Stacks Roadmap
Meet the new home of the Stacks Roadmap, a community-driven set of strategies and priorities for the leading Bitcoin L2.
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Recommended Reading
Gain deeper insights into the Stacks Roadmap with these posts expanding on key strategic elements of what's ahead for the leading Bitcoin L2.
  • Learn how Stacks contributors think about the various dynamics that come into play when designing Stacks’ key systems as well as their commitment to developing in secure, sustainable ways that prioritize Stacks builders, economy, and ecosystem.
  • sBTC strategy is inextricable from the Stacks network, asset, and ecosystem. Read more about how builders and contributors leverage design principles to strike a balance between competing forces and needs.

  • As the ecosystem takes several Bitcoin products to market in 2025, traction is the name of the game. The ecosystem is rallying to support new efforts to help builders grow and has proposed other new areas for further investment.
  • Stacks Core
Block production and speed
The need for fast, consistent transactions is table stakes for any top ecosystem. Both speed and throughput are critical areas of research and development that will see an increased focus for core contributors as the ecosystem scales, building off progress since the release of Nakamoto and sBTC.

What Core Developers are working toward:
  • Short-term: Achieve consistent <10s transaction times through ongoing network optimizations, block replication between Stackers, and read/write constraints.
  • Long-term: Stacks will become the fastest Bitcoin L2 on the market, putting it in line with speeds on other top ecosystems — all while prioritizing robustness, decentralization, and overall security with 100% Bitcoin hashpower. Active R&D on further performance increases is underway — future designs and their timelines will be informed by the needs of builders.
Leads, Links, etc.: Bitcoin L2 Labs, Hiro Systems, Stacks Foundation

# ongoing #
Clarity & Wasm
Core developers are working a new version of Clarity and the ability to compile to Wasm, aiming to remove technical debt and lay the groundwork for future improvements. The Wasm compiler is expected in Q3 2025 and is expected to provide benefits and improvements to transaction throughput, smart contract efficiency, app performance, as well as lay a foundation for additional runtimes.

Work is also going on to make Clarity easier to work with and enable better Bitcoin integration, among other improvements. A longer formal proposal covering Clarity work is expected in June 2025.
Leads, Links, etc.: Hiro, Bitcoin L2 Labs

# in progress #
Stacking Improvements, Ledger Live
There are several major improvements on the horizon for Stacking. Contributors and key ecosystem partners are evaluating how to simplify Proof-of-Transfer and Stacking to make a simpler, higher yield experience for both individuals and pool operators.

Stacking improvements for users:
  • Allow any holder to delegate directly to a signer and automatically be pooled, reducing the number of transactions pools need to make each cycle.
  • Stacking would automatically renew each cycle until manually halted, removing the need to choose a time period up front or run stack-extend.
  • Current one-cycle “cool down” period would be removed, allowing Stackers to freely switch between pools or stacking methods without any financial penalty.
Leads, Links, etc.: Forum post, Friedger, Hiro Systems

# area of exploration #
Stacking improvements for pool operators:
Pool operations for Stacking can be difficult, resulting in fewer pools operating and limits to user experience in some areas. Alum Labs, an sBTC and Stacks signer with expertise in staking systems has been working on a number of upgrades and tooling that will not only streamline pool operations, but also play a role in unlocking integrations like Ledger Live. These improvements include:

  • Stacking Pool Rewards Calculator & Rewards Distribution: Tracking system for number of stackers, stacking amounts, accepted delegations, aggregation commits, etc.
  • Standalone application with REST API service: API endpoints for relevant pool data
  • Integration capabilities for pool operators' websites
  • Stacking Pool Rewards Distribution with Fee Dedication Mechanism
  • Stacking Software Development Kit
This work will also result in the ability for pools to operate in a fully decentralized manner where the rewards are distributed as sBTC.
Leads, Links, etc.: Alum Labs

