Stacks Skyrockets 3,028% in Annual Revenue Ahead of Nakamoto Upgrade

Stacks, a Bitcoin Layer 2 solution, had major growth over the last year with a 3,386% quarterly and 3,028% annual increase in its revenue, reaching $637,000.

The market capitalization of Stack’s native cryptocurrency, STX, experienced a significant surge of 203% quarterly and an impressive 598% year-over-year, reaching a milestone of $2 billion.

Stacks Q4 Report Reveals 363% TVL Increase

Messari’s “State of Stacks Q4 2023” report pointed to a 363% quarterly increase in total value locked (TVL), which translates to an impressive 773% rise on an annual basis, reaching $61 million. Additionally, the report indicates a remarkable yearly increase in average daily miner revenue by 1,015%, reaching $78,000.

The report highlights Stacks’ prominent position within the Bitcoin Layer-2 ecosystem and its prospects for further growth through the Nakamoto upgrade in April 2024.

As detailed in the project’s white paper, this upgrade promises significant advancements, including accelerated block times, assured Bitcoin transaction finality, the elimination of forking risks, and a decrease in the maximal extractable value (MEV) associated with Bitcoin.

The Nakamoto upgrade is also bringing about the launch of sBTC, a trust-reduced form of Bitcoin that is bridgeable and operable within the Stacks ecosystem. It will align the decentralized finance (DeFi) experience on Stacks with the functionalities offered by other leading DeFi platforms, enhancing its appeal and utility.

Meanwhile, the financial trajectory of Stacks has been propelled by the STX20 Inscription protocol, surpassing the growth metrics of both Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market.

Inspired by Bitcoin inscriptions, specifically the BRC-20 Ordinals, the STX20 protocol has catalyzed a record-breaking level of network activity, with over 10,000 transactions recorded in a single block in December — marking the largest block in the history of Stacks.

Stacks’ Growth in DeFi Platforms and Transaction Volume

The report sheds light on platforms such as ALEX, Arkadiko, and StackingDAO, which brought more growth to the Stacks ecosystem. These platforms contribute to Stacks’s DeFi ecosystem, seeing a 52% quarterly rise in daily transactions and a 65% increase in active addresses, signaling a robust uptick in user participation and interest.

The heightened activity has led to a surge in the urgency among users to prioritize their transactions, resulting in a 400% quarter-over-quarter increase in average transaction fees (measured in STX).

When measured in USD, the average transaction fee saw an even more dramatic increase of 894% quarter-over-quarter. Despite these substantial increases, the average transaction fee in USD terms remained relatively low at $0.25.

In 2024, projects developed on the Bitcoin network are being touted by various industry insiders as a prominent theme within the crypto sector.

Nansen, an on-chain analysis company, has identified this trend as one of its four ‘high-conviction bets’ for the year. Similarly, Hashdex, a Brazilian asset management firm, has highlighted the emergence of the ‘industrial era of Bitcoin,’ pointing it as a key development to watch.