Stacks (STX) came under heavy selling pressure on July 25, breaking below the $0.16 support level after an extended period of consolidation.

The decline sent STX to $0.13, a level the token had not reached since mid-2020. The move marked a six-year low for the altcoin. At the time of writing, Stacks was trading near $0.138, down 6.2% on the daily chart.

Binance tag concerns weigh on STX

The latest decline was linked to market concerns over the token’s tag on Binance. The Stacks Endowment acknowledged the issue and said it was in contact with Binance to resolve it, according to a post on X: https://x.com/StacksEndowment/status/2080509995804659950?s=20

The team said the tag change on Binance was likely related to the upcoming PoX-5 hardfork. It added that other major centralized exchange partners had been informed in advance and had moved forward in support.

Exchange labels can matter for token sentiment because they are highly visible to traders and may affect how users assess venue-specific trading risk, even when the underlying project says the issue is procedural or upgrade-related.

According to Reubs, the tag will be removed once Binance completes consensus-level changes: https://x.com/reubs_btc/status/2080602351262670917?s=20

Although the Stacks team sought to reassure the community, the market reaction remained negative as traders reduced exposure to STX.

PoX-5 hardfork scheduled for July 29

The Stacks PoX-5 hardfork is scheduled for July 29. The upgrade follows a successful vote and strong community support for SP 044 and SP 045.

PoX-5 is designed to introduce trustless, self-custodial Bitcoin staking. The upgrade is intended to allow users to earn BTC-denominated yield while keeping their holdings under their own keys.

The feature is central to Stacks’ broader role as a Bitcoin-focused smart contract layer, where developer and user demand often depends on whether Bitcoin-linked applications can offer utility without requiring users to give up custody of their assets.

Three days before the report, the public PoX-5 testnet went live, giving builders an opportunity to test protocols before mainnet deployment. Stacks announced the testnet in an official blog post:

On-chain activity remains weak

Despite the public testnet rollout and anticipation around the upgrade, Stacks’ on-chain activity has continued to decline.

According to Token Terminal data cited in the report, daily active users fell to 1.1k. The network last recorded a user count that low in January 2026.

The drop in usage suggests the upcoming upgrade has not yet kept existing users engaged or attracted new users. Lower network activity can reduce demand for a native token and add pressure to its market performance.

For the upgrade’s impact to become clearer, market participants will likely watch whether testnet activity converts into mainnet usage after the hardfork, including whether applications built around Bitcoin staking attract sustained users rather than short-term launch activity.

Technical indicators show seller dominance

Recent concerns prompted traders to cut exposure, weakening STX’s market structure and adding to downward momentum.

STX’s Relative Strength Index (RSI) formed a bearish crossover and fell into oversold territory. At 23, the RSI indicated that sellers had regained control.

The Spot Buy Sell Volume metric also reflected the shift. Sell volume rose to 4.98 million, while buy volume dropped to 4.24 million. Earlier, buyers had shown relative strength, with buy volume reaching 20.4 million.

With sellers dominating and network demand still weak, the technical levels highlighted in the report included $0.13, $0.10, and $0.16. The report identified $0.10 as a critical support level and $0.16 as the level STX would need to reclaim if pressure from the Binance tag issue eased.