Hey Stackers, in addition to recent releases and improvements you see in the wild, our team at Stacks Labs is also always looking ahead and conducting both technical and market research to ensure Stacks stays ahead of the curve and brings the market what it needs. Today, I will preview:
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The latest R&D, Product, and Go-To-Market plans being developed by our team, key builders, and other core Stacks contributors.
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How these designs and plans serve Stacks’ North Star in a thoughtful sequence
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Probable next steps and invites to more deeply engage with the latest plans and research
Prelude: Momentum begets momentum, begets resources
If we are strategic in our sequencing of major releases in 2026, we can maximize short and longer-term opportunities, bringing the market what it needs as it needs it. In the short-term, these releases will support driving more BTC to Stacks through self-custodial Bitcoin Staking, followed by features that make Stacks increasingly sticky and valuable to BTC holders such as payment tooling, privacy features, and increased smart contract capabilities.
Stacks’ North Star
Stacks exists to provide the functionalities that Bitcoin itself doesn’t (and shouldn’t) have, while not compromising the principles that make Bitcoin valuable. As we head toward 2026, that mission remains as true as ever. Bitcoin has shifted from being the world’s first cryptocurrency to being its neutral store of value. In 10 years, we predict it will only further entrench itself as a dominant global financial instrument and asset, but only if it overcomes key challenges. Key challenges we believe Stacks is best suited to support and solve.
First and foremost, The Bitcoin economy needs to be unlocked and importantly, needs to thrive in a way that keeps key elements of it on Bitcoin itself. This has been the crux of the Stacks hypothesis from early on. Today, though, Bitcoin’s network is being cut out of Bitcoin’s growth. Users and institutions buy Bitcoin through custodians, ETFs, or on private ledgers, and work around Bitcoin’s lack of scalability, privacy, and programmability by moving their activities off-chain.
Fewer on-chain transactions will lead to fewer fees and to weaker mining incentives, which will erode what makes Bitcoin valuable in the first place. Bitcoin’s technical stability and reliability have allowed it to stand the test of time and to become the ledger that custodies billions of dollars. However, because of its resistance to (good and bad) changes, it is unlikely that Bitcoin will implement the features required to reverse this trend and see transactions return on-chain, nor is it likely Bitcoin alone will be able enable critical growth drivers in DeFi (especially yield opportunities that are table stakes in other ecosystems).
Default Bitcoin Rails
By being the conduit that brings Bitcoin’s growth back to its network, Stacks will become the Bitcoin rails that will eventually process millions of daily transactions. Stacks will meet Bitcoin users where they are with the capabilities they need without compromising on Bitcoin’s custody and sovereignty.
A winning Bitcoin layer must enhance Bitcoin’s scalability, privacy, and programmability while maintaining security and safety. Such a layer should provide the following characteristics:
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Native BTC yield: Allow value accrual to Bitcoin holders leveraging that layer through a safe Bitcoin-denominated yield.
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Bitcoin-grade safety: Allow Bitcoin holders to transfer, spend, or program their coins while making the fewest possible trust assumptions. Bitcoin users should always have a safe and reliable way to unilaterally exit the system.
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Fast, scalable, low-cost payments: Easily, reliably, and near-instantly send and receive payments. Bitcoin-denominated transactions should feel the same as when on the most performant payment rails.
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Privacy: Allow users to transact privately and to selectively disclose holdings or transactions (e.g., for regulatory/compliance purposes).
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Deep liquidity & institutional integration: Provide ubiquitous access across exchanges, custodians, wallets, payment processors, etc. to unlock institutional participation and network effects.
What it means for Stacks in 2026 and Beyond
As Stacks continues progressing as a protocol, we are circling the following progression to break this grander vision into tangible, market-aligned steps for 2026:
Leading with Self-Custodial Bitcoin Staking
Stacks will offer BTC holders a safe, self-custodial BTC-denominated yield that can increase depending on the level of risk (either custodial or STX-exposure) the holder is willing to take on. The self-custodial Bitcoin Staking product will extend the sBTC dual stacking program, simultaneously attracting and anchoring long-term, high-value capital and allowing users to earn Bitcoin yield through a combination of locked Bitcoin (on the L1) and STX (on the L2). Economics planning is already underway with experts and key DeFi leaders.
Advancing beyond Bitcoin Staking with a focus on:
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Scalable, trust-minimized payments: Payments are the highest-frequency driver of daily - transactions and a sustainable long-term way to generate fees and distribute them to Stacks miners. Upcoming work will ensure that payments on Stacks feel better and easier to use than anything currently available, while providing comparable safety guarantees paired with an improved UX. Bitcoin holders will retain custody of their coins while able to transfer them on Stacks, unlocking improved scalability and reduced costs.
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Compliant privacy options: Privacy is both a fundamental human right and a key feature that is missing from Bitcoin. Institutions and retail users alike are interested in features that allow them to better manage their Bitcoin while protecting their financial history, business strategies, or other sensitive information.
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Trust-minimized Bitcoin DeFi: Throughout, the ongoing pursuit is to remove (where possible and otherwise reduce) the trust assumptions required to interact with smart contracts.
Of course, Stacks will continue to upgrade the network throughout so that it can scale and provide the first-class UX required for Stacks to power the Bitcoin rails for hundreds of thousands of users.
The Latest R&D Is…
Exciting, rapidly evolving, and most importantly, aligned to both the fundamental areas Stacks can support Bitcoin, as well as the short-term the signals the market is giving us. Right now, it’s clear that holders want to leverage their Bitcoin in yield opportunities and DeFi in much greater numbers if the Bitcoin can be (self) custodied at the L1. The latest designs directly tackle this and are already being tested with light implementations!
In addition, Core Developers and tokenomics experts have been putting together designs and modeling for the next iteration of Dual Stacking, possible privacy features, designs that would further reduce smart contract risk, and even pathways to smooth, super scalable transactions.
What’s next?
It’s time to get your feedback on these designs and the overall sequencing of work for 2026. If you’re a part of various open calls and working groups, you may have even already heard or seen early versions of these materials. We now want to have more structured sessions with builders and users as we work toward more final designs and ultimately a whitepaper and other resources in early 2026. Below, you will find scheduled sessions where you can get hands-on with Core Devs to peek at the latest designs, offer your feedback, and openly discuss any key tradeoffs.
Join an upcoming hands-on session to learn more and provide your input:
Jan 16, 2026: Self-Custodial Bitcoin & Beyond [Public]
Stacks is the leading Bitcoin L2 and together, this community can play a critical role in Bitcoin’s future while further building out the Stacks Ecosystem and the ways it serves and is symbiotic with Bitcoin.