New York, New York, July 30th, 2026, Chainwire

Stacks has successfully activated the PoX-5 hard fork at Bitcoin block 960,230, establishing the protocol-level foundation for Bitcoin Staking. The network upgrade was completed without interruption, and core contributors verified the activation through post-upgrade checks. The activation represents the most significant change to Stacks' Proof of Transfer consensus mechanism since the network's mainnet launch, moving the Bitcoin Layer 2 protocol closer to its goal of enabling decentralized finance natively settled on Bitcoin.

Signers, node operators, and major exchange partners—including Binance—completed their migrations ahead of the activation. The Stacks network is now operating under the new PoX-5 consensus rules, with ecosystem contributors continuing their planned rollout.

PoX-5 is the first release in the Satoshi Upgrades, a series of protocol upgrades that Stacks core contributors will detail in the coming weeks. The upgrade arrives amid growing interest in Bitcoin-native DeFi, a sector that has gained traction as Lightning Network adoption, Ordinals, and Bitcoin Layer 2 projects have demonstrated expanding use cases for the base asset beyond store-of-value holding.

Block production continued consistently throughout the upgrade, with signers transitioning to the new consensus rules without disruption. Staking pool operators are currently completing their migrations and expect stakers to be able to restake well ahead of the upcoming cycle. No staking rewards were lost during the transition.

With PoX-5 now live, the protocol foundation for Bitcoin Staking is in place. The upgrade enables Bitcoin holders to earn self-custodial BTC yield through Bitcoin Bonds while preserving existing rewards for STX-only stakers. Unlike custodial lending models that require users to surrender control of their Bitcoin, Bitcoin Bonds are designed to keep participants' BTC under their own custody on Bitcoin Layer 1, pairing it with STX on Stacks to generate yield denominated in BTC. The upgrade also simplifies the staking experience by removing cooldown cycles and streamlining pooled participation, creating infrastructure for the next phase of Bitcoin-native finance.

"PoX-5 marks the first step in anchoring Bitcoin capital to Stacks, and I'm excited to see the network successfully transition as we look ahead to the first institutional Genesis bond. PoX-5 is an important first move as we share more details on the broader vision behind the Satoshi Upgrades later in August."

— Muneeb Ali, Founder, Stacks

PoX-5 introduces Bitcoin Bonds at the protocol level, allowing eligible participants to pair BTC held on Bitcoin Layer 1 with STX on Stacks to earn self-custodial BTC yield. Participation will begin through a phased rollout, starting with the institutional Genesis Bond. Broader access will follow through selected staking pools as capacity expands. The phased approach mirrors strategies used by other Layer 2 networks when introducing new economic mechanisms, allowing core contributors to monitor participation and network behavior before opening access more widely.

Additional rollout updates, network health data, and Bitcoin Staking resources will be published on stacks.co as new milestones are reached.

About Stacks

Stacks is growing Bitcoin by turning idle Bitcoin into productive capital. The network enables self-custodial Bitcoin yield and a growing ecosystem of Bitcoin-native financial applications that settle on Bitcoin. Learn more at stacks.co.

Media Contact:

Shannon Voight, Stacks Labs — [email protected]