What's Happening in Stacks?
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What’s Happening in Stacks?
A weekly update for all things Stacks. While not exhaustive, this list best captures Proof of Research’s top signals for the week. Each tweet is the beginning of a thread and worth a deeper dive.
SHOULD THE COMMUNITY FOCUS ON GROWING THE xBTC TOKEN?
Jake Blockchain raised a provocative question to the Stacks community, should we move from STX to xBTC as the predominant unit of account in the Stacks ecosystem? Jake has expanded his podcast to include the greater Bitcoin community. In discussions with Bitcoiners, Jake learned many think STX is a competing currency. To anyone in the community this is laughable. STX is a gas token powering the bitcoin economy with an added benefit of ~8% BTC yield if one decides to stack their STX in support of the network. However, there is a perception problem amongst the Bitcoin community. Should the Stacks community focus more on xBTC, Lightning integrations (i.e., LN Swap), and projects like Magic Protocol (Bridge BTC to xBTC) in hopes that these choices change the perception of Stacks and its STX token? Is this a giant waste of time? This thread runs down a few interesting rabbit holes.
ALFA DROP: HIRO HINTS AT A STACKS & LIGHTNING COLLABORATION
Alex Miller, CEO of Hiro Systems (Hiro builds developer tools for Stacks so you can build apps for Bitcoin), hints at an important Stacks-Lightning collaboration. Wen? Likely very soon!
IS A TOKEN NECESSARY TO SCALE THE BITCOIN ECONOMY?
Trevor & Ruben Somsen get into a debate about the “morality” of a token. Bitcoiners using this vector of attack against Stacks isn’t new. Frankly, this conversation has become pretty boring. One thing PoR has looked for but not discovered is a document or tweet thread specifically debunking each one of the usual attacks against Stacks. PoR sees independent members of the Stacks community engage in debate but there is no organized effort to push back and go on the offense. The Cory Klippsten debate showed the slightest tinges of strong community pushback.
There are a series of mantras/memes routinely used by Bitcoin maximalists as a weapon to stifle legitimate debate about Stacks. It would be very helpful to have a series of memes and easy to use mantras to negate these attacks. PoR believes an organized response will shift the narrative to more legitimate discussions like “why Stacks?” or “why RSK?” instead of “shitcoin” “scammer” “affinity scam” “pre-mine” “[fill in the blank w/ mindless maxi epithet]”. Maybe this is an initiative PoR will undertake in order to move the conversation forward.
Brian Harrington agrees with PoR. We need more discussion (Spaces, Tweet threads, Substacks, etc.) specifically debating each one of these “issues” why Stacks cannot be the smart contract layer for Bitcoin. The arguments for Stacks are so strong on a fundamental level that in a fair debate they rise to the top. PoR would love to see these counter arguments in weekly Spaces conversations.
DAVID MARCUS LOOKING TO BUILD ON BITCOIN?!
Former PayPal & Meta leader, David Marcus, announced his interest in building on Bitcoin. No one knows how or what specifically, but judging by all the famous ETH-only accounts reply-guying this was an absolutely massive narrative win for Bitcoin. In typical Muneeb fashion, he saw the opportunity to make the case for Stacks without specifically shilling Stacks. Read the thread for more detail.
STACKS GRANTS UPDATE AND CONVERSATION WITH KYLE ELLICOTT, WILL.BTC, & BRITTANY LAUGHLIN
This Twitter Spaces discusses all the changes to the Stacks Grants program for everyone in the Stacks community moving forward. The conversation was in response to this great discussion:
Also, a bit of sunshine on the amount of treasury and how it is being maintained from the Stacks Grants team. This is really great to know and PoR appreciates the team being transparent about the token allocation and where it stands today.
STACKS ADVOCATES/GRANTS
As part of the greater Stacks Grants program there is a new program called “Stacks Advocates” that allows creators in the Stacks community to earn xBTC for their weekly contributions to the community. Follow the instructions and get paid in xBTC for your contribution to better the Stacks community. This is a great grassroots initiative for community members to get started. PoR contributors plan to use this program as it grows in size and scope. This is a great initiative for bottom-up marketing and information providers to get their start!
BYZANTION EXECUTING THE MULTICHAIN THESIS
Byzantion has onboarded another up-and-coming blockchain community into its NFT platform, the NEAR protocol. Is this the first in a series of small blockchain acquisitions? If so, this will be a unique strategy to watch for Stacks awareness and adoption.
PRIVATE TELEGRAM GROUP FOR FOUNDERS OF STACKS COMPANIES
Stacks community’s resident Viking, Ragnarly.btc, proposed a private Telegram group for all founders of Stacks companies in order to “explore partnerships, share tips, discuss fundraising, rant, etc”. Muneeb is in. This is definitely going somewhere. Join if you’re a founder of a Stacks company.
RYDER
Ryder announced its new handle ownership service for its social wallet. Invited communities include .mega, .crashpunk, .satoshible, .stacksparrot, .citycoins, .fren, & .bitcoinmonkey. PoR is very excited to see how this initiative evolves. You may even see .PoR handles coming soon!
You’re doing a great job with this. Very enjoyable read.