Date: Thu, Dec 18, 2025 at 10:00 AM Eastern Time
Hosted by: Kyle Ellicott - Exec Director for Stacks Asia
Duration: 60minutes
Recording: Towhall https://x.com/i/spaces/1PlJQOQyzAYKE?s=20; Stackies Awards stream https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1YqKDNBOXQoJV?s=20
TL;DR
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Bitcoin yield and self-custody are now the core Stacks thesis
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USDCx launch on Bitcoin marks a historic shift back to Bitcoin-native stablecoins
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Dual staking and trust-minimized BTC deployment
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$27M 2026 operating budget approved
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Infrastructure phase is maturing; product and user activation phase begins
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Governance, transparency, and developer ecosystem materially improving
Kyle — Institutions
Signal: Institutional Bitcoin demand is shifting from passive holding to productive, on-chain yield.
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Returned from Abu Dhabi Finance Week meeting with family offices and venture funds
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Strong interest in Bitcoin as a productive asset, not just store of value
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Participated in #Hashed and ADGM Web3 leaders roundtables
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Discussions centered on regulation, institutional integration, and Bitcoin’s role in future finance
Alex — Roadmap
Signal: Stacks is solving Bitcoin’s long-term fee security problem through L2 programmability.
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Bridge UI/UX overhaul underway at bridge.stacks.co
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sBTC bridge adopting the same unified design language
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Long-term goal: one app for all Stacks bridging
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Five-phase roadmap toward trust-minimized Bitcoin DeFi
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Dual staking enrollment planned for Q1, keeping $BTC on L1
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Focus on native BTC yield, scalable payments, privacy, liquidity, and full Bitcoin DeFi
Muneeb — R&D
Signal: Self-custodial Bitcoin yield has become an institutional requirement.
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USDCx launch marks stablecoins returning to Bitcoin via a leading L2
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Received a public shoutout from Jeremy Allaire - CEO of Circle on this launch
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R&D roots trace back to post-Nakamoto planning
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Feedback from OG and whales Bitcoin holders emphasized self-custody above all
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Breakthrough on trustless / self‑custodial Bitcoin deployment - call for ongoing community and builder feedback before any big marketing push
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Bitcoin staking demand driven by treasury companies under public company earnings pressure
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STX positioned as “staking capacity” for Bitcoin deployment via bonding curve
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Stressed the need for a clear value accrual mechanism to $STX token as Bitcoin enters the staking product.
Rena — Endowment Treasury & Operations
Signal: Capital efficiency and on-chain deployment now define treasury strategy.
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Treasury committee approved $27M operating budget for 2026
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Additional 25M STX allocated as working capital for DeFi deployment
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New grants program launching with defined tracks and rolling applications
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2-week decision time frame commitment for grants
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New accelerator underway involving treasury committee members
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Endowment deploying on-chain to AMMs, lending, and perps
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Endowment Transparency: Monthly office hours for accessibility and feedback and annual reports planned
Andre — Product
Signal: Stacks is transitioning from infrastructure delivery to product expansion.
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One-year anniversary of sBTC on mainnet
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Major Q4 achievements:
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USDC launch
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Dual stacking shipped
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Clarity 4 released
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Sub-5 second transaction settling with high uptime
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Q1 and beyond 2026 roadmap:
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Lending, yield products, upgraded DEX models
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Wormhole integration
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Self-custodial staking with unilateral exit
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Continued SBTC bridge improvements
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Rick — Marketing
Signal: Bitcoin-native yield is the core narrative for the next growth phase.
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Incentive campaigns planned around USDC adoption
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Outreach beyond the Stacks ecosystem via KOLs and sponsorships
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Narrative positioning: “Earn Bitcoin on your Bitcoin without giving up control”
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SEO content, tutorials, and KOL network ramping
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STX Legion community amplification program underway
Claire — Foundation & Governance
Signal: Governance is becoming more transparent, structured, and accessible.
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ballot.gg adopted for structured on-chain voting
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Community governance updates led by HeroGamer almost daily on the Stacks Forum
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SIP-000 refinements underway led by Jesse Wiley
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SIP tracker launching via ZeroAuthority
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“Ecosystem Directory” planned for early 2026
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Multiple SIPs expected to reach community vote in Q1
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Goal: “Stronger Governance through better tools”
Kenny — Developer Resources
Signal: Focus shifting from tooling alone to builder success.
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New developer sourcing via Talent Protocol partnerships
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DoraHacks competitions producing strong new teams
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Major Stacks documentation revamp led by Eric
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New programs focused on Founders’ soft skills: messaging, branding, and user acquisition
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Stacks Ascent (invite-only traction program) and *new ”Stackers” (builder hub) launching
Jakob — Hermetica
Signal: Bitcoin yield products are moving from theory to production.
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Launching hBTC, a noncustodial Bitcoin yield product
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Two independent security audits completed
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Alpha rollout begins next week
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Fully transparent on-chain positions
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Single BTC transaction for deposits and withdrawals
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Targeting 10%+ APY at launch
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Waitlist live at hermetica.fi website
Hadan — ALEX DeFi Protocol
Signal: Clarity 4 unlocks next-generation DeFi primitives on Stacks.
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Trading Pool v2 with AMM upgrade live
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Cheaper and more reliable smart contract swaps
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Permissionless token self-listing coming
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Concentrated liquidity engine under development
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2026 focus on Clarity 4 security-driven contract upgrades
Reubs — Indie Builders
Signal: Grassroots innovation across the ecosystem remains strong.
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Highlights from Buenos Aires hacker house and DeGrants
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Shoutout to projects spanning AI, payments, gaming, tooling, and media
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STX Legion, DeOrganized Media, and community growth initiatives
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STXTools rebranded to Tenero with multichain vision
Sarala — Developer Tooling & Infrastructure
Signal: Core infrastructure is scaling to meet ecosystem demand.
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Chainhook 2.0 beta receiving strong adoption
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Platform now supports editable chainhooks and secret management
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Production launch planned for January
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New database-as-a-service launched providing access to “the Stacks API database”
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Powering USDC data and APIs
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API v9 (breaking change) coming with major performance gains. Will require Genesys sync for anyone who’s running the API
Muneeb — Closing
Signal: Bitcoin infrastructure is finally ready for large-scale, self-custodial adoption.
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Market downturns historically refocus attention on Bitcoin
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This cycle includes stablecoins, speed, yield, and programmability
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Self-custody seen as final unlock for large capital deployment
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Lean execution prioritized under current market conditions
Kyle — Outro
- Recognition of all ecosystem contributors over the year of 2025
- Call transitions to the 2025 Stackies Awards hosted by Brandon and Kate → 2025 Winners announcement - Watch Awards playback here
Merry Christmas everyone!
