Dive into feature updates and announcements from Hiro's User Experience (UX) Team.

Hiro’s User Experience Team provides a safe, reliable way to manage STX holdings by building the Stacks Wallets and makes every detail of blockchain activity easy to reference by maintaining the Stacks Explorer.

https://www.hiro.so/blog/hiro-ux-team-may-2021-recap

Read this blog by Gina Abrams to learn about well-known Bitcoin based projects, including RSK and Lightning Network.

The blog compares these projects with Stacks, considering factors like capital and traction, and explores how Stacks uses the Bitcoin network effectively. Check it out:

https://www.hiro.so/blog/building-on-bitcoin-project-comparison

Layer 1, Layer 2, A consensus between two L1 Blockchains? What kind of Blockchain is Stacks, really? 🤔 To bring Clarity to this confusion and several misconceptions, Stacks Foundation Research Scientist Jude Nelson published an overview on what the Stacks Blockchain is and how it is different from other approaches.

MUST READ: https://stacks.org/stacks-blockchain

Arkadiko, the first stablecoin (xUSD) on Stacks to allow lending and borrowing of cryptocurrencies without the need for a middle man is LIVE on reg test. Help battle-test the network before its mainnet launch this Q42021. Get involved now 💪

https://regtest.arkadiko.finance/

It is the moment we've all been waiting for! 💥

Risidio just announced their 1st NFT Giveaway by Fatboy Slim.
Here's the mechanics to get your hands on this limited edition NFT.

✅ Follow @Risidio1 on Twitter
✅ Retweet their post and tag 3 friends
✅ Go to https://thisisnumberone.com/nft-market to claim

https://twitter.com/Risidio1/status/1405254005534699520

히로의 여정 with Pavitthra Pandurangan

ENG: https://www.hiro.so/blog/hiros-journey-pavitthra

Check out this Benzinga article, where Mitchell Cuevas (Head of Growth, the Stacks Foundation) explores the benefits of building on top of Bitcoin and other aspects of Stacks, including PoX and the Paycoin integration.

“Stacks turns Bitcoin from being a passive asset into an active asset that is programmable and available to all”.

Read more: https://www.benzinga.com/markets/cryptocurrency/21/06/21600974/exclusive-building-on-top-of-bitcoin-may-not-be-as-popular-as-ethereum-other-blockchains-b

🔥 Microblocks Reduce Transaction Processing Times to Seconds!

The Stacks blockchain settles blocks on the Bitcoin blockchain, which averages one block every ten minutes. In order to provide users and applications with more timely feedback on the status and results of transactions, the blockchain supports microblocks.

This post will talk about how microblocks are supported in the blockchain, how they impact the confirmation of transactions, and previews support for microblocks in explorers, wallets, and applications.

Read More: https://www.hiro.so/blog/microblocks-reduce-transaction-processing-times

Here is another Benzinga exclusive about 25 teams building their projects on Stacks through the Stacks Accelerator. Their projects are uniquely suited for Stacks, from peer-to-peer encrypted communications to a patent for tracking embryos and organs via blockchain.

The accelerator program is a continuing effort with investments of $4 million to use towards 100 companies over the next three years, so there will be more amazing projects built on Stacks to come!

Read more: https://www.benzinga.com/markets/cryptocurrency/21/06/21657844/exclusive-in-bid-to-expand-bitcoin-ecosystem-stacks-funds-25-startups-building-user-owned-

We're pleased to announce our first cohort of 25 startups building on Bitcoin with the Stacks Accelerator!

From DeFi and hiring platforms to NFT marketplaces, all these projects are uniquely suited to the Stacks blockchain and will be beneficial for the community.

You can learn about the projects here: https://stacks.ac/teams

JUST IN: $USDC may soon become available on Stacks:
https://twitter.com/Stacks/status/1409996245096148998

Check out this overview on Stacks by 7b Crypto Trading app. The article goes over the building blocks of investing or trading, such as:

• What is Stacks?
• Why you should trade Stacks?
• Stacks Trading vs. Stacks Investing
• Where to trade Stacks?
• How to trade Stacks using the 7b broker app?

https://sevenb.io/blog/how-to-trade-stacks-stx/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=STX_article&utm_term=STX_post_2&utm_content=STX_twitter

Centre is pleased to announce that we are enabling our members to issue USDC on additional blockchain platforms. USDC was initially launched on Ethereum and was fully implemented on the Algorand, Stellar and Solana chains in late 2020.

We anticipate that in the coming months, USDC will become available on Avalanche, Celo, Flow, Hedera, Kava, Nervos, Polkadot, "Stacks", Tezos, and Tron.

https://www.centre.io/blog/announcing-usdc-on-ten-new-blockchain-platforms

Our Quarterly Townhall is back this Friday. Mark your calendars, Stackers. This session will go over the following:

✅ Q2 2021 Highlights
✅ Various news from Hiro, Freehold, Daemon, Secret Key Labs, Stacks Foundation, etc.
✅ Stacks Grant
✅ Accelerator Team Update

You can register via the link below:
https://www.crowdcast.io/e/stacks-town-hall-q2-2021/register

Sigle started 2 years ago as a side project when creators Leo, Artūrs, and Quentin decided to create it. Learn more about Sigle and its journey as one of the 25 startups joining the Stacks Accelerator in this recent blog post.

https://app.sigle.io/sigleapp.id.blockstack/v325npRULzygGb9kDT6Cg

Since that magical week in Berlin when the world of Stacks and crypto was really first revealed to me, I knew someday I’d return to the other world I’d just come from: Accelerators.

Having worked at Techstars and Startup Weekend up to that point, I got to witness the power of community, and of putting entrepreneurs in a position to succeed, first-hand. Now, with the Stacks Accelerator in full swing, it’s all come full circle. It’s been just three months since the Stacks Accelerator launched, but we couldn’t be more hopeful for the first cohort of teams.

Trevor, Alex, Grace, and Victoria of the Stacks Accelerator team have done an incredible job of recruiting talented founders, putting a rich program in place, and working with the Stacks Foundation and broader ecosystem to bring teams the resources they need.

With so many innovative and hardworking teams on board, the Accelerator program serves to benefit the ecosystem for years to come—in fact, 80% of profits go right back into future cohorts. It’s builders fueling future builders as they create value and become successful.

Fundamentally, building with Stacks is building on Bitcoin. The capabilities of the Stacks blockchain position us squarely at the nexus of a seismic shift in the way the internet serves and rewards those that make it valuable in the first place: its users.

At the Stacks Foundation, we’re honored to be supporting these 25 pioneering teams that make up the inaugural Stacks Accelerator class and who are pushing the mission of Stacks meaningfully forward:

• ALEX: Open source lending protocol built for developers on Stacks to lend and borrow Bitcoin
• Arkadiko: xUSD is the first stablecoin on Stacks where your collateral earns a Bitcoin yield.
• Blocksurvey: Secure forms and surveys without BlockSurvey having access to your data.
• Bransfer: Allows 5x lower fees and 10x faster speeds for BTC transfers between exchanges.
• Eggschain: Inventory management and patented chain of custody technology for tracking genetic material (sperm, eggs, DNA).
• Glowcase: An NFT showcase platform that allows collectors to discover NFTs based on themes and arrange them in 3D showcases
• GoSats: Get free Bitcoin when you shop. GoSats is an easy way to earn and accumulate Bitcoin by shopping for products you need online.
• HireVibes: A hiring platform with a built-in reward system in Bitcoin and its native token, HireVibes Tokens.
• Layer: NFT minting and marketing workflow for agencies and digital galleries.
• Lucidefi: A decentralized exchange focused on Asia that leverages AI-based trading for better returns.
• Cryptomate: A decentralized exchange for P2P and OTC operations with AI and social technologies.
• Moon: Convert your BTC into a VISA card, instantly and without KYC.
• Momento: TikTok for NFTs.
• Novum Insights: DeFi data analytics and yield farming.
• Oby: A suite of decentralized finance products on Stacks.
• Open Art Source: A marketplace with blockchain-secured ownership records and AI-image recognition provenance to connect NFTs with physical art.
• Pravica: Peer-to-peer, end-to-end encrypted chat and email apps that don’t ask for any personal data to open an account.
• Redeemable: Celebrity NFTs that are redeemable for special access or interactions.
• Rcrdshp: NFT music collectibles for fans of electronic music.
• Risidio: Artist NFT marketplace for supporting charities.
• SEEK: A marketplace for short-term work where workers own their data, history, and reviews.
• Sigle: Write once, read forever. A blogging site where writers own their data and can monetize through subscribers.
• Sustainable Bitcoin Standard: Making Bitcoin carbon neutral. Carbon credits system and certifications for BTC miners.
• Tontine Trust: A tontine pension fund with transparent accounting on the blockchain.
• BlockTech: Higher education diplomas as NFTs to combat diploma fraud in Pakistan.

Last but not least, congratulations to all the teams!

Mitchell Cuevas,
Head of Growth at the Stacks Foundation

If you enjoy this newsletter make sure to subscribe here.

The Stacks Foundation is working with InfStones to design an open source Stacking pool manager for businesses and individuals to create and manage their own Stacking pools.

Having recently launched their own Stacking service just a few cycles ago, InfStones is dedicated to making Stacks more accessible to both institutional and retail clients.

https://twitter.com/StacksOrg/status/1410662177346920455

📄 Bitcoin DeFi: "Stacks Explained" by Dan Held

This is a deep dive on Stacks by Dan Held, Head of Growth at Kraken. Check out his thorough analysis on What is Stacks?, Why Bitcoin?, How to get Bitcoin yield thru Stacks, its future, and more.

https://danheld.substack.com/p/bitcoin-defi-stacks-explained

Check this new open source project from Sigle that shows the latest data from the Stacks Blockchain. Stxsats shows the daily amount of transactions on the STX blockchain and STX unique addresses over time. Take a look at the graphs and if you like the project, spread the word! ⭐️ or contribute on Github or send some STX to stxstats.btc.

https://www.stxstats.co/