Stacks’ 2025 in Review: Becoming the Default Bitcoin Layer

Stacks’ 2025 in Review: Becoming the Default Bitcoin Layer

Stacks had a pivotal year in 2025. Stacks now sits as the number one Bitcoin layer by BTC TVL, is ranked as the #5 fastest-growing developer ecosystem in crypto, and is shipping a series of product and ecosystem milestones that made the Bitcoin economy feel tangible rather than theoretical.

Some examples say it best. Dual Stacking went live, allowing Bitcoin holders to earn Bitcoin yield on their Bitcoin. Circle took its first step into Bitcoin DeFi on Stacks through their xReserve product. STX and sBTC began showing up across critical infrastructure and market tooling, including Nansen, DEX Screener, WalletConnect, and institutional custody rails like BitGo and Copper.

At the application layer, teams such as StackingDAO, Bitflow, Velar, Zest, Leather, and Xverse shipped major upgrades and crossed meaningful milestones. This is not a full inventory. It is a representative snapshot of a year where Stacks proved its staying power as the benchmark Bitcoin layer. The only layer with a 5+ year track record of shipping innovative upgrades to extend the functionality of Bitcoin. The only layer with years of productive Bitcoin, allowing Bitcoin holders to earn Bitcoin on their Bitcoin.

“A notable standout in 2025 was Stacks" - Messari, 2026 Theses

The sBTC story: from caps to confidence

sBTC defined much of Stacks’ momentum in 2025. The year opened with incremental capacity expansions, and demand followed quickly. sBTC Cap-2 filled in under 24 hours. Cap-3 filled in just a few hours. In total, over 5,000 BTC became productive on Stacks in a remarkably short time.

The inflection point came when sBTC withdrawal functionality went live, enabling conversion from sBTC back to native BTC on Bitcoin L1. That single capability changed the mental model from “interesting bridge asset” to Bitcoin infrastructure you can plan around.

Later in the year, the sBTC cap was fully removed, allowing Bitcoin capital to move freely in and out of Stacks. This unlocked new liquidity programs, deeper institutional participation, and broader DeFi usage. Protocols like Zest tracked over 650 sBTC flowing through their markets, grounding the Bitcoin economy narrative in on-chain reality.

That momentum carried directly into the launch of Dual Stacking, introducing a model where Bitcoin holders can earn native BTC yield while STX acts as the staking capacity asset securing and scaling that yield. Within weeks of launch, over $100 million in combined sBTC and STX capital flowed into Bitcoin Staking on Stacks, signaling early conviction in a system designed to reward Bitcoin holders without compromising on-chain security or long-term incentives.

Core and narrative: upgrades, performance, and a clearer thesis

On the core side, Stacks delivered steady improvements to network performance, including block arrival and finality metrics reaching near real-time levels, reinforcing confidence for user-facing applications.

The release of Clarity 4 was a cornerstone upgrade, giving developers safer and more expressive tools to build Bitcoin-secured smart contracts. It expanded what developers could build while reducing the cost of mistakes.

Narratively, Stacks became more explicit about where it is heading. The ecosystem published an updated technical and growth roadmap, and at Token2049 Singapore, Stacks leaders introduced the Productive Bitcoin Treasury Companies thesis, positioning Stacks as a yielding layer for BTC held by treasury operators.

After Stacks mainnet in 2021, the project is now in its 5th year of production and has stood the test of time. When Stacks rolls out products like Dual Stacking, where you can lock BTC on-chain and get BTC yield, the entire Bitcoin L2 space benefits. I’ve never been more bullish on STX, as bitcoin adoption continues.” - Muneeb Ali, Stacks Founder

That storyline continued with Stacks Labs CEO Alex Miller’s Stacks R&D Update, outlining what comes next for self-custodial Bitcoin staking, payments, privacy, and Bitcoin DeFi, with deeper technical context shared on the Stacks Forum.

”Right now, it’s clear that holders want to leverage their Bitcoin in yield opportunities and DeFi in much greater numbers if the Bitcoin can be (self) custodied at the L1. The latest designs directly tackle this and are already being tested with light implementations.” - Alex Miller, CEO Stacks Labs.

SIP-031: the operating upgrade that made the product upgrades possible

Behind the visible progress was a structural shift. SIP-031 became a defining moment for how Stacks funds, governs, and executes its next phase.

The proposal sparked ecosystem-wide discussion, with commentary from builders, community leaders, and investors including Albert Wenger and Hivemind Capital. DeFi leaders and builders publicly shared voting intentions, reinforcing transparency.

When voting opened, early data showed 97.8 percent of voting STX in favor. Final voting results showed the Stacks ecosystem approving SIP-031 in a record breaking voting turnout, priming the leading Bitcoin Layer for major growth.

SIP-031 formalized the creation of Stacks Labs as the new streamlined operational entity. Alex Miller was announced as interim CEO, and Stacks Foundation’s interim grants launched to support builders already delivering value.

