The Stacks ecosystem always aimed to stay closely connected with Bitcoin.

A few examples:

• Stacks builders are also key Bitcoin L1 contributors (e.g Xverse Wallet & Hermetica Finance)

• Major Bitcoin mining pool Luxor serves as a Stacks Signer

• Bitcoin Frontier Fund, originally Stacks Venture, is now the top Bitcoin Accelerator

How are the Stacks Foundation grants fueling innovation in the Stacks ecosystem?

They've kickstarted groundbreaking DeFi projects like:

• Stacking Dao's Liquid Stacking app
• Bitflow Finance's aggregator DEX
• Arkadiko Finance's stablecoin protocol

What's missing in the Stacks ecosystem that deserves a critical bounty?

Yesterday, a Trust Machine incubated Bitcoin lending protocol on Stacks was announced!

GraniteBTC is leveraging sBTC to let users borrow against their BTC capital with:

🔸 Soft Liquidations
🔸 No Rehypothecation
🔸 Real-time Position Tracking

Another major step towards activating the Bitcoin economy.

Learn more about Granite and follow them for future updates.👇

Website: https://www.granite.world
Announcement thread: https://x.com/GraniteBTC/status/1834230773114925247

Nakamoto Activation Update

- Stacks Nakamoto activation is on track

- Core devs plan to make the selection of a hard fork block in the next 7 days!

- Thank you to the Signers! Those running the latest release validated the technical aspect of the handoff

Full post below 👇
https://stacks.org/nakamoto-activation-update-handoff

The Aptos Network is set to integrate sBTC, unlocking Bitcoin-powered DeFi on Aptos! ⚡️

This move accelerates BTC adoption across multiple chains.

As Bashar Lazaar, Ecosystem Lead at Aptos, says: "This makes Bitcoin highly capable beyond a store of value" 🔥

Are you a developer interested in building with Bitcoin layers? 🧑‍💻

Join the Bitcoin Bash virtual event on October 17. 📅

It's your chance to dive into Stacks and explore how to unlock the full potential of the Bitcoin economy. 🟠

Register here:
https://bitcoinbuilders.io/bash

Don’t miss today’s Stacks SIP Community Innovation Call at 12 PM ET! 🚨

Get the latest updates on the SIP landscape and dive into what’s coming next for Stacks. 🔥

Set a reminder and join in a few hours.👇
https://x.com/i/spaces/1PlKQbjgWkdGE/peek

Nakamoto Activation is coming Wednesday, October 9th! 🔥

To celebrate, the Stacks community is hosting 20+ developer workshops around the world! 🌍

Each event will feature lectures, live demos, and technical challenges where you can win STX. 💪

Several important milestones are coming for the Stacks ecosystem:

• Aptos and Solana set to integrate sBTC

• Fast Blocks & 100% Bitcoin finality go live at Block 864864 (Oct 9)

• Tokensoft to offer compliance & token strategy services to Bitcoin builders

Stacks adoption across exchanges continues to gain momentum.

Crypto com has now rolled out on-chain STX stacking.

These integrations open up new ways for global users to earn BTC rewards while supporting network security.

Developer workshops celebrating the Nakamoto Activation are happening worldwide! 🌍

Kicking off in Cusco, Latin America's first session was a success, with Mexico City and Lima up next.

A perfect opportunity to dive into building Bitcoin apps on Stacks with fast blocks coming.

Sign up for the following Workshops:

📍Mexico City 09/28: https://lu.ma/3bb0xb1b
📍Lima 09/28 : https://lu.ma/kz7f1zx1

Join the Stacks SIP Community Innovation call tomorrow at 12 PM ET! 🚨

Stay ahead with key updates and insights on the evolving SIP landscape. Don’t miss out on what's next for Stacks! 🔥

Set your reminder and get ready to dive in.👇

https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1djGXrXzLPyxZ

Join the Bitcoin Virtual Hackathon in Latin America (Oct 4-18)!

Winners can earn:

• STX & ICP tokens
• A spot in the Hacker House at labitconf in Buenos Aires
• A chance to pitch to VCs & accelerators

Don’t miss out—register now!👇
https://lu.ma/do4zysjd

Big moves are happening on Stacks:

• Hermetica launched the Bitcoin-backed USDh stablecoin

• Asigna lets users create a Stacks multisig directly via Ledger

• Cryptocom is offering STX stacking to its customers

• Anchorage now supports custody for Stacks assets

Mark your calendars for "BTC Bash," the virtual Stacks developer event on October 17! 📅

Dive into Bitcoin building with expert talks, live coding sessions, and hands-on workshops.

If you are interested in building on Stacks, make sure to register. 👇

https://bitcoinbuilders.io/bash

On-chain data from Signal21 shows the growing adoption of Stacks:

• Cumulative wallets on Stacks went up by ~100% in 2024

• Monthly DeFi users have grown from a few hundred to thousands

• Monthly DeFi transactions have surged from a few thousand to 60k consistently

Join the Stacks SIP Community Innovation call tomorrow at 12 PM ET!

Get the latest updates and insights on the evolving SIP landscape. Stay ahead of what's next for Stacks! 🔥

Set your reminder below 👇
https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1YqKDkDrlwDxV

Ready for the EasyA Stacks hackathon at Harvard on November 9-10?

Take the chance to learn how to build apps tapping into Bitcoin’s $1T market.

What to expect?

• $25k in prizes
• Live panels with Bitcoin experts
• Mentors from leading Web3 companies

Register now for the Hackathon:
https://bitcoinbuilders.io/hackathon

What has been happening on Stacks?

• Hermetica stablecoin USDh is live on Velar and Bitflow for liquidity provision and swaps

• LearnWeb3 launched the October challenge focused on the Stacks developer degree

• Successful hard fork of the Nakamoto Testnet last week

Join the Stacks SIP Community call this Friday at 12 PM ET! 📅

Bring your ideas for improvements and innovations on Stacks. It’s the perfect space to share and discuss.

Set your reminder and get ready to dive in.👇

https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1yNGagAEQjDxj