ICYMI: Stacks 2.1 is HERE 🚀

We're excited to share that we have activated Stacks 2.1 recently 🔓

⭐️ Stacking Improvements
⭐️ New Clarity Functions
⭐️ Better Bridges
⭐️ Decentralized Mining
⭐️ #Bitcoin-native Assets

We would like to extend our sincerest gratitued to everyone who have contributed to the upgrade! 💟

This is only the beginning! Let's continue in strengthening the connection to #Bitcoin and unleashing it's full potential! 🌟

Just goes to show why Stacks is one of the top Web3 project on #Bitcoin today! 🚀

And we're more excited for the next months with sBTC, The Nakamoto release & more 💜

Emblem Vault Announces Support for Stacks NFT Token Standard (SIP-009)
In support of the Nakamoto_1 Bitcoin treasure hunt on the moon, Emblem Vault recently announced support for SIP-009, the NFT token standard for Stacks. Now, any NFT on Stacks can be traded on cross-chain marketplaces like OpenSea.

Bitcoin-Secured Stacks NFTs on the moon
Yesterday, LunarCrush announced Nakamoto_1, an interplanetary treasure hunt. Hiro is partnering with LunarCrush, Lunar Outpost, and Golden Wolf to launch a treasure chest filled with crypto and NFTs into space and put it on the moon. Read more 👈

Eager to share Stacks with your friends and colleagues? 💭

But need to figure out how? Look no further as Altcoinbuzz published a 2-part guide for anyone new in Stacks! 📒

It's a fantastic resource if you want to refresh your memory and a great introductory tool for anyone's first time in the ecosystem!

Share them within your network! 💟

Part 1 👇
https://www.altcoinbuzz.io/reviews/stacks-beginners-guide-part-1/

Part 2
https://www.altcoinbuzz.io/reviews/altcoin-projects/stacks-beginners-guide-part-2/

CoinMarketCap Alexandria featured Stacks in one of its Tech Deep Dives 📲

They went through ⤵️
🌟 What Is Stacks?
🌟 The Stacks Team, Investors and Roadmap
🌟 How Does Stacks Work?
🌟 The Stacks Token
🌟 Stacks and Bitcoin Ordinals

Read the full article below 👇
https://coinmarketcap.com/alexandria/article/what-is-stacks-features-and-tokenomics

🚨 Grants Program Funding the Future of Building on Bitcoin - Moving to Critical Bounties
sBTC and The Nakamoto release will unlock the full potential of Bitcoin with Stacks.

The Stacks Foundation's Grants Program introduced Critical Bounties to allocate resources to the efforts needed to make this happen.

Critical bounties are request for proposals (RFPs) that specify a critical need for the network. Make sure to check out the Critical Bounties and see if you're eligible for one of them. Here 👈

Read more about the Critical Bounties 👈

2022 for the Grants Program (Q4 2021 to Q4 2022)
⭐️ $12.5 million in applications received across 285 applications
⭐️ $4 million in grants awarded across 125 grants ($32k per)
⭐️ MultiSafe, Stacks Degens, Trajan, Droplinked, Alexandria Indexer, Clariform, Liquidium, EcosystemDAO, BitFlow, Web3 Startup Lab, Stacks Labs

🧑‍💻 Learn to code Bitcoin secured smart contracts on Stacks for free

📣 How Bitcoin Ordinals Can Affect the Next Bitcoin Halving

The next Bitcoin “halvening” will be unique because it will be the first to occur alongside the existence of Bitcoin Ordinals 🚀

ℹ️ The halvening occurs when the amount of Bitcoins entering circulation every ten minutes is cut in half, as well as block rewards for miners.

ℹ️ Bitcoin Ordinal theory refers to a protocol that allows each individual satoshi – the smallest unit of bitcoin – to be identified and tracked according to the order in which it was mined.

By their inherent nature and thanks to their increasing popularity helping to drive transaction fees higher, Bitcoin Ordinal inscriptions are a godsend for Bitcoin miners who may be apprehensive of the next “halvening.”

Read the full article here 👈

Here's a quick guide on Bitcoin Ordinals 👈

🚨 Check out the recent newsletter of alexGo.btc 🚨

⭐Ordinal Giveaway
⭐Incentived Testnet
⭐sUSD

The newly announced ALEX Bridge Incentivized Testnet boosted their socials by almost 35% ☝️

They also secured a $2.5M in a strategic investment round 🚀

ALEX is definitely excited for the future, especially when trillions in tokenized real-world assets look to transact trustlessly; they will come to the security of Bitcoin DeFi! 🔐

Check the full newsletter 👈

Have you read the recent sBTC Newsletter⁉️

The sBTC working group has been thinking a lot about use cases and user experience 💻

With their goal in mind of providing a world-class user experience for Bitcoin DeFi, they have a few plans to achieve that 👇

🌟Deep wallet integrations
🌟Easy on-ramps
🌟Simplified user interface
🌟Intuitive design

They also gave an engineering and go-to-market updates along with a general advise around the ecosystem 🌐

Read the full newsletter HERE ⬅️

If you haven't yet, make sure to subscribe ✅ So you'll never miss an update!

ICYMI: Unlocking a Trustless Bitcoin Economy – The Roadmap for sBTC 🔓

Key Takeaways ⏬
🌟 sBTC will improve the functionality and accessibility of Bitcoin DeFi.
🌟 It will significantly upgrade the experience for users and developers and has the potential to unlock $450B+ in capital.
🌟 Bitcoin is the perfect settlement layer for the digital economy.

