Zest Protocol has launched Stacks Swap.

Stacks Swap compares liquidity pools across Stacks DEXs and returns the route with the best output for every trade.

The approved quote sets the worst-case price. The swap executes at that level or better, or not at all.

Read more about it here: https://x.com/ZestProtocol/status/2080187558156443856?s=20

The Bitcoin Staking Roadmap page is live

Track everything related to Bitcoin Staking: timelines, links, posts, and updates as they ship leading up to the official launch.

https://x.com/Stacks/status/2080398763169050766?s=20

The Stacks Q2 Ecosystem Report is now live.

The report covers institutional partnerships, ecosystem growth, and infrastructure milestones, including:

- Bitcoin Staking's preparations for Q3 launch
- Fireblocks and UTXO Management institutional partnerships
- Cumulative Stacks users past the 1.6M mark

Full report: https://www.stacks.co/blog/q2-2026

The Stacks Q2 Ecosystem Report is now live.

The report covers institutional partnerships, ecosystem growth, and infrastructure milestones, including:

- Bitcoin Staking's preparations for Q3 launch
- Fireblocks and UTXO Management institutional partnerships
- Cumulative Stacks users past the 1.6M mark

Full report: https://www.stacks.co/blog/q2-2026

Bitcoin-native finance grew in Q2 on Stacks:

Zest Protocol: $70M TVL with 780 BTC deposited
Bitflow: $5B cumulative volume
Stacking DAO: stBTC, the first Bitcoin LST
Hermetica: 75 hBTC filled in 24hrs

Stacks' Bitcoin-native finance ecosystem is growing with the upcoming Zest Protocol Stacks Vaults.

The vault introduces automated yield strategies that amplify Bitcoin yield sourced from Stacks Bitcoin Staking.

The mechanism is simple:
- Deposit BTC, sBTC, or stBTC into the vault. The deposit converts into stBTC, Stacking DAO's upcoming liquid staking token, which keeps earning Bitcoin Staking yield while remaining free to use elsewhere

- The stBTC in the vault serves as collateral to borrow sBTC, stake the borrowed sBTC again to receive more stBTC, and repeat the cycle to compound yield, targeting a 6-8% target APY

That's how Bitcoin Staking yield compounds further across the Stacks ecosystem.

Read more about it here: https://thedefiant.io/news/press-releases/zest-protocol-announces-stacks-vaults-bringing-automated-yield-strategies-to-bitcoin-native-finance

The PoX-5 upgrade has been activated successfully and without issues.

Core contributors have verified the activation through post-upgrade checks, and the network is producing blocks normally.

Signers and node operators completed their migrations ahead of activation, along with major exchange partners including Binance and Upbit. Deposits and withdrawals on migrated exchanges are operating as normal.

With the hardfork now live, here's what comes next: https://www.stacks.co/blog/the-stacks-pox-5-hardfork-is-live-what-comes-next

If you stake STX, one action this week: restake.

All staked STX unlocked when PoX-5 activated. Restake before Bitcoin block 962,050 and your BTC rewards keep flowing without missing a cycle.

Builders that received interim grants last Fall are shipping.

No-seed-phrase wallets, an sBTC data economy for AI agents, a trustless Runes bridge, on-chain gaming, and real commerce with STX/sBTC.

Check out the latest milestones and updates: https://stacks.foundation/july-grants-update

Reminder that every staker needs to restake after PoX-5.

All previously staked STX unlocked at activation, following the precedent of prior PoX upgrades.

Restake before Bitcoin block 962,050 to earn from the first post fork cycle. Rewards from the final pre fork cycle pay out normally.

Full guide: https://www.stacks.co/blog/how-to-restake-your-stx-after-the-pox-5-hard-fork

More than 200 applications were submitted for the Stacks Community DeGrants Cohort 4.

Six projects have been selected to share a combined $25,000 in funding.

Read more about the 6 projects selected to strengthen the Stacks ecosystem:
https://stacksendowment.co/blog/degrants-cohort-4

Stacks X Bitfinex: How Bitcoin Is Being Put To Work

Stacks gets the top spot at Bitfinex' latest Industry report on productive Bitcoin.

Bitfinex shared the productive Bitcoin overview on X featuring BlackRock and Stacks.

Read the full article here: Bitfinex - How Bitcoin is being put to work

Reminder: restack your STX before ~August 12 (Bitcoin block 962,050) to keep earning.

Here are quick tutorials based on the pool you are using: https://x.com/Stacks/status/2083267023916662923?s=20

The Genesis Bond officially has a block height 🟧

The bond runs during reward cycle 143, which starts at Bitcoin block 966,350.

→ Opens on Sept ~10
→ Enrollment closes Sept 9
→ First rewards are projected for Sept 17

Starting Bitcoin block 966,350 (~Sep 10) Stacks distributes 1 BTC per month through a 90-day incentive program with Zest Protocol and Bitflow.

Rewards paid in BTC and target DeFi activities:
→ Borrowing USDCx against sBTC and STX
→ Liquidity activity in core USDCx pairs

24 days until the first ever self-custodial Bitcoin yield mechanism goes live with its Genesis bond.

→ Genesis bond: first staking period with limited BTC capacity exclusive to institutions.
→ Staking Pools: Stacking DAO and others will come online.

For a long time, holding Bitcoin meant one thing: buy it and lock it in a hardware wallet.

Now, Institutions want more ways to put Bitcoin to work, and providers like Fireblocks are building the infrastructure to let them.

Stacks already integrates the custody infrastructure institutions rely on and Bitcoin Staking delivers BTC yield without moving Bitcoin out of custody.

That's the shift: idle Bitcoin becoming productive capital, on institutions' own terms.

Bitcoin capital needs to be productive.

→ Earn Bitcoin by providing liquidity on Bitflow
→ Earn Bitcoin by supplying on Zest Protocol
→ Earn Bitcoin by locking in a Hermetica vault

Stacks unlocks the the next phase for Bitcoin.

Stacks' Token Transparency Filing (TTF) is now live on Bloomberg Terminal, reaching 350,000+ terminals worldwide.

This level of transparency has been the standard from the start.

STX was distributed through the first SEC-qualified token offering in US history, and the Grayscale Stacks Trust as the first publicly quoted US product providing exposure to STX.

Every mature asset class has a capital market. Bitcoin's is taking shape on Stacks, with STX as its staking capacity asset. Capital entering that market deserves disclosure standards that match what it already expects elsewhere.

Trusted institutional infrastructure for Bitcoin-native finance continues to grow.

BitGo now supports sBTC, bringing institutional custody and SIP-010 compatibility to the Stacks ecosystem.

As institutions look beyond holding Bitcoin, secure infrastructure is essential.

https://x.com/Stacks/status/2092255484975935543?s=20