By year’s end, SIP-031 had moved decisively from proposal to execution. The newly formed Treasury Committee finalized its initial operating framework, outlining how the Stacks Endowment would deploy capital across ecosystem growth, protocol development, and long-term sustainability. This included clear mandates for funding Stacks Labs operations, launching a formal accelerator, expanding builder grants, and supporting ecosystem infrastructure with multi-year planning horizons. These new operational entities also allow the Stacks Foundation to operate from a clearer, more focused position in the chapter ahead, supporting execution with durable governance infrastructure rather than ad-hoc coordination.

Together, these steps strengthened Stacks’ operating foundation, ensuring the momentum built in 2025 is supported by a clear, durable structure designed to scale the ecosystem responsibly in the years ahead.

“With SIP-031 in place, decisions can build on clearly defined roles and capital flows. That allows the ecosystem to move into its next chapter, beginning with the roadmap already in motion. For the Foundation, this means staying focused on governance systems that work at scale and ensuring the community’s voice remains represented as the ecosystem grows.” - Claire Gadd, Director of Communications, Stacks foundation

Integrations: Stacks shows up across the crypto stack

In 2025, Stacks increasingly appeared inside other platforms. Analytics and discovery layers integrated Stacks, including Nansen and DEX Screener. Connectivity expanded through WalletConnect, plugging Stacks into an ecosystem supporting hundreds of millions of wallet-to-app interactions.

Institutional rails deepened with BitGo, Copper, and Hex Trust supporting sBTC and SIP-010 assets. Distribution expanded through listings like Gate and MEXC.

Stablecoins became first-class citizens with USDCx officially live on Stacks, reinforcing Stacks’ positioning as a Bitcoin DeFi venue with institutional-grade primitives.

Institutional access to STX and native Bitcoin yield expanded meaningfully in 2025. Early in the year, Stacks was officially included in the Coinbase 50 Index ranking at 22, positioning it among the top digital assets tracked by one of the industry’s most widely followed benchmarks and reinforcing its status as the leading Bitcoin layer for mainstream market exposure.

This momentum continued as Grayscale announced that its Grayscale Stacks Trust (STCK) began publicly trading on the OTCQB market, the first U.S. investment product to provide quoted public exposure to Stacks, alongside 21Shares updating the Stacks Staking ETP, enabling regulated investors to access STX while participating in native staking yields.

Validation: external confirmation keeps stacking up

Stacks’ progress showed up repeatedly in third-party frameworks. CryptoRank placed Stacks among assets meeting strict institutional criteria. CoinGecko listed Stacks among US-based crypto assets in policy discussions. Bitcoin Layers included Stacks as a Bitcoin layer industry standard while excluding many others.

Investment research and theses followed, including coverage from Tiger Research, RR2 Capital and Crypto Rand and Aspen Digital. Regionally, the Stacks Asia DLT Foundation partnered with ADGM and expanded collaboration with Aspen Digital and EVG, signaling deeper institutional traction.

Confidence in sBTC was further reinforced by the profile of its earliest participants. Early sBTC depositors in 2025 included UTXO Management, Jump Crypto, CMS Holdings, RootstockLabs, SNZ, Sypher Capital, and Asymmetric Research. Collectively, these groups represent a cross-section of Bitcoin-native capital allocators, infrastructure builders, security specialists, and yield-focused funds, signaling that sBTC was not only tested by retail demand but adopted early by sophisticated market participants with long time horizons and deep operational scrutiny.

Apps: Proven Demand for Bitcoin DeFi

At the application layer, Stacks now has all the puzzle pieces necessary for functioning Bitcoin capital markets. Through these new products, Stacks reinforces its position as leading Bitcoin layer for Bitcoin to become a productive asset.

Stacking DAO surpassed 100M STX in TVL. Velar launched its perpetual futures DEX. Bitflow introduced HODLMM for BTC capital markets. Moreover, Based Dollar launched a Bitcoin-backed synthetic dollar on Stacks, Granite released its Bitcoin liquidity protocol, and Hermetica announced institutional grade Bitcoin earn vaults on Stacks. Bitcoin lending protocol Zest announced over 650 in Bitcoin supplied for borrowing through sBTC.

Wallet UX improved through Xverse’s new onramps and Leather’s updated web app and mobile wallet launch, lowering friction for Bitcoin DeFi users.

The past year marked a breakout phase for Stacks, highlighted by DeFi adoption milestones, from all-time-high liquid stacking deposits to over 700 sBTC deployed across the ecosystem. 2026 is shaping up to push that momentum further, driven by Stacks’ breakthroughs in self-custodial Bitcoin staking, privacy, and new integrations, alongside a new wave of DeFi primitives such as Hermetica Earn Vault, Zest V2, Bitflow HODLMM, and more. - TheAdvisor.btc, Marketing Lead, Zest Protocol

Developers and builders: sustained momentum

Stacks ranked among the top 20 crypto projects by developer activity and the #5 fastest-growing developer ecosystem.

Builder programs expanded through Stacks Ascent, DeGrants, hackathons with DoraHacks, and global bootcamps via Rise In. In parallel, the Stacks Endowment began formalizing its grants and accelerator program strategy, creating a clearer pathway for high-potential teams to progress from initial funding to long-term growth.

The year culminated with the Stacks Hacker House in Buenos Aires, where teams collaborated in-person and shipped mainnet-ready projects, reinforcing Stacks’ ability to consistently convert developer interest into Bitcoin applications.

Looking ahead, early results from initiatives like the Talent Builder Challenges, combined with the rollout of expanded Grants and the Stacks Accelerator, position Stacks builders for a strong and productive 2026.

“What started as individual programs has evolved into a cohesive builder funnel - from learning and grants to acceleration - designed to help teams not just start, but stay and scale on Stacks.” - Ileana Malacrino, Ecosystem Programs Manager, Stacks Labs

Meetups and events: Stacks everywhere, all year

Stacks was a constant, global presence throughout all of 2025, leading the conversation on productive Bitcoin across every major crypto market. From flagship conferences like Consensus Toronto, TOKEN2049 (Dubai and Singapore), ETHCC Cannes, Bitcoin 2025 Las Vegas, and Permissionless to curated institutional and builder-focused forums, the ecosystem consistently showed up where Bitcoin adoption is being shaped. As a result, Stacks remained one of the most active and visible projects in crypto when it comes to real-world engagement.

Over the year, Stacks supported or sponsored 60+ conferences and major ecosystem events across North America, Europe, Asia, LATAM, and MENA, alongside 120+ speaking engagements spanning keynotes, panels, workshops, and investor sessions led by Stacks leadership. This presence was complemented by 15+ Stacks-hosted virtual events and 40+ meetups and community activations, including global city meetups, builder onboarding sessions, and the Bitcoin Builders Conference during Devconnect Buenos Aires.

Vegas and Buenos Aires showed me the heart of Stacks in real life. Everywhere I turned there were friendly, smart, mission-driven people eager to collaborate, share ideas, and build together. The experience strengthened friendships, created new ones, and reminded me why I care so deeply about this ecosystem. After seeing that energy up close, I’m more excited than ever for what we’ll build together in 2026. - Stephen Perrino, Co-Founder DeOrganized Media

Community: the multiplier behind everything

Stacks’ 2025 momentum was ultimately powered by community builders, creators, and organizers turning Stacks into something you could actually participate in. The Stacks AI Guild pushed Bitcoin-native AI forward through coordinated work on registries, x402 API strategy, agent coordination, and an AI dev hackathon, while DeOrganized Media brought indie devs and new community members together through livestreams, Skullcoin treasury hunts, and play-to-earn experiments that made onboarding social instead of abstract. Distribution also became more native and composable through BoostX, enabling rewards and transfers of Bitcoin assets and STX via BNS names across X, Discord, and beyond.

Identity, tokenized communities, and grassroots networks kept accelerating in parallel. BNS One continued advancing Bitcoin identities with BNS auctions and a push toward mobile-first onboarding and cross-chain identity, while tokenized communities stayed active through ecosystem programs like ALEX’s Surge and meme contests, partnering with the Welsh community. On the culture layer, Leo, Welsh, and other communities collaborated with Tenero, Skullcoin, DeOrganized Media, and Zero Authority, which took a leading role as a reputation and bounty platform for contributors.

Regionally, community-led growth stayed strong with Let Africa Build expanding Bitcoin-focused community building across Africa and Stacks Latam running meetups and hackathons that kept the builder pipeline moving locally.

Stacks is one of the very few ecosystems that can genuinely claim to have an active, passionate, and highly engaged community at this stage. That community strength remains one of the primary reason I am most bullish heading into the new year” - Reubs.btc, Co-Founder Tenero

Closing the year

2025 ended with Stacks operating from a position of strength. Core upgrades landed. sBTC matured into a high-confidence productive Bitcoin asset. Dual Stacking aligned incentives around Bitcoin itself. Circle, institutional custody, analytics, and distribution layers plugged in. Apps crossed real thresholds. Developers kept shipping. Governance evolved to support scale.

These are examples, not the full ledger. These are also not isolated highlights, but markers along a longer arc. Stacks helped pioneer the early Bitcoin economy, then steadily built as Bitcoin layers emerged as a category, and in 2025 stood out through consistent growth and execution. Now, building on a five-year track record in production, Stacks enters its next phase as the leading Bitcoin layer, defined not by promise, but by momentum already earned. So, what’s next?

As 2026 is upon us, Stacks carries this momentum forward with the foundations firmly in place: scalable Bitcoin-native liquidity, maturing Bitcoin-native applications, and the needed upgrades to unlock a true native Bitcoin economy. The focus now shifts from proving what’s possible on Bitcoin to expanding adoption at scale, as Stacks works toward making productive, self-custodial Bitcoin the default for builders, institutions, and users worldwide.