Most Bitcoin held by institutions earns nothing because many routes to yield require taking on additional custody, counterparty or bridging risk.

For an allocator managing other people’s capital, that trade can be difficult to justify.

Bitcoin Staking with Stacks is designed differently. Principal stays on Bitcoin L1, locked through Bitcoin script, with no bridge, no wrapper and no slashing of BTC.

With Anchorage Digital custody support for Bitcoin Staking, institutions can participate without moving their Bitcoin outside the custody infrastructure they already use.

That matters because the same institutional controls used to custody Bitcoin can now extend to participation in Bitcoin Staking.

Learn more: https://www.stacks.co/bitcoin-staking

Two questions matter when institutions evaluate Bitcoin yield:
-How is the Bitcoin held?
-And where does the yield come from?

Bitcoin Staking on Stacks addresses both.

BTC principal stays on Bitcoin L1 and can remain self-custodial throughout the staking process. There is no bridge, no wrapper and slashing of principal.

Rewards come from Proof of Transfer, where Stacks miners bid BTC to produce blocks. Since 2021, it has distributed more than 4,200 BTC in rewards.

Andre Serrano explains why this combination of self-custody and BTC-denominated network rewards creates a different approach to Bitcoin yield.

Q3 showed the Bitcoin Staking economic loop starting to work.

• BTC yield increased 72.15% over four cycles following SIP 45 activation, while locked STX grew from 392M to 448M

• 20M STX was locked right before Bitcoin Bond 1 went live, showing growing demand for Bitcoin Staking capacity

• Bitcoin Bond 1 sold out, with participants including 21Shares, UTXO Management and HashKey

• Anchorage joined Fireblocks and Fordefi in expanding institutional access

• Ankr, The Tie and HashKey Cloud joined the signer set

• Satoshi One went live with 99.98% uptime

Q3 laid a lot of the groundwork.

As more BTC moves into future bonds, the next phase is about scaling the capital flowing through Stacks.

Bond 1 proved the self custodial institutional path. Bond 2 puts the liquid path to work at scale.

Bond 2 is the first Bitcoin Staking bond where most of the capacity runs through liquid staking.

It gives BTC holders a way to earn BTC yield while keeping a liquid position that can be used elsewhere across the Stacks ecosystem.

As custody integrations continue opening direct access for more institutions, Bond 2 also gives the ecosystem important early data on how staked BTC moves, where it gets deployed, and what holders do when their position stays usable.

Bitcoin Staking Bond 2 starts at Bitcoin block 970,450 (~Oct 9).

https://x.com/Stacks/status/2107196369610149980?s=20

The Genesis Bond proved Bitcoin Staking on Stacks works in production.

Institutions bonded BTC, Stacks miners committed BTC through Proof of Transfer, and participants received BTC yield.

The first two weeks also gave the clearest view yet of how the Bitcoin Staking economic loop works in practice.

The full 14 day report breaks down the Genesis Bond, rewards, participants, and what comes next.

https://www.stacks.co/blog/bitcoin-staking-on-stacks-early-data-14-day-bond-recap

The institutional Bitcoin story is changing.

Last cycle, the focus was getting BTC onto balance sheets.

Now the question is what institutions can actually do with it once it is there.

That creates a large opportunity for Bitcoin-native financial products that don't ask them to compromise on the properties that made them choose Bitcoin in the first place.

This is what Stacks is building toward with Bitcoin Staking: self-custodial BTC on Bitcoin L1, with yield earned in BTC from miner bids through Proof of Transfer.

If Bitcoin capital is going to become productive at institutional scale, the infrastructure has to meet institutions where they are.

Institutional access to Stacks keeps expanding.

The Bullish listing is another step in making STX easier to access through infrastructure institutions already use and trust.

That matters as Stacks grows beyond simply being a Bitcoin L2 and into a broader Bitcoin financial ecosystem, with more institutional custody, trading, and Bitcoin Staking infrastructure coming online.

The more accessible the network becomes, the easier it is for institutional capital to participate in what is being built on Stacks.

The vision for Stacks through 2030 is clear: make Bitcoin productive capital at scale.

At TOKEN2049, Stacks founder and Stacks Labs CEO Muneeb Ali outlined the Satoshi Upgrades, a roadmap built around three key frontiers:

- Bitcoin Capital Markets: Enable BTC holders to earn native Bitcoin yield and borrow against their BTC without giving up custody

- Compliant Privacy: Bring confidential transactions to Stacks while allowing institutions to meet regulatory requirements.