🚨 The Bottom Line: Bitcoin is No Longer “Just a Rock”

Watch the full video here 📺

View the roadmap in more detail ⤵️
Growing the Bitcoin Economy: The Road to sBTC

If you haven't yet, subscribe to our 👇
YouTube Channel

🚨 Meet The Hiro Platform 🚨

Hiro recently launched The Hiro Platform, a complete solution for developers building Bitcoin smart contracts 🚀

It enables you to create and deploy Bitcoin smart contracts directly from a web browser without a single installation ⏩

With this new hosted experience, you have access to a number of features that let you⤵️
⭐ Create new projects or import from GitHub into the platform.
⭐ Build smart contracts easily
⭐ Deploy smart contracts to testnet & mainnet from your browser

They aim to support full-stack Stacks development and observability 🤝


Read the full article here ⬅️

Check out the 👉 platform

Q1 2023 Recap: Build, Bitcoin, Repeat
⭐️ Stacks 2.1 was officially activated in March, paving the way for Nakamoto and sBTC
⭐️ Stacks reached the 100,000 block height milestone
⭐️ Bitcoin-secured clarity smart contracts crushed the 60,000 milestone
⭐️ Stacks outgained the market to solidify a position in the top 50 of CMCs ranking
⭐️ Stacks was the top trending cryptocurrency on social platforms for 3 weeks (2 weeks in a row), (LunarCrush)

Read the full newsletter 👇

21 Startup Ideas for sBTC (Stacks Bitcoin Backed Asset) end 2023)
There is already active development in the ecosystem for many of these use cases. For the others, we are seeking founders to get involved. If you are interesting in building the next generation of Bitcoin DeFi products, please get in touch!

DeFi & Trading
1. Automated Market Makers - decentralized swaps between sBTC and other tokens.
2. Bitcoin Yield Aggregators - a protocol for yield optimization that automates investing in various strategies.
3. Bitcoin-backed Stablecoins - decentralized stablecoins to access liquidity.

Lending & Borrowing
1. Collateralized Bitcoin Loans - permissionless lending and borrowing.
2. Bitcoin Flash Loans - flash loan protocol for arbitrage and collateral swapping.

View the other 15 potential startups for Stacks in 2023 down below 👇

Zest Protocol's Co-Founder Tycho Onnasch shares his thoughts on the potential of Bitcoin 💭

He said that Bitcoin is the largest opportunity! As it currently stands, there are almost a half a trillion dollars of capital that can be leveraged ⚖️

Catch him speak at the virtual Building on Bitcoin Summit on April 19, 2023 🎙️

Register here ☜

🌎 Introducing Local Stacks Communities
The Stacks Foundation Chapters program is an initiative designed to promote and support the growth of local communities of developers, enthusiasts, and users of the Stacks Bitcoin layer. Hear from:

🇮🇩 Abdurrachman Mappuji (Puji)
🇦🇺 Gordon Christian
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Nathaniel Cole
🇺🇸 Bryan Guadagno

I got into Stacks because of the strong ethos and alignment with strengthening the uses of Bitcoin. - Nathaniel Cole

Read more about the local communities 👇

And the work continues as we unleash Bitcoin's full potential 🚀

Here's a quick recap of the first quarter with Stacks ⤵️
🌟 Was named #1 project on Bitcoin
🌟 Reached 100,000 block height
🌟 60,000 total smart contracts
🌟 Activated 2.1

Read the full newsletter entitled Q1 2023: Build, Bitcoin, Repeat 👈

All made possible because of the builders' community and your unending support! 💟

Here's a quick guide on setting up your wallet with Xverse 📖

Xverse Wallet is a Chrome browser extension and mobile app that allows you to manage your Bitcoin private keys. It enables you to manage BTC and other tokens like STX and interact with decentralized applications 💱

Read the full guide here ◀️

Questions? You can always visit their support desk and contact their support team! ℹ️

ICYMI: The ALEX Lab Foundation recently launched the ALEX Bridge Testnet 🚀

ℹ️ ALEX Bridge will enable users to move wrapped USDT between the Stacks and Ethereum networks

Their goal is always to build together with their community 🤝

Community members who participate in testing, provide feedback, and help them improve will be rewarded 🏆

Here's the full article ⬅️

Learn more about ALEX Bridge here 👈

Leading Bitcoin Decentralized Finance Platform ALEX to be listed on MEXC
The ALEX Launchpad has been concluded!
MEXC will list $ALEX/USDT trading in the Innovation Zone at 14:00 on Apr 17 (UTC).

ALEX is the leading Bitcoin DeFi platform, built with Stacks' smart contract language Clarity.

🔹Deposits: Apr 17, 14:00 (UTC)
🔹Withdrawal: Apr 18, 12:00 (UTC)
Tweet announcement 👇

Catch the Stacks founder and CEO of Trust Machines, Muneeb Ali, at the virtual Building on Bitcoin Summit tomorrow! 📣

Learn more about the thesis that every experiment in crypto will eventually gravitate toward Bitcoin 🚀

Don't miss it! Register for free 👈

New Feature Alert on Gamma 🚨

You can now buy Bitcoin directly from their platform, powered by a brand new integration from Stripe 🪙

Did you know that Stripe powers about 20% of the global payments infrastructure? 💳

What to do? 👇
1️⃣ Connect your wallet
2️⃣ Click the down arrow
3️⃣ Then Buy Bitcoin