Stacks Completes Nakamoto Upgrade Unlocking sBTC and Faster Transactions on Bitcoin Layer-2

Sentiment Status: Positive

The Nakamoto upgrade also paves the way for Stacks’ next major initiative, sBTC, a new asset expected to launch on Stacks within the next 4-6 weeks.

Stacks, an innovative blockchain project built on the Bitcoin network, activated its much-awaited ‘Nakamoto’ upgrade, designed to improve transaction speeds and ensure finality. 

Led by computer scientist Muneeb Ali, Stacks is one of the oldest and most credible Layer-2 projects on Bitcoin. The Nakamoto upgrade provides transaction finality on par with Bitcoin’s security. This means that once a Stacks transaction is confirmed, reversing it would require as much computational power as reversing a Bitcoin transaction. 

Furthermore, the Nakamoto upgrade introduces 'Fast Blocks' to reduce transaction times from Bitcoin’s typical 10-40 minutes down to a few seconds on Stacks.

The Nakamoto upgrade also sets the stage for Stacks’ next major initiative: sBTC. Expected within the next 4-6 weeks, sBTC will be a new asset on Stacks, allowing developers to build decentralized applications on Bitcoin with more speed and lower costs. Unlike traditional Bitcoin, sBTC will be programmable, unlocking possibilities for developers looking to build on the Bitcoin network without sacrificing performance.

Through partnerships with other blockchain providers like Blockdaemon and Figment, the sBTC network will have a high-security structure. This elite Signer network will allow decentralized applications to access Bitcoin’s liquidity with the reliability of Bitcoin’s main chain, a characteristic that has been a challenge for Layer-2 networks.

Stacks has introduced optimizations for greater network efficiency. Users are already experiencing improved staking rewards, with the average annual percentage yield (APY) rising from around 2% to over 10% in recent cycles. Additionally, further upgrades targeting latency and throughput will be introduced to ensure Stacks remains one of the fastest and most reliable Bitcoin Layer-2 networks available.

Following the Nakamoto upgrade, Stacks will no longer fork independently of Bitcoin. Instead, any potential forks on the Stacks network would require a Bitcoin reorganization.

Stack has a robust lineup of events and virtual gatherings scheduled to support the rollout of the Nakamoto upgrade and sBTC. These initiatives will bring together developers, Bitcoin enthusiasts, and DeFi innovators who are keen on building with Bitcoin as a foundational layer.