- Post-Quantum Security: Prepare Stacks for the next generation of cryptographic security, ensuring Bitcoin financial activity remains secure over the long term.

The goal by 2030: make Stacks the default place for Bitcoin to earn, borrow, and transact privately, all settled to Bitcoin.

Read the full vision: https://www.stacks.co/blog/what-are-the-satoshi-upgrades-muneeb-alis-three-frontier-plan-for-stacks-through-2030

Bitcoin Staking is live on Stacks. But what's next?

Bitcoin Staking is evolving through two phases: PoX-5 and PoX-6.

PoX-5 (Live): Bitcoin Staking is currently available through whitelisted participants, with staking parameters managed by the Stacks Endowment.

PoX-6 (Planned for 2027): Bitcoin Staking will become open to all BTC holders, with market-driven yields and parameters set automatically onchain.

What stays the same? Native BTC remains on Bitcoin L1, rewards are paid in BTC, and there's no protocol slashing.

The next step is making Bitcoin Staking permissionless and accessible to everyone.

Full breakdown: https://www.stacks.co/blog/bitcoin-staking-pox-5-pox-6

Bitcoin Staking can be much more than a product. It can be an entry point into Stacks.

By bringing more BTC into the ecosystem, staking can create demand for the applications built around it and give that capital more ways to stay productive.

That creates a broader flywheel: more Bitcoin capital, more usage, more integrations, and more reasons to build.

That is the bigger opportunity Alex breaks down in this clip.

Bitcoin has the potential to become much more than a store of value.

Today, most Bitcoin sits idle. But what happens when BTC can generate yield, serve as collateral, and power financial markets?

That's the opportunity Stacks is working toward through Bitcoin Capital Markets, starting with the launch of Bitcoin Staking.

As Muneeb Ali highlighted at TOKEN2049, productive capital markets could help Bitcoin grow beyond gold.

The next phase of Bitcoin's growth isn't just about holding more BTC. It's about what Bitcoin can do.

Q3 was a defining quarter for Stacks.

Bitcoin Staking went live on mainnet, bringing real Bitcoin capital and institutional participation to the network. A few highlights:

• 735 BTC brought into Bitcoin Staking across the first two bonding periods
• 493M STX staked, up more than 25%
• 21Shares, HashKey Cloud, UTXO Management and Sypher Capital among the first institutional participants
• stBTC launched, while Zest surpassed $122M in deposits and DEX volumes reached a 12 month high

The infrastructure is live. Now the focus is on scaling Bitcoin Staking and bringing more Bitcoin capital into the Stacks ecosystem.

Read the full Q3 Ecosystem Report: https://www.stacks.co/blog/q3-2026

Building a yield market for Bitcoin capital means giving holders more ways to put their BTC to work.

Demand for self-custodial yield and institutional participation make the infrastructure behind these markets increasingly important.

The Stacks ecosystem is building toward that opportunity across Bitcoin staking, programmable Bitcoin, BTC-backed stablecoins, lending, and tokenized assets.

For Bitcoin capital markets to flourish, turning idle Bitcoin into productive capital needs a strong foundation. That’s what the Stacks ecosystem is building.

Stack Sats rewards putting Bitcoin to work on Stacks.

1 BTC in rewards each month allocated across the program through December 10. Two ways to participate:

• Bitflow: Trade or provide liquidity in the sBTC/USDCx and STX/USDCx markets
• Zest: Supply sBTC or borrow USDCx against sBTC

Each app distributes 0.50 BTC monthly to qualifying participants.

Explore the tracks and how to participate

What does it take for Bitcoin to become productive capital?

Bitcoin Staking is one building block, giving holders a way to earn BTC yield while creating a potential benchmark for broader financial markets.

The opportunity extends into lending, payments, and other applications where Bitcoin can be put to work.

Connecting these markets takes accessible applications, deep liquidity, and institutional infrastructure. Together, these form the foundations for Bitcoin capital markets to grow.

Bitcoin’s role as productive capital is still taking shape.

Stacks founder Muneeb Ali highlighted the scale of the opportunity: only about 0.5% of BTC is actively deployed.

Unlocking that capital takes accessible ways to earn yield and borrow against BTC, backed by infrastructure holders and institutions can trust.

That’s the opportunity the Stacks ecosystem is building toward: turning idle Bitcoin into productive capital.