Bitcoin Staking for Institutions

Earn BTC-denominated yield on Bitcoin without compromising on custody.

Trusted by institutional infrastructure

Stacks works with established custody, validation, and security providers across the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Stacks offers a Bitcoin staking product designed for institutions seeking BTC-denominated yield without moving Bitcoin off Bitcoin L1. The mechanism extends a consensus system that has distributed more than 4,200 BTC.

Bitcoin Staking with Stacks

Bitcoin remains on Bitcoin

BTC is locked on Bitcoin L1, under the participant's own keys, via a standard Bitcoin timelock script.

BTC-Denominated yield

Yield is paid in Bitcoin, with no wrapping, rehypothecation, or synthetic assets in the path.

STX as staking capacity

STX functions as the capacity asset. Each BTC position requires a proportional STX lock to qualify.

The institutional Bitcoin yield gap

Bitcoin lacks native yield primitives suitable for institutional mandates.

Existing yield strategies introduce custody, rehypothecation, or execution risk

Institutions require defined risk priority and BTC-denominated returns.

Architecture & Security

Security partners

How it works

Bitcoin Staking is an upgrade to the Stacks Proof-of-Transfer consensus mechanism. Participation is structured through protocol bonds: a paired commitment of BTC on Bitcoin L1 and STX on Stacks, locked together for one 6-month bonding period.

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Dual-asset lock. BTC is locked under the participant's own keys via a standard Bitcoin timelock (OP_CHECKLOCKTIMEVERIFY). STX is locked on Stacks for the same period.
Capacity auction. A monthly on-chain auction allocates BTC capacity. Each bid specifies a BTC amount and the lowest yield the participant will accept.
Weekly BTC payouts. Yield is paid in BTC and distributed weekly throughout the bonding period.
Optional early exit. Participants may unlock BTC before period end, forfeiting remaining yield. Paired STX remains locked for the full term.

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Risk and yield mechanics

Source of yield. BTC is spent by Stacks miners competing for STX block rewards and transaction fees, and is then distributed to eligible staking participants. This is the same mechanism that has distributed more than 4,200 BTC since January 2021.
Waterfall distribution. Active protocol bonds are paid the target yield rate first. Excess miner revenue is then shared between STX-only stakers and a reserve fund.
No slashing. Full BTC and STX commitments are returned at timelock expiry regardless of participant behavior, miner behavior, reserve fund availability, or network conditions.
Risk borne by participants. STX price exposure during the bonding period, proportional to the required pairing ratio

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How to participate

Architecture briefing. Initial conversation with the Stacks team covering mechanism, capacity, and integration paths.
Custodial coordination. Operational alignment with the participant's qualified custodian or wallet infrastructure.
Capacity allocation. Inclusion in the bootstrap whitelist for an upcoming bonding period.
Onboarding. Position is bonded on the next available period start. Weekly payouts begin from the first reward distribution.

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