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STX Token
The STX token is central to the Stacks ecosystem, serving as its native currency and playing a critical role in both its economic and consensus mechanisms. Introduced as a foundational layer for enabling smart contracts and DApps secured by Bitcoin, Stacks extends the utility of the Bitcoin network beyond its primary function as a digital currency.
As far as performance and valuations go, STX is one of the most prolific assets in crypto. As of Q2 2024, it was valued at $4.3 billion, making it a top 35 asset by market capitalization. The maximum supply is 1.818 billion, with 1.45 billion tokens already in circulation.
STX tokens are utilized to execute smart contracts, process transactions, and register new digital assets on the Stacks blockchain. This utility underscores the token's importance in facilitating a wide range of decentralized applications and financial instruments on the Bitcoin network.
The introduction of the Stacks 2.0 blockchain marked a significant evolution in the project. It introduced novel developments like the Clarity programming language for smart contracts, which supports atomic swaps with BTC, and the PoX consensus mechanism. This mechanism allows STX holders to earn Bitcoin rewards by participating in the network's consensus, offering a unique bridge between the Stacks and Bitcoin blockchains.
The economic model of STX is designed to be open and permissionless, promoting decentralized participation in the mining process through incentives similar to Bitcoin's model. This approach encourages a wide and varied group of participants to engage with the Stacks network, ensuring its security and vitality.
Tokenomics
As mentioned above, the STX token features an uncapped supply of 1.818 billion tokens, the majority of which are already vested. However, full vesting isn’t expected until 2050. Similarly to Bitcoin, Stacks has implemented a halving mechanism for STX mining rewards, which also occur every four years (the first being in 2025).
Cumulative unlocked tokens (in billions). Source
At genesis, there was a significant allocation of STX tokens (1.3 billion) distributed to various causes and groups. Approximately 25.9% of tokens were dedicated to mining emissions, 34% went to investors or were reserved for token sales, 29.3% went to back the Stacks ecosystem (via the Stacks Foundation), and the core development team received 10.8%.
Several organizations have contributed to the development of the Stacks ecosystem, whether by contributing to its physical infrastructure development or simply providing funding support to get projects off the ground. Some of these organizations include:
- Stacks Foundation
- Mechanism.so
- Zondax
- CoinFabrik
- Winklevoss Capital
- Foundation Capital
- Blockchain Capital
- Hashkey Capital
- BitcoinL2 Labs
- Tintash Labs
STX Token Value Accrual
The demand for STX is intrinsically tied to its role in facilitating transactions and smart contract executions within the Stacks ecosystem, acting as the "gas" that powers these operations. As activity and the subsequent need for transactions grow, the demand for STX naturally increases, creating buying pressure. This demand is directly beneficial for miners, who receive 100% of the gas fee revenues, reinforcing the ecosystem's security and incentivizing participation.
Additionally, it is worth emphasizing again that STX is instrumental in securing the Stacks network through the Proof of Transfer consensus mechanism. The token's utility in this process underpins not only the security of the network but also the secure functioning of sBTC, a decentralized Bitcoin peg on Stacks. As the usage of sBTC and the Stacks network expands, the intrinsic value of STX is poised to rise alongside it, highlighting its critical role in the ecosystem's security infrastructure.
