Stacks DeFi keeps expanding, and the appetite among Bitcoiners to put their BTC capital to work is clearly only beginning to show:

- More than 100 sBTC deposited into Zest over the past week, bringing total sBTC deposits to nearly 800 and earning 3.39% APY.

- hBTC private beta users are earning 6–8% APY on their BTC through the vault launch strategies, with new cohorts rolling out shortly.

- 750+ autonomous AI agents are currently active on Stacks, with 18M sats in motion, underlining the expansion of the agentic economy.

As outlined in the emissions schedule, the Stacks halving has taken place.

Block rewards are now 500 STX per block, reducing new STX that enters circulation each day by 50%. Miners continue to secure the network at the adjusted miner incentives

https://x.com/Stacks/status/2044134410900124154?s=20

STX Legion 2.0 is here!

If you genuinely believe in what is being built on Stacks and unlocking the Bitcoin economy, this could be the program for you.

By becoming an STX Legionary, you earn STX rewards for engagement and posts while growing your presence in the ecosystem.

If you want to be part of the STX Legion, join the Stacks official discord and head to the Legion channel to apply: https://stx.ink/legion

The Stacks Ecosystem Grants program selected 18 teams out of a record 325 applications for Cycle 1.

The teams were chosen based on the priorities the Stacks Treasury Committee laid out in the March community update.

If you haven't been selected, no worries as more opportunities will be available such as the DeGrants program reopening in late H1 2026.

Read more about the the Cycle 1 grant program here:
https://x.com/StacksEndowment/status/2044796910397993351?s=20

It has been a big week for the Stacks DeFi ecosystem:

-Zest has now over 800 sBTC deposited earning 3.24% apy
-USDh now earns from a second source which is Strategy STRC
-Bitflow recorded $1.3+ billion in total transaction volume since HODLMM launch!

The Bitcoin economy is taking shape faster than ever!

Hermetica has launched hBTC vaults enabling to earn more BTC with BTC.

Bitcoin deposited into hBTC is posted as collateral on Zest to borrow stablecoins which are converted into USDh and deployed across two staking paths to earn 4-8% BTC-denominated yield:

-sUSDh, which captures yield from Bitcoin basis,
-stUSDh, which accesses STRC yield
-An additional yield layer is sourced from Stacks Dual Stacking

Read more on hBTC here: https://x.com/HermeticaFi/status/2046591528819200302?s=20

The Builder Bash virtual took place today.

The event featured updates from leading teams building in the Stacks ecosystem, including Zest, Hermetica, Bitflow and many others.

Product updates, ecosystem announcements and a look at what’s coming next for Bitcoin builders on Stacks have been shared.

Watch the event recording here: https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1pKdRbnmVznJW?s=20

USDCx is now supported on Allbridge Core.

USDC across Allbridge's 24 supported chains now has a direct path to Bitcoin DeFi on Stacks.

Lower fees, deeper liquidity and better UX, the leading Bitcoin L2 is becoming even more accessible.

We've seen hundreds of developers build on Bitcoin using Claude Code with Clarity.

The Clarity Plugin can write, check, and reason about Clarity contracts with the same context a human developer would have.

Install the plugin and start building on Bitcoin via Stacks

Read more about Clarity plugins for Claude here: https://www.stacks.co/blog/build-clarity-smart-contracts-with-ai-introducing-the-clarity-plugin-for-claude-code

Here’s what happened on Stacks this week. 👇

- Hermetica launching their hBTC earn vault integrating STRC as second yield source

- Bitflow hitting $1B in swap volume since HODLMM launch

- USDCx is on Allbridge Core effectively connecting Stacks to other 60+ chains

- Stacking DAO hit a new TVL all-time high with 110M STX in deposits

- Zest Protocol teasing TGE

Bitcoin dominance near 60%. Most of that capital sits idle.

Stacks is building the infrastructure layer to change that including lending, trading, and yield generation, all settled on Bitcoin.

RR2Capital just published a full breakdown of what makes Stacks the infrastructure layer for Bitcoin DeFi.

No Bitcoin L2 has returned more BTC to its network than Stacks.

Over 4,200 BTC distributed to stackers since January 2021, through the network's Proof of Transfer (PoX) consensus.

The Stacks 2026 roadmap is live.

Phase 1: Self-custodial staking. Earn yield on the #1 digital asset. Full custody, no wrapping.

Phase 2: 100x throughput. Clarity Wasm, core upgrades, bridge optimization. Ready for DeFi volume and AI agents.

Phase 3: Native finance. Lending, borrowing, perpetuals, all built on the most secure blockchain.

Full roadmap: http://stacks.co/roadmap

Stacks is the leading Bitcoin L2, with over 4,000 BTC on the network.

Capital is moving into the ecosystem thanks to DeFi protocols such as Zest, Hermetica, and Bitflow, which unlock BTC yield.

Stacks is building what bitcoin holders have been waiting for.

Institutions are sitting on trillions in Bitcoin with no way to earn yield.

Bitcoin staking on Stacks changes that as the only project architecting native BTC yield from day one.

Watch Stacks contributors cover what they're building:

Leading Crypto educator Stacy Muur shared her thesis on how Stacks can fix the Bitcoin economy.

Bitcoin holders want to unlock liquidity with their BTC but without compromising on custody or trust.

Stacks is the answer.

Check the article here: https://x.com/stacy_muur/status/2051952485414175177?s=20

Bitcoin Staking is the top of the funnel according to Muneeb.

Institutions want yield, they demand self-custody, and that's exactly where Stacks will meet them.

Hold BTC. Earn BTC. That's what Bitcoiners want.

Today we're publishing the Bitcoin Staking whitepaper.

Self-custodial. BTC-denominated yield.

Here's what it is and why it matters 🧵

https://x.com/Stacks/status/2054582905821954059?s=20

Your BTC stays locked on Bitcoin.

Your yield is paid in BTC.

Your BTC stays under your custody.

This is what real self-custodial yield looks like 🟧

Stacks has been highlighted as top BTC yield platform in BitcoinYield.com report.

According to the report, Stacks has one of the clearer yield dashboards and one of the most active BTC lending venues.

Dual Stacking, Zest Protocol, Hermetica hBTC, and Bitflow’s sBTC liquidity pools, are all mentioned venues to generate BTC yield.

Read the full report here:
https://news.bitcoin.com/stacks-highlighted-as-top-btc-yield-platform-in-bitcoinyield-com-report/