# in progress #
Ledger Live integration:
Work to enable SIP-010 support on Ledger and Stacking inside Ledger Live has been underway for some time. Contributors are working with Ledger to respond to changes in how staking is enabled through their platform with the goal of making various Stacking options available natively in Ledger Live.
Leads, Links, etc.: Zondax, BD Working Group

# in progress #
Miner Transaction Replay on Bitcoin Reorg
Builders requested adding a feature to the default Miner binary to have the miner replay transactions that were orphaned by a Bitcoin reorg to be included within the next tenure. This replay feature is fully designed and actively under development. The mechanism is now is implementation stages.
Leads, Links, etc.: Bitcoin L2 Labs, Hiro Systems, Github Tracker

# in progress #
"PoX 5"
PoX is a key differentiator for Stacks, so the consensus mechanism is something Core Developers are always open to improving or adjusting to best enable use cases on top of Stacks. While there is not current design proposal, work going into some of the Stacking improvements above could result in the need for an upgraded version of PoX nicknamed PoX 5.
# area of exploration #
  • sBTC
Satoshi's Upgrades: Preview technical advancements and designs for Stacks and sBTC [Check them out]
sBTC Withdrawal Functionality
The ability to withdraw BTC from sBTC was the most urgent unlock for downstream integrations, listings, and further growth. It was enabled as part of sBTC's phased rollout on April 30, 2025.
Leads, Links, etc.: Bitcoin L2 Labs, Announcement

# completed #
Improved custody support for sBTC
A key unlock for sBTC adoption lies in onboarding institutional users who hold large portions of latent Bitcoin capital. Stacks is uniquely positioned to serve this audience due to its long track record, performance, brand value, and strong institutional relationships. Builders will benefit greatly from the influx of institutional capital, but many institutional investors who are eager to access Bitcoin DeFi on Stacks are unable to participate on-chain due to compliance and fiduciary constraints. They require qualified custodians not just for the sBTC, but also for their underlying BTC that was pegged in. Enabling institutions to deploy BTC capital in the Stacks ecosystem will be a top focus for Bitcoin L2 Labs in Q2 2025.

Several custody providers have already been onboarded to support sBTC (BitGo, Hex Trust, Copper, ForDeFi) and additional work is being done to ensure capital can be deployed directly from qualified custodians.
Leads, Links, etc.: Bitcoin L2 Labs

# in progress #
Driving STX value with future network upgrades
Due to its unique architecture, Stacks is positioned to attract millions of users and significant BTC capital by enabling a superior user experience, low-cost transactions, and native Bitcoin yield opportunities.

To ensure long-term sustainability, builders and product leaders agree that as adoption accelerates, value accrual mechanisms should evolve in parallel. Growth in usage must directly benefit the Stacks network, its ecosystem participants, and the STX asset to keep incentives aligned and support continued expansion.
Leads, Links, etc.: Bitcoin L2 Labs, Stacks Economic Model

# in progress #
Here are some of the areas of exploration for future value accrual related upgrades:
🔸 Dual Stacking - Aligning BTC and STX Incentives
Dual Stacking is a mechanism that would allow users to stake BTC, STX, or both to earn BTC-denominated rewards via the PoX mechanism. While BTC holders could earn a small base yield by holding just BTC, they would need to also hold STX in a significant proportion to their BTC to maximize their earning. Learn more
🔸 sBTC Yield Mechanisms (In progress)
As TVL grows, sBTC needs compelling native yield. Work is underway to explore potential expansion of on-chain yield opportunities. An example could include programmable BTC vaults that offer scalable yield products on Stacks. Programmable BTC vaults are plug-and-play Bitcoin yield products that would enable users to deposit BTC and earn yield through modular, composable strategies — unlocking a powerful mechanism for scaling Bitcoin-native DeFi. Learn more
🔸 Protocol Revenue: Simplifying UX and Aligning STX Value Capture
One of the UX barriers for Bitcoin holders using sBTC is the requirement to hold and use STX for transaction fees. For a Bitcoin-native audience, the need to acquire and manage a separate token just to move BTC is unintuitive and adds friction during the onboarding step. If we want to reach millions of Bitcoin users, we must meet them where they are — with an experience that feels native to BTC.

Fee abstraction offers a powerful solution. Under this model, users pay gas fees directly in sBTC. Behind the scenes, the protocol automatically converts those fees into STX, paying the actual transaction fee to the miners while capturing the additional fee as protocol revenue.

This preserves the integrity of the Stacks economic model while unlocking a smoother user experience. Developers gain the freedom to build wallets and apps that feel Bitcoin-native, while the underlying protocol mechanisms continue to drive demand for STX through every transaction. Learn more
Toward Trustless sBTC
It is crucial to remain at the cutting edge of protecting the underlying Bitcoin capital as we push forward new use cases for deploying more and more BTC on Stacks.

Core developers have been exploring how sBTC can be upgraded to be fully self-custodial, combining unique aspects of Stacks with design breakthroughs that would further reduce the trust assumptions of the protocol. These designs would enable users to retain unilateral control over their underlying BTC while also providing better trust-minimization guarantees for the underlying BTC on the L1.

Details on these updates are coming out shortly as a litepaper. These upgrades go hand-in-hand with the focus on value accrual to STX as they can enable more BTC capital to be trustlessly deployed and used on Stacks.

In progress:
  • Qualified custody support (more above)
  • Self-custody: Much of the current research involves methods to remove the core custodial risk that underpins nearly every wrapped BTC model in existence today. Unlike systems where a federation or signer group intermediary holds Bitcoin, a fully trustless model maintains the underlying BTC in self-custody, wherein the user can unilaterally withdraw their sBTC to BTC. There is already a design proposal for such sBTC upgrades for when sBTC is held in L2 wallets of the user and used in L2 payments. For details, see the upcoming litepaper.
  • “Bitcoin Post-Conditions” build in the same direction, looking into designs that allow users and developers to combine the programmability of the L1 and the Stacks L2 for an effect that meshes self-custody with DeFi utility. For example, a user would be able to define conditions under which the underlying Bitcoin on the L1 is allowed to move, much like post conditions at the Stacks layer, but for the L1. This means that even if a smart contract behaves unexpectedly or is compromised, the BTC will remain safe as the conditions defined at the L1 were not met.

Areas of Exploration:
Outside of the above-mentioned areas like self-custodial sBTC and Bitcoin post-conditions there are a few areas that core developers are doing some exploration. These include:
  • BitVM: Core contributors remain aware of BitVM’s progression and will explore possible implementations for Stacks should it present a faster path to market than other paths currently under exploration.
  • Data Availability: Stacks currently only stores hashes of L2 data on the Bitcoin L1 and not full data. With advancements in ZK and other proofs, it remains an open area of exploration if Bitcoin L1 can be used as a full Data Availability (DA) layer for Stacks. With full data availability on Bitcoin, anyone can independently verify Stacks blocks and reconstruct the state of the L2. Such approaches can have some negative impacts on speed and currently core developers are optimizing for L2 speed over other things, but continue to monitor progress for Bitcoin DA use.
Leads, Links, etc.: Learn more about these designs

# research & development #
The Satoshi Upgrades
Many of the updates for sBTC and Stacks covered above are interrelated and interdependent. As such, some core contributors have collectively dubbed them the 'Satoshi Upgrades'. These are upgrades to both Stacks and sBTC will ensure Stacks remains the leading Bitcoin L2 with sBTC becoming entrenched as the most secure programmable Bitcoin asset. Designs include paths to increased security, liquidity, TVL, and user growth, while enabling new use cases alongside ever-improving trust assumptions for the underlying BTC.
Leads, Links, etc.: Preview of the 'Satoshi Upgrades'

# research & development #
  • Ecosystem Growth
Stacks TVL, Liquidity & DeFi Growth
All versions of Stacks' future depend on healthy Stacks DeFi. Builders and core contributors are collaborating on a builder-led DeFi growth plan that has already helped Stacks achieve a TVL high in April. Efforts have resulted in over $20mm+ deployed into strategic DeFi apps in the past 3 months.
Stacks is on a path for $1B in TVL in DeFi. Efforts are underway to reach $250mm by the end of Q2 2025, including:

