stacks beginner's guide part 1

Stacks has already been around since 2017. It’s a layer 2 built on Bitcoin. However, it hasn’t been until recently that it caught the spotlight. The Ordinals are a Stacks product. They are the first NFTs on Bitcoin. As a result, their STX token pumped over 160% during the last 30 days.

So, let’s take a closer look at what else Stacks has to offer. Stacks is part of our Altcoin Buzz portfolio. We update this portfolio every month. You can check out this link to our recent video update. Here’s a good introductory video to get you started.

STX Use Cases

The STX token has three major use cases. In general, you can say that it unlocks Bitcoin. However, let’s get a bit more specific. For example:

  1. It fuels the Stacks network – For using the network apps, you pay a small fee. You pay this fee in STX. In turn, this fee ends up with the miners, as a reward for their work. For example, maintaining and updating the network’s state.
  2. Earn rewards by stacking – Yes, stacking. It’s like staking since you lock up your tokens and receive rewards for doing so. Stacking also secures the network, since it supports the unique Stacks’ consensus mechanism. A consensus mechanism achieves security, trust, and agreement in a decentralized network. The APY is up to 10% and paid in BTC.
  3. Use it in the ecosystem – This can be DeFi, NFTs, or Dapps. You can use the STX token in all these spaces.

However, be aware that you need specific STX token friendly wallets. For example, Hiro Wallet, Xverse, D’CENT, or Boom Wallet. The picture below shows tools and utilities in the Stacks ecosystem.

Stacks Network

Source: Stacks ecosystem

How to Bridge STX Tokens

There has been talk of adding the Stacks’ blockchain to Allbridge and Orbit Bridge. However, none of them have so far materialized.

Multichain is the way forward in blockchain, and Stacks is apparently on to it. This opens up DeFi for the STX token. Nonetheless, there’s no EVM bridge supporting the Stacks blockchain. Or any other blockchains that connect to Stacks, for that matter.

So, to get the STX token into the Stacks’ network, you will need to install Hiro Wallet. Now you can send The STX token from a centralized exchange, like Binance, to the network.

However, there is a StacksBridge. This only allows bridging NFTs. To use this bridge, you need a MetaMask and a Hiro Wallet. With the current popularity of Stacks, we can expect new bridging options for tokens. Best is to keep an eye out on their Twitter account for updates. Below is a picture of the StacksBridge UI.

Stakcs Network

Source: StacksBridge

How to Use Stacks’ Explorer?

The Stacks’ explorer works like other blockchain explorers. If you are familiar with Etherscan, then you won’t have issues with using this explorer. Stacks’ explorer is even easier to use and read.

You can add wallet addresses or transaction hashes into the search box. In turn, the explorer will show you relevant search results. So, for instance, for a wallet, all transactions from this wallet. For a transaction hash, it will show you the status of the transaction.

For example, under the transaction menu, you can find confirmed and pending transactions. Under the blocks’ menu, you find all recent blocks. If you like to use the Sandbox, you must sign in with your Stacks Wallet.

This explorer works for two networks, the mainnet and the testnet. So, to summarize, this explorer has an easy-to-use UI. It makes navigating this explorer simple and straightforward. See below a picture of the explorer.

Stacks Network

Source: Stacks Explorer

Conclusion

In this beginner guide Part 1 for Stacks, we covered three topics. The STX use cases, bridging STX, and its explorer. In Part 2, we cover another three topics. We have other Stacks-related articles yo can see to know about this very interesting L1 blockchain. (1 and 2)

The current STYX price is $0.747679. Its market cap is $1 billion. The max supply is 1.818 billion STX tokens. Out of these, 1.366 billion STX tokens already circulate.

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