Stacks

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STX, the native token of the Bitcoin-focused Stacks layer-2 smart contract platform, is riding on Bitcoin’s recovery, up approximately 30% over the last seven days.
<figure><img alt="Stacks (STX) makes 30% gain as mainnet upgrade and stablecoin launch approach" name="" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-09/01922fe7-e4bb-79cc-a782-c44ad6a01f8c">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 STX/USD daily chart. Source: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.tradingview.com/x/mOhaJLhU/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="null">TradingView</a>
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STX (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/stacks-stx-price-index" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/stacks-stx-price-index">STX</a>) trading volume has doubled over the same period to $148.2 million on Sept. 26, surpassing Bitcoin’s (<a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price">BTC</a>) 7.5% increase since Sept. 18.&nbsp;
Let’s look at the factors behind STX’s rising momentum.
<h2 id="strong-stx-price-rallied-as-the-nakamoto-upgrade-approaches-strong">STX price rallied as the Nakamoto upgrade approaches</h2>
The STX price rally comes as the community prepares for the upcoming update known as the <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://docs.stacks.co/nakamoto-upgrade/what-is-the-nakamoto-release" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="null">Nakamoto Release</a>, which is less than 15 days away.
The Stacks Foundation officially <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://stacks.org/nakamoto-hard-fork-block?utm_source=stackssnacks.com&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=nakamoto-release-hard-fork-sbtc-to-aptos-solana" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="null">announced</a> that the highly anticipated Nakamoto Upgrade will be activated on Oct. 9. The core developers have selected Bitcoin block number 864864 as the hard fork block.
<figure><img alt="Stacks (STX) makes 30% gain as mainnet upgrade and stablecoin launch approach" name="" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-09/01922afd-f961-74a0-8766-9e5797f21ec2">
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 Countdown to Stacks Nakamoto Release hard fork. Source: Stacks
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The upgrade is expected to <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/stacks-nakamoto-upgrade-bringing-new-era-bitcoin-defi" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="null">improve decentralized finance (DeFi) on Bitcoin</a> by speeding up transactions and introducing a new Bitcoin-pegged token, sBTC, among other improvements. SBTC will be used by Bitcoin holders who want to participate in smart contracts and developers who want to build applications on Bitcoin.
To celebrate this major milestone, the Stacks community will host more than 20 developer <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://stacks.org/best-and-brightest?utm_source=stackssnacks.com&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=nakamoto-release-hard-fork-sbtc-to-aptos-solana" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="null">workshops</a> across the world, featuring lectures, live demonstrations and technical challenges where participants can earn STX tokens.
In preparation for this, <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/what-is-solana-and-how-does-it-work" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="null">Solana</a> and <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/aptos-network-integrates-nillion-privacy-preserving-apps" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="null">Aptos</a> announced the integration of a Bitcoin-backed asset, sBTC, which enables developers to incorporate sBTC into decentralized applications (DApps) on these platforms.
<figure><img alt="Stacks (STX) makes 30% gain as mainnet upgrade and stablecoin launch approach" name="" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-09/01922afa-e9da-7874-a360-7f21e7f08a68">
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 Source: Stacks Foundation
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These integrations provide Bitcoin holders with more opportunities to use their assets beyond just holding or trading, such as engaging in <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/learn/defi-a-comprehensive-guide-to-decentralized-finance" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="null">decentralized finance</a> or participating in NFT marketplaces.
<h2 id="strong-network-growth-boosts-stx-price-strong">Network growth boosts STX price</h2>
All these developments have increased user interest in Stacks with the blockchain’s smart contract deployment <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/stacks-record-smart-contracts-nakamoto-upgrade" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="null">hitting record highs</a>. In a Sept. 7 post on X, the Stacks Foundation <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/Stacks/status/1832450434285629805" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="null">announced</a> that the number of smart contracts deployed on Stacks reached an all-time high of 1,400 in August, representing a 30% month-over-month increase.
<figure><img alt="Stacks (STX) makes 30% gain as mainnet upgrade and stablecoin launch approach" name="" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-09/01922afb-9edb-7185-a8a8-5c51b79b2011">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 Number of smart contracts deployed on Stacks per month. Source: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://x.com/Stacks/status/1832450434285629805" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="https://x.com/Stacks/status/1832450434285629805">Stacks Foundation</a>
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Additional data compiled by DeFi analytics firm DefiLlama shows that the DEX trading volume on the Stacks network has increased sharply, rising by over 31,300% from $100 on Sept. 17 to $31,480 on Sept. 25.&nbsp;
<figure><img alt="Stacks (STX) makes 30% gain as mainnet upgrade and stablecoin launch approach" name="" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-09/01922afc-1110-7f4a-a0e9-8f2ffc53ee46">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 DEX trading volume. Source: DefiLlama
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Another metric used to measure the interest of users in and how much they trust a blockchain network is the <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/explained/what-is-total-value-locked-tvl-in-crypto-and-why-does-it-matter" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="null">total value locked</a> (TVL) on the platform. According to data fom DefiLlama, Stacks’ TVL has increased by 70% from $91.1 million on Sept. 18 to $112.5 at the time of writing.
<figure><img alt="Stacks (STX) makes 30% gain as mainnet upgrade and stablecoin launch approach" name="" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-09/01922afc-7689-762a-98b0-297dc31ce288">
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 Total value locked on Stacks. Source: DefiLlama
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The increase in the total value locked on Stacks indicates a significant capital infusion into the network’s DeFi ecosystem, underscoring investor confidence and active participation in DApps.
Related: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-etf-inflows-buoy-price-slowing-spot-buying" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="null">‘Sustained’ Bitcoin ETF inflows may ‘buoy’ price despite slowing spot buying</a>
<h2 id="strong-bitcoin-price-uptrend-drives-the-uptick-in-stx-strong">Bitcoin price uptrend drives the uptick in STX</h2>
The <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/sec-spot-bitcoin-etf-approvals" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="null">approval</a> of US-based spot Bitcoin ETFs and the anticipation of <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-halving-2024" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="null">Bitcoin halving</a> in the first quarter of 2024 saw BTC's price rise to an <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-price-new-73-6-k-all-time-high-etfs-eat" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="null">all-time high of $73,835</a> on March 14. Similarly, STX rose to hit a record high of $3.84 on April 1.&nbsp;
Recently, the <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/https-www-cnbc-com-2024-09-18-fed-meeting-live-updates-traders-await-september-interest-rate-cut-html" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="null">50 basis point rate cut</a> by the US Federal Reserve and <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-321-million-inflows-fed-50-bp-rate-cut" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="null">increasing inflows</a> into Bitcoin ETFs have been driving a strong rally in the BTC price, which rose as high as $65,800 on Sept. 26. STX, again, followed in Bitcoin’s footsteps, rising to an eight-week high of $2.07 on Sept. 26.
<figure><img alt="Stacks (STX) makes 30% gain as mainnet upgrade and stablecoin launch approach" name="" src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2024-09/01922aff-d2f3-7ad4-baec-ae8d0efb5fa5">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">
 STX/USD vs. BTC/USD daily chart. Source: <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://www.tradingview.com/x/FjVDNBGJ/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="https://www.tradingview.com/x/FjVDNBGJ/">TradingView</a>
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With market participants expecting <a data-ct-non-breakable="null" href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/rsi-classic-btc-price-breakout-5-things-bitcoin-this-week" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="null" text="null" title="null">Bitcoin price to continue rising</a> in Q4/2024 and the layer 2 Bitcoin development gaining traction, Stacks may further establish itself as a dominant player in the layer 2 Bitcoin sector.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.

Stacks (STX) makes 30% gain as mainnet upgrade and stablecoin launch approach

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