Re: CAB feedback on the Bitcoin Staking SIP
Jason @whoabuddy , thank you for the review - responses to your thoughts are below, along with proposed changes that we think should be made based on it and the comments from others.
1. Pre-authorization vote: removed from the SIP entirely.
You asked for either the companion specification to be published before the vote or for this element to be decoupled. We agree that the current construction asks voters to approve a process we don’t have the details for yet, so we are removing the pre-authorization mechanism from this SIP altogether. The reserve remains accrual-only during PoX-5, and disbursement remains possible only through consensus. We do not expect the reserve to be needed during the bootstrap phase. If that expectation proves wrong, a standard SIP with full community review would govern any access. A complete reserve model will be designed and ratified as part of the PoX-6 work.
2. Activation timing: July 29 target, editor review resolved before voting, block heights communicated closer to activation.
The standard practice with prior SIPs (that I’m familiar with) has been to set a target date (in this case July 29, 2026) and then pick the actual activation block height ~2 weeks before it given the variability of when Bitcoin blocks can arrive, and we’re proposing using the same system here. Additionally, the open editor review will be resolved before the voting window opens with the specific activation block heights will be published closer to launch, once the vote outcome and Bitcoin block drift allow them to be set precisely.
3. Economic CAB review: yes.
Confirming that yes, the SIP was also going through the Economic CAB for formal review and a vote.
4. Emissions: changed from permanent to provisional, with a reassessment at PoX-6.
While we did spend a lot of time on modeling different rates and made the proposed adjustment to 1,000 STX based on that (including modeling both what was required to deliver a successful program as well as how it would affect the market and viability of Stacks), the whole point of the PoX-5 period is to gather economic data that lets us lock in the long term model for PoX-6.
As part of that, your structural point is accurate and we should be clearer that the 1,000 STX emissions is provisional during the bootstrap phase and that we will conduct an updated economic study based on observed PoX-5 performance to evaluate what the ideal emission rate is long term and have that reviewed by the Economic CAB before PoX-6. This is being added to the SIP.
5. Rollout expectations: publishing the bootstrap ramp.
You raised the empty reserve and the low-coverage scenario in the early window. Beyond what is already documented in the SIP, we’ll have a staged rollout (as discussed with the community): during the first cycle after activation, rewards flow to STX-only stakers and the reserve tranche only, with no BTC bonds happening. Bonding kicks off with the Genesis Bond period, expected late August, at 100 to 200 BTC with institutional participants to provide feedback. At that scale, the large majority of rewards continues flowing to STX-only stakers and the reserve, which means the reserve will fill. Bonding Period 1 is expected to follow in September, and capacity scales gradually from there. Coverage obligations grow only as the reserve and the data mature.