Stacks

What is Stacks?

Stacks is a Bitcoin Layer 2 designed to bring smart contracts and decentralized applications to Bitcoin.

Instead of modifying the Bitcoin protocol itself, Stacks provides a programmable layer where developers can build applications while using Bitcoin as the underlying settlement layer.

Stacks blocks are anchored to Bitcoin, enabling the network to benefit from Bitcoin finality. Through Stacks, developers can build DeFi applications, digital assets, payments, and other on-chain services around Bitcoin.

The native token of the network is STX, which is used for transaction fees and plays an important role in Stacks' Proof of Transfer (PoX) consensus mechanism.

How does BTC staking and STX staking work on Stacks?

At the center of Stacks is a consensus mechanism called Proof of Transfer (PoX). Instead of using Proof-of-Stake, Stacks connects its block production process directly to Bitcoin. Stacks miners commit BTC for the opportunity to produce Stacks blocks and receive newly issued STX and STX transaction fees. The BTC committed through this process is distributed to eligible STX holders participating in Staking.

This creates an economic link between the two networks:

• Bitcoin → Proof of Transfer → Stacks → smart contracts and applications
• PoX therefore reuses an existing Proof-of-Work asset, BTC, as part of the consensus process rather than creating a conventional Proof-of-Stake system.

Why is Stakin by The Tie a great choice for Stacks?

Stakin by The Tie provides institutional-grade blockchain infrastructure designed around reliability, security, and operational performance. Advantages of working with Stakin by The Tie include:

• Triple AAA-rated institutional staking provider by Staking Rewards
• ISO 27001 certified staking provider
• Reliable infrastructure distributed across multiple geographical locations and leading bare-metal and cloud providers
• 24/7 infrastructure monitoring and alerting
• Dedicated support for network, infrastructure, and staking-related questions
• Institutional-grade SLAs for dedicated infrastructure services
• Extensive experience operating infrastructure across leading blockchain networks

What kind of institutional services does Stakin by The Tie offer for BTC and STX?

Stakin provides institutional-grade infrastructure services designed for organizations participating in the Stacks ecosystem, including asset managers, company treasuries, exchanges, VCs and hedge funds, wallets, custodians, and other digital asset businesses. Institutional clients can benefit from:

• Institutional-grade SLAs with 99.5%+ uptime guarantees for applicable infrastructure services
• Dedicated infrastructure tailored to institutional requirements
• A dedicated Account Manager for technical and commercial support
• 24/7 infrastructure monitoring and alerting
• Private dashboards for dedicated and white-label infrastructure
• Geographically distributed infrastructure designed for reliability and resilience
• Technical support throughout deployment and ongoing operations