  • LP Incentives
  • Incentives for larger institutional
  • Incentives for Builders to grow their protocols
  • TGE readiness for the ecosystem
  • SIP 010 Asset support on exchanges
  • Onboarding an on-chain Market Maker
  • Stablecoin liquidity in Stacks apps

sBTC TVL (Cap 3 & Beyond)
Work has been underway on efforts to bring in sBTC since the end of 2024, notably resulting in the previous two caps being filled. Contributors have also helped enable the flow of sBTC into Stacks apps by developing and facilitating relationships with sBTC holders. sBTC minters include major players in the space such as Jump, UTXO, SNZ, and more.

The next milestone is Cap 3, allowing another 2,000 BTC into the protocol, before opening the system fully. The Stacks Asia Foundation has partnered with Taptive, SNZ, LunarCrush, and others to push forward sBTC TVL growth as part of an inter-ecosystem initiative targeting the first 21,000 sBTC.
Leads, Links, etc.: Stacks DeFi WG, Trust Machines, Stacks Asia Foundation, Taptive, DeFi Growth Roadmap

# in progress #
Centralized exchange listings (sBTC, SIP-010)
With sBTC withdrawal functionality live, only lifting the cap remains a blocker to centralized exchange listings for sBTC. Contributors are working to leverage the interest in sBTC to potentially ease listings for Stacks builders with listable tokens, given sBTC utilizes the SIP-010 standard. As sBTC is listed, Stacks teams with tokens should work to present a compelling case to exchanges to secure listings or launch TGEs.
Leads, Links, etc.: BD Working Group

# in progress #
Interoperability (Bridges)
Interoperability is key for sBTC to improve liquidity and allows users and developers from other chains to access Stacks-based apps and assets, expanding the potential user base far beyond the native ecosystem. For Stacks, this means greater relevance, network effects, and long-term value capture.
Stacks will integrate with:

  • Axelar (expected in Q3)
  • Additional yet to be disclosed Tier-1 bridge (expected in Q3)
Leads, Links, etc.: BD Working Group, Bitcoin L2 Labs, Learn more

# in progress #
BNS
The protocol hopes to create standardizations for Zonefiles so more wallet address types, social links, and other metadata resolve in the same Zonefile by the DNS. This will accelerate BNS integrations across a variety of partners (wallets, exchanges).
Leads, Links, etc.: BD Working Group, Strata Labs

# upcoming #
Stablecoins
Tier 1 stablecoin availability and liquidity are a key unlock for Stacks DeFi. The ecosystem is currently rallied around a bridged USDC asset and a Bitcoin-backed stablecoin asset (USDh) to show momentum in DeFi growth. We’re in the implementation stages with a Tier 1 for canonical deployment.
Leads, Links, etc.: BD Working Group

# in progress #
Wallet Integrations
Additional wallet integrations offer a clear path to Stacks user growth. There are discussions with several large players that can be accelerated with further capital. Further, a deal is being finalized with one of the industry's leading wallet platforms, funded by the Stacks Foundation. The protocol serves tens of millions of users - an announcement is expected in early June 2025.
Leads, Links, etc.: Stacks Foundation

# upcoming #
Grants, Marketing, & Incentives
A proposal covering additional resources for a global Stacks marketing function, further builder grants, DeFi and user incentives, and other growth efforts is expected before June 1, 2025. Ongoing programs from the Stacks Foundation remain, while the Marketing WG is currently organizing builder growth campaigns with many of the leading teams in the ecosystem.
# upcoming #
Activate the Bitcoin economy with the leading Bitcoin L2

The Stacks Roadmap is determined by the community via workshops, forum posts, Stacks Improvement Proposals and more that establish builder and user needs. It is intended to be updated regularly as new information is available. It is not intended to cover every ongoing project, but seeks to capture widely impactful work and the long-term vision for key aspects of the ecosystem.
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