Thread by @hodlstx

I know we have some new users coming to $STX via some great NFT projects, amongst other things. I figured it would be good to put up a thread, some history of @Stacks, on where $STX is is currently, and what's on the horizon.
A Mega 🧵on Stacks ($STX)-

Stacks is what @muneeb calls a layer 1.5 as it eventually settles on Bitcoin, its purpose is to provide smart contract functionality to Bitcoin. In order to have an open decentralized smart contract chain, a token is required to compensate the computational cost/run time for..

..for smart contracts.
A brief history of Stacks:
Stacks 2.0 mainnet went live last January, its first of its kind consensus mechanism, Proof of transfer took off, and is what drives the 10% #Bitcoin yield you can earn currently.

Proof of transfer (PoX) requires miners to send Bitcoin in order to mine a stacks block, based on a verified random function they are rewarded. This depends on the total share of the bitcoin sent in, determining the odds of winning the 1,000 STX reward for each block.

Stacks blocks occur with every Bitcoin block, Stacks blocks settle on the Bitcoin blockchain. That’s right your Ape can be confirmed to be your wallets via the Bitcoin blockchain.

Stacks goes through 4 year halving cycles similar to Bitcoin, the next halving will be January 2025, where the stacks rewards will be reduced to 500 STX a block. Based on this issuance, by around 2040 the total supply will be roughly 1.8 billion.

Unlike #Bitcoin , Stacks is slightly inflationary and will produce roughly 2% supply increases yearly for the foreseeable future after 2040.

Currently PoX is only for the first 10 years, then it will turn to proof of burn. As this approaches in the years to come, it'll be discussed more. It can be changed via a vote to continue PoX. Proof of burn would burn Bitcoin as opposed to transferring it to stackers.

Where we are today:
Stacks has had high user growth since the mainnet launch back in January, approaching 400,000 wallets, and projects like @minecitycoins @ArkadikoFinance @alexgoBtc launching, or launching soon! Its clear utility is here for the Stacks chain.

Stacks also has a blossoming NFT ecosystem, with three great marketplaces @ArtOnStacks @stxnftcom @plutus. The first widespread NFT collection on Stacks was the @PunksOnStacks which launched back in early August.

Since then the growth has really exploded and all this activity has put a little strain on the blockchain as it still has its training wheels. It is getting an upgrade (described to be a 10x improvement) late November if folks vote, see @0xAsteria page for vote information.

Also huge shoutout to some of the great early projects @Satoshiphases @bitcoin_birds @MegapontNFT. These are great projects with interesting back stories and communities, the birds were made by a preteen phenom @abraham_finlay.

@Satoshiphases were designed to give Satoshi a face, reminding all of us the OG could’ve been anyone. Megapont did a great job with their Apes, and has cultivated an awesome community, great roadmap, team, art, just a top of the line project!.

Stacks also has the first ever city coin built on top of it, $MIA. @mineCityCoins developed a great proof of transfer protocol, where 30% of the mined STX go to the city of Miami, the Cities elected officials voted to pick up the wallet back in Sept. Currently worth over $15M.

There are talks the City will use this to improve Miami in a number of ways, such as helping the homeless, climate change initiatives, also they may launch a school or curriculum for crypto?! The sky is the limit.

Hodlers of $Mia coin can also stack their coin, and receive a yield in STX, estimated by @Okcoin to be over 400% APR, it has performed quite well since its inception, maybe one day it will eliminate municipal bonds for all cities that have a city coin.

The @mineCityCoins team is eyeballing launching another city, potentially Austin Texas $ATX, keep an eye out for that, as it may be coming soon! Give @PatrickWStanley a follow to keep track of updates on this one.

Near future:
Hopefully by Christmas, we will have a flourishing ecosystem with DeFi options with @ArkadikoFinance and @alexgoBtc that we will dive into below.

These offer users the ability to get collateralized loans on their $STX, the STX yield actually pays down the interest and principal of the loan over time. This may sound too good to be true, but think of it like a cashflowing rental property that you get a home equity loan on it

Utilizing @ArkadikoFinance this collateralized loans mint a stablecoin USDA that will be used throughout the ecosystem. Say you put in 200 STX, you could mint up to roughly 100 USDA off of that.

With @alexgoBtc you will be able to lend and borrow against Bitcoin type assets as well. Both DeFi platforms will have decentralized exchanges utilizing automated market maker type systems, which allow for yield farming for end users, and the easy ability to swap tokens.

We have NFT projects like @sigleapp Explorer Guild & @CrashPunks both launching soon, check out @STXNFTschedule for more info on mint drops. There are a lot of interesting use cases for NFTS, currently you can create a boombox, which allows for a new way to stack your stx.

With @boom_wallet You receive a NFT which is used as a pointer to distribute the yield from your stacked STX to the wallet holding the NFT, whoever holds the wallet when yields are sent out, receives the yield for that stacking cycle.

There are also NFT projects looking to capture events, think Top shots but for social or online events. And many many more interesting use cases! Check out @HeyLayer @OpenArtSource1 @MomentoNFT

The team at @moonraygame is working to release their futuristic play to earn game, first game of its kind that users will earn Bitcoin to play, they will have NFTs in the game, and have plans for it be (Snowcrasher not Zuck) metaverse like. The game design is also beautiful!

@bitfari is an advertising protocol for in person & then in the future mixed reality advertising platform. They are getting off the ground now so keep an eye out! I think you can purchase their tokens here catamaranswaps.org/stx-fari
I haven't bought mine yet so don't buy them all🤣

If you are new to this community, it is amazing. There are so many smart aspirational people, all with a win and help win mentality. If you are bullish and want to buy (more) Stacks I recommend @okcoin. Binance and Kucoin are also other options. See you around Stackers!
#WGMI