Bitcoin through Stacks.

Network Health

The Stacks network shipped the 3.3.0.0.6 upgrade in March 2026, focused on sustaining fast and reliable transaction speeds as throughput numbers rise. The upgrade reduced the daily chainstate growth rate by over 20%, making Stacks' fast block frequency more sustainable as the network scales. It also improved block production consistency under load, which directly supports protocols processing high transaction volumes. The SIP-034 improvements that rolled out over the last few months resulted in up to 30X more network capacity.

What's Ahead

Self-custodial Bitcoin staking is in active research and development, designed to allow BTC holders to earn yield without giving up custody of their Bitcoin. Core contributors have been modeling designs and testing light implementations. This product represents the single largest capital attraction opportunity on the Stacks roadmap.

The Wormhole integration will expand liquidity access for the ecosystem, while continued network upgrades will focus on transaction speed, throughput, and chainstate efficiency. Moreover, the Stacks Endowment's 2026 budget is actively deploying into engineering, security audits, and ecosystem grants.

Stacks is growing Bitcoin. The Q1 2026 data shows a network where capital is flowing in, protocols are shipping, institutional infrastructure is operational, and the foundation for the next phase of growth is set up.