JANUARY 14, 2020
Stacks 2.0: Full Circle On Satoshi's Design
by Muneeb Ali on January 14, 2020
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"…to be a completely separate network and separate block chain, yet share CPU power with Bitcoin."
Once a passing thought about decentralized naming by Satoshi, the possibility of a separate blockchain that shares CPU with Bitcoin has been realized with today's launch of Stacks 2.0. This quote is now saved in the Stacks 2.0 genesis block forever!
Stacks 2.0 builds on years of work that has always taken place in close proximity to Bitcoin. From the earliest iterations of the project that embraced the Bitcoin blockchain, to Stacks 1.0 which was itself a virtual chain on Bitcoin, it seems that all roads have led to Stacks 2.0 master design, which is now natively connected and anchored to Bitcoin.
Full circle for Stacks has led us right back to Satoshi's original design. Stacks 2.0: A separate blockchain that shares consensus with and settles to Bitcoin, while allowing for expressive smart contracts and secure apps to be built on top. The properties that make Bitcoin powerful as a store of value can now be extended to other aspects to value settlement for our digital lives; in other words, a user-owned internet on Bitcoin.
Stacks 2.0 means new applications with new use cases, like DeFi and NFTs can be built directly on Bitcoin and be secured by it, thanks to Clarity. It means better onboarding experiences for existing apps with the launch of several new Stacks wallets. With Proof of Transfer, Stacks 2.0 also makes it possible for network participants to share in the value created on Stacks through mining and Stacking rewards. These are all features that were previously not feasible on Bitcoin alone. The Stacks network is truly extending the possibilities of Bitcoin's functionality.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about Stacks 2.0, though, is the community that built it. There's no doubt that the mainnet you see today is the work of hundreds, if not thousands, of dedicated Stacks community members and partner organizations from all around the world. To the amazing Stacks community: thank you. The number of supporters and builders grows everyday and we can't wait to see what we accomplish together.
With the Stacks 2.0 infrastructure now fully built and operational, our work on building a user owned internet on Bitcoin can truly begin. This is the perfect time for app founders to take their decentralized apps to the next level, for developers to tinker with smart contracts, for entrepreneurs to test DeFi products, and for evangelists to spread the word about a different kind of internet experience—one in which users can own and control their digital assets, all while earning STX and BTC rewards.
If you're looking for resources, you'll find all that you need to get started on stacks.co. If you're looking for a community to build with, we welcome you to join us on Discord or one of our many Telegram groups.
Once again, congratulations to the Stacks community! Today, we celebrate. Tomorrow, we build.
Full circle for Stacks has led us right back to Satoshi's original design. Stacks 2.0: A separate blockchain that shares consensus with and settles to Bitcoin, while allowing for expressive smart contracts and secure apps to be built on top. The properties that make Bitcoin powerful as a store of value can now be extended to other aspects to value settlement for our digital lives; in other words, a user-owned internet on Bitcoin.
Stacks 2.0 means new applications with new use cases, like DeFi and NFTs can be built directly on Bitcoin and be secured by it, thanks to Clarity. It means better onboarding experiences for existing apps with the launch of several new Stacks wallets. With Proof of Transfer, Stacks 2.0 also makes it possible for network participants to share in the value created on Stacks through mining and Stacking rewards. These are all features that were previously not feasible on Bitcoin alone. The Stacks network is truly extending the possibilities of Bitcoin's functionality.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about Stacks 2.0, though, is the community that built it. There's no doubt that the mainnet you see today is the work of hundreds, if not thousands, of dedicated Stacks community members and partner organizations from all around the world. To the amazing Stacks community: thank you. The number of supporters and builders grows everyday and we can't wait to see what we accomplish together.
With the Stacks 2.0 infrastructure now fully built and operational, our work on building a user owned internet on Bitcoin can truly begin. This is the perfect time for app founders to take their decentralized apps to the next level, for developers to tinker with smart contracts, for entrepreneurs to test DeFi products, and for evangelists to spread the word about a different kind of internet experience—one in which users can own and control their digital assets, all while earning STX and BTC rewards.
If you're looking for resources, you'll find all that you need to get started on stacks.co. If you're looking for a community to build with, we welcome you to join us on Discord or one of our many Telegram groups.
Once again, congratulations to the Stacks community! Today, we celebrate. Tomorrow, we build.
Muneeb Ali
Co-Founder, Stacks
Co-Founder, Stacks
Dr. Muneeb Ali is the founder of Stacks, a decentralized network that brings apps and smart contracts to Bitcoin. He serves as the CEO of Hiro PBC, a Public Benefit Corp that builds developer tools for the Stacks blockchain. He has raised $75 million USD in funding from investors like Union Square Ventures, Y Combinator, Lux Capital, Winklevoss Capital, and others. Hiro (formerly Blockstack PBC) was featured in the CNBC's list of 100 promising startups to watch. Muneeb received his Ph.D. and Masters in Computer Science from Princeton University. His Ph.D. thesis was nominated for the ACM SIGCOMM dissertation award by Princeton University. Muneeb gives guest lectures on cloud computing at Princeton and his research publications have over 1,300 citations. He is one of the main characters in George Gilder's book Life After Google and was a technical advisor to the HBO show Silicon Valley.
Building a better internet on Bitcoin.