Q1 2023: Build, Bitcoin, Repeat

Highlights from 2023

Did you know that Bitcoin has been running 24/7 for 10 years with zero downtime? This durability is just one of the many reasons it is the perfect foundation for the Stacks layer and for builders. And the world seems to (finally) be catching on.

Ordinals shook up the Bitcoin world and helped catalyze a shift back toward a culture of innovation and exploration. Lightning, Stacks, RSK, and other Bitcoin-focused projects and layers were happy to welcome new builders and energy. For its part, Stacks was named the #1 Web3 project on Bitcoin for a second year in a row and crossed some important milestones:

Elsewhere in the ecosystem, Stacks builders led the charge on Ordinals development: Gamma became one of the most popular inscription tools and Ordinals marketplaces, Xverse released wallet and PSBT support, Hiro released an Ordinals Explorer/API and wallet support, while Neoswap and Satoshibles teamed up on Ordinal swaps!

And much, much, more which you will find below. Before you dive in though, here’s a quick plug for three fantastic resources for keeping up with the blossoming world of Bitcoin building:

  • Stacks Snacks: A weekly link roundup of all the biggest Stacks news run by the Comms Working Group

  • Bitcoin Builders Association Newsletter: A weekly roundup covering the biggest news from Ordinals, Lightning, RSK, and Bitcoin in general

  • Bitcoin Writes: A newsletter run by the sBTC Stacks Resident keeping you apprised of all the latest development around sBTC

Congratulations to all of you on another great quarter of progress and thank you to all the incredible builders and leaders that make Stacks such a great community.

Stay Stacking!

— Mitchell & Claire, Stacks Foundation

  • Gamma launched their own Ordinals Marketplace. The Gamma platform now supports Ordinals auctions, allowing users to trade inscribed satoshis peer-to-peer. Read more here.

  • The Hiro platform launched! The platform has everything you need to write, test and deploy smart contracts, directly from your browser.

  • sBTC Roadmap: The sBTC working group shared the work ahead: Growing the Bitcoin Economy: The Road to sBTC.

  • The Stacks 2.1 activation has landed. The cutover for the Stacks 2.1 activation occurred on March 20th. Read more here.

  • The Stacks Accelerator rebranded to the Bitcoin Frontier Fund, doubling down on investing in start-ups building on Bitcoin L1 and Bitcoin layers.

  • Hiro launched their very own Ordinals Explorer to help people discover and enjoy digital artifacts on Bitcoin.

  • Xverse launched SatsConnect, enabling PSBT signing for connecting your wallet to apps.

  • Stacks had strong movement in the market, outpacing the growth of every project over $1B in market cap in March.

Want highlights like this delivered every week? Check out our new roundup of the week's biggest Stacks stories and updates here.

Did we see you at these past events?

Find Stackers at these upcoming events

  • Building on Bitcoin Virtual Event - April 19th: Join us for in-depth conversations and announcements about Bitcoin’s evolution to becoming more than just a store of value.

  • Coindesk Consensus ‘23 Week - April 25th - 28th: Stacks Foundation and Hiro will be returning to Consensus this year in a shared booth, spots 925 and 926 from Wednesday - Friday that week. Stop by, meet Stacks and Hiro folks, get some free merch, and hear all about the latest updates from us. We’d love to meet you. Use Promo code: Stacks25 for a 25% discount. We’re also taking part in three events that week that you won't want to miss: ETH Austin, Stacks Austin Chapter & Hiro Pickleball Mixer, Keep Bitcoin Weird: NFT’s, Ordinals...

  • NFT.NYC Nolcha Event - April 12th: Gamma, Stacks Foundation and Hiro are activating a Bitcoin NFT gallery at Nolcha NFT.NYC’s immersive art exhibition at Art District Live. Attendees will engage with multi-versed artists and creators who boldly mix realities and leverage technology, block-chain based art, web3 native live music, and AI driven installations in a state of the art visually next level 360 degree immersive venue, challenging perceptions of what art can be. Stay tuned for the event registration link on Friday, which can be found on the Stacks events calendar. Learn more here (access code: STACKSNYC).

  • Bitcoin Builders Conference - May 17th: Stacks will be participating in the first Bitcoin Builders Conference, which kicks off Bitcoin 2023 Miami week. This ecosystem-agnostic event will offer developers and innovators strong educational content through hands-on workshops, panels with engineering leaders, and insightful industry keynotes, not to mention the space to test drive the latest development tools.

  • Ordinals Conference & Hackathon - May 18th: Stacks Foundation will be sponsoring the newly formed Ordinals Conference and Hackathon taking place in Miami during Bitcoin 2023. The event will bring together the top builders, projects and investors pioneering the future of digital artifacts. The hackathon will kick off on April 24th.

Sneak Peek at the rest of 2023

Find conferences, hackathons, recurring meetings, and more from throughout the Stacks Ecosystem. You can also submit events on behalf of your organization or local community.

Ordinals. You've been hearing a lot about them lately.

"Ordinals came out of nowhere and they came out at the right time, with the right angle that is igniting interest in the Bitcoin builders culture. They're more than just NFTs." - Muneeb Ali

Ordinals simultaneously validated the market for things like Bitcoin NFTs and solidified the need and narrative for Bitcoin layers, resulting in new organic interest in Stacks This interest also resulted in STX jumping up into the top 50 slot for tokens. The bigger picture? Ordinals are exciting, and the ecosystem has rallied to create a ton of new capabilities around them, but they're just one great example of how powerful Bitcoin layers are.

New Ordinals products from the Stacks Ecosystem:

Ordinals + Stacks Media

  • Creator Of $1.4 Billion Bitcoin Layer 2 Gives Backstory on 98% Jump In Price (Forbes)

  • Muneeb Ali with Laura Shin (Unchained Crypto’s Podcast) on Bitcoin Ordinals

  • Muneeb Ali with Jason Yanowitz (Blockwork’s Empire Podcast) on Bitcoin revival

  • Muneeb Ali with Jason Choi (Blockcrunch Podcast) on Bitcoin Ordinals

  • Muneeb Ali with Imran & Qiao from Alliance Dao (Good Game Podcast) on Bitcoin application era

Unlocking Bitcoin’s Full Potential with sBTC

Looking for the latest, weekly roundup of sBTC updates? Subscribe to Bitcoin Writers - Weekly sBTC Updates. This newsletter provides a weekly glimpse into the Stacks Community's effort to unlock Bitcoin write via sBTC and the Stacks blockchain. Check out more on sBTC below.

Programs + Governance Updates

More ways to get involved