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𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬 (@Stacks ) 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐐𝟑 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐦 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 During Q3, stacks moved Bitcoin Staking from a plan into a live product. 𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱 On July 30, PoX-5 went live. It introduced 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐨𝐜𝐨𝐥 𝐛𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬, pairing BTC timelocked on Bitcoin L1 with STX locked on Stacks as staking capacity. After the upgrade, stakers had to restake under the new contract. Staked $STX rose from 392M shortly after the transition to 448M by the end of Q3. On September 10, Stacks opened its first Bitcoin Staking bond, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒔 𝑩𝒐𝒏𝒅, with a 230 BTC capacity. It filled that capacity. After Q3, Bonding Period 2 opened on October 8 and brought in 505 BTC. Together, that’s about 735 BTC across the first two bonds. The report names 21shares, HashKey Cloud and UTXO Management among the early participants. Sypher Capital also took part, through Stacking DAO’s liquid-staking route. With Bonding Period 2, staked $STX reached 493M,more than 25% above the post-PoX-5 baseline. That figure includes the period that began after Q3, so the timing is worth keeping clear. Stacking DAO launched 𝐬𝐭𝐁𝐓𝐂 in September and took its full 483 BTC allocation in Bonding Period 2. With liquid staking, BTC is bonded and stBTC gives holders a liquid route into applications across Stacks. By the time of the report, stBTC supply stood at 636 BTC, with 97% posted as collateral on Zest Protocol. Zest reported more than $122M in deposits and $42M in total borrows. Weekly DEX volume on Stacks reached $16.7M in the week of September 28, its highest level in 12 months. Bitflow’s HODLMM handled more than $280M in swaps during Q3. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 these developments give Stacks a stronger foundation: - Bitcoin Staking brings BTC into the ecosystem - stBTC gives holders a liquid route into applications and , - protocols like Zest and Bitflow provide places to lend and trade It’s an encouraging start toward a more connected Bitcoin economy on Stacks and Q4 gives the ecosystem a chance to build on that momentum. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 Q2 was about building the foundation. PoX-5 moved through private and public testnets and entered audit ahead of mainnet. Stacks announced Fireblocks as an infrastructure partner and UTXO Management as an inaugural staking participant. The Q2 report recorded 1,601,594 cumulative actively used wallets and said Bitflow had passed $5B in cumulative transaction value. For Q4, the report points to monthly bonding periods through the end of 2026, with capacity growing each time. It also highlights deeper stBTC integrations and more ways to put BTC to work. Epoch 4.1 is targeted for early December. Self-custodial borrowing against staked BTC is on the roadmap; it’s a future development, not a broadly available product today. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟯𝟬 Muneeb Ali’s plan for Stacks through 2030 focuses on three frontiers: 𝑩𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒐𝒊𝒏 𝑪𝒂𝒑𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒕𝒔, 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒄𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕-𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒖𝒎 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚. Q3’s clearest connection is to Bitcoin Capital Markets: building ways for BTC to earn yield, serve as collateral and be used in financial applications while remaining tied to Bitcoin. The wider vision is for BTC to earn, be borrowed against and transact privately on Stacks, with activity settled to Bitcoin. Privacy and post-quantum security are longer-term goals, not Q3 achievements. They are part of the same effort to make Bitcoin finance more useful and prepare for future institutional needs and security challenges. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗜 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 What encourages me most is seeing the pieces start to work together: Bitcoin Staking is live, stBTC is being used in applications, and Zest and Bitflow are seeing activity across lending and trading. That gives Stacks something real to build on in Q4. There is still plenty to prove, but this feels like meaningful progress and a clearer step toward the longer-term vision for Bitcoin on Stacks. Am looking forward to seeing what the ecosystem does next. If you believe Bitcoin should be able to do more than sit idle, take a look at what Stacks is building. It’s working toward more ways for BTC to earn and take part in financial applications, while keeping that activity connected to Bitcoin. That is a future worth following. Full report: stacks.co/blog/q3-2026 @Stacks $STX