Stacks (STX) is an NFT ecosystem that utilizes the best of two worlds; it’s secured by the Bitcoin network while also on Bitcoin that leverages the scalability of the Ethereum network.
Bored Ape or pixelated Punk, there’s no denying the NFT movement & market roared to life in 2021. Although the mainstream is still not ready to embrace the technology, they have at least been able to notice it. For the most part, Ethereum (ETH), alongside the powerhouse marketplace OpenSea, has reaped the majority of the cash flow, eyeballs, and market-share — followed closely by the Solana (SOL) network.
Yet over in a much smaller part of the space, another blockchain is hosting a sub-renaissance of sorts: reviving, as it’s come to be known, the “digital-rock,” Bitcoin. An L-1.5 called Stacks (STX), is behind a recent flurry that “brings” NFTs to one of the most established chains.
There is a lot of debate about the technical implementations of STX. With obvious storage constraints like the block size, it’s not accurate to say Stacks allows for building on top of Bitcoin as much as Stacks is secured by Bitcoin.
Perhaps not so surprising, this debate has attracted the ire both of the majority of Ethereum-ites and the small but vocal Bitcoin Maxi crowd — many of whom ridicule altcoinery and bitcoin-affinity marketing. It’s ironic that Blockstream employees who work on the Liquid Network (which is a great product by itself) are the ones receiving the most criticism.
If the past few months are any indication, Stacks has clearly ignored these criticisms & done what every developer-heavy project should do best: built.
Stacks (STX) NFTs: A Quick Look
Courtesy of the StacksOnChain data analytics site, a quick overview of the last few three months paints a picture of relatively fast-paced NFT activity:
50+ Projects Have Launched On Over 3 Marketplaces
5+ Projects Have Now Raised Over $100K Through Mints
1 Project Has Now Crossed $2M In Secondary Sales
For a chain that only fully launched (or re-launched, depending on your perspective) in early 2021, this flurry of Q3 on-chain activity is nothing to scoff at. Although Ethereum and its L2’s (Polygon etc..) undoubtedly surpass the NFT activity at Stacks, it is worth considering the momentum Stacks has enjoyed in onboarding both more conservative maxi-Bitcoiners and competing Eth/Sol users:
# Of Active Stacks Addresses Since 2.0 Launch
The number of active Stacks addresses jumped from a weekly average of ~150 active addresses to a magnitude of growth (~1,500 weekly average) from May 2021 to November 2021. This 10x has garnered attention outside of a tight-knit Stacks community.
Who makes up the current ecosystem of technology?
The Stacks Ecosystem
Stacks is more diverse than Ethereum, which is heavily dominated and controlled by one marketplace. The Stacks ecosystem has three main marketplaces. The launched collections are similar to other chains and vary in quality and community. We’ll be quick to introduce you to the three core marketplaces as well as a few of the most popular collections.
First alphabetically is the brainchild duo Obsidian.btc and Plutus.btc. Although the market volume is lower than the other markets, Byzantion has recently updated its front-end and launched new features like the ability to shop on all three markets.
Stacks Arts is the market leader in volume (by a large extent), and positions itself as the marketplace for high-curation. The selection process is a bit hazy due to unclear guidelines and an unknown founder. Those who make it through the process usually have a mint-out, followed by heavy secondary market sales.
Incontrovertibly the most powerful SEO name brand, STXNFT is second in market volume but built the perfect mousetrap. STXNFT was first to allow users to view all NFTs under a single address. But, even more important, Jamil.btc, the sole founder of STXNFT, allowed users to transfer NFTs easily from one address to the next.
These features are not only unique to STXNFT, but also allow you to mint NFTs in other Stacks tokens like MiamiCoin & the recently launched NewYorkCityCoin.
The Top STX NFT Collections
Now that we have the marketplaces in place, let’s get into the most popular collections within the Stacks ecosystem. There are many other projects, but we have chosen to focus on the most popular.
As you can see, Megapont Ape Club or MAC (as it is known on Twitter) is the dominant gorilla in this room. With $2M in market sales volume in under a month & a heavy presence on all three marketplaces, they’re the most heavily traded NFT on Stacks. It’s easy to see why they are #1. They have some amazing pixel art and a fascinating roadmap (both below).
AMC #1215 & #1634 — Currently Going For 2,450 STX & 2,460 STX Respectively
A graduate of the Stacks Accelerator, The Explorer Guild is the NFT fund-raising mechanism for theSigle writing platform. Sigle, a web3 competitor to Medium hosts blogs and pays writers in BTC. While MAC has a run-away amount of trading volume, The Explorer Guild holds the record for the most mint volume coming in at a total of $500K.
The Explorer Guild also packs its NFT full of utility, such as a premium newsletter or custom domains. Sigle ensures that Explorer Guild owners receive continuous value.
Explorer #514 & #1406 — Currently Going For 100 STX & 100 STX Respectively
Abraham Finlay, a passionate ornithologist, is the creator of
Bitcoin Birds. A 12-year-old with a fervor for taking care of his winged friends, Bitcoin Birds aspires to be a feel-good collection.
With a very tight supply of only 400 birds (versus ~2,500 collection size of the other three), Bitcoin Birds was one of the earliest projects on Stacks to successfully mint out in a matter of hours. Bitcoin Birds has a wonderful charity-driven mission and real-world positive effects on its roadmap, such as their First Wildlife Project.
