Stacks Ecosystem Becomes #1 Web3 Project on Bitcoin

Hiro, the go-to developer tools company for the builders of the Bitcoin economy, celebrates record growth on the one-year anniversary of Stacks, the blockchain that makes Bitcoin programmable. In just one year, the Stacks ecosystem has gone from 0 to 350+ million monthly API requests, 50,000 Hiro Wallet downloads, 2,500 Clarity smart contracts deployed, and dozens of companies launched. This momentum has made Stacks the largest and fastest growing Web3 project on Bitcoin.

Stacks connects directly to Bitcoin, bringing fully expressive smart contracts to the world’s original blockchain while maintaining Bitcoin’s guiding principles of security and decentralization. Hiro tools make it possible for Stacks developers to unleash Bitcoin’s full potential and create decentralized applications that grow the Bitcoin economy.

"Stacks has seen incredible growth in the last year,"

said Dr. Muneeb Ali, CEO of Hiro.

"As of December 2021, Stacks is the fastest growing Web3 project on Bitcoin, and the tools Hiro has built have powered truly innovative use cases of smart contracts on the world's original blockchain, from Bitcoin DeFi, DAOs, and gaming to expressing Bitcoin culture through Bitcoin NFTs."

In 2021:

• The first-ever fully expressive smart contracts were built for the Bitcoin blockchain, thanks to Clarity, Stacks’ native programming language built in partnership by Hiro, the Stacks Foundation, Algorand, and other ecosystem developers. Over 2,500 smart contracts have been deployed and, according to the annual Electric Capital Report more than 120 developers per month are actively using Hiro tools, including 350+ million monthly API requests.
• The Hiro Wallet, the #1 wallet in the Stacks Ecosystem, saw more than 40,000 downloads in its first year. Through this wallet, users can participate in stacking to earn monthly Bitcoin rewards as well as connect to over 50 applications and services.
• More than 11,000 users earn over 100+ Bitcoin in monthly rewards on Stacks, with over $50 million in total rewards delivered to participants in the Stacks consensus mechanism, which has surpassed $1B in total value locked.
• DeFi for Bitcoin became a reality with:
  • The launch of xBTC – the only wrapped Bitcoin asset secured by the Bitcoin blockchain;
  • Arkadiko’s lending protocols generating over $50 million in locked assets within the first two weeks of launch; and
  • The addition of Lightning decentralized swaps, where users can swap STX for Bitcoin, stablecoins, and more.
• The first projects to launch on Stacks laid the foundation for new innovation. With CityCoins launching in New York City and Miami, over $50 million was generated for city treasuries. Over 140,000 NFTs were minted on Stacks, showing the demand for art inspired by and built for Bitcoiners. Finally, Hiro customers, including Arkadiko, ALEX, Sigle, Layer, and Moonray, collectively raised over $24 million.

"Stacks is the driving force to build a user owned internet,"

said Brittany Laughlin, Executive Director of the Stacks Foundation, an independent non-profit organization that supports Stacks related governance, research and development, education, and grants.

"The Stacks community has proven the incredible potential of smart contracts for Bitcoin, from DeFi to NFTs, city coins to philanthropic efforts, portable identity to new infrastructure, all in a single year. The technology and resources are all here, what happens next is dictated by visionary builders. We can't wait to see what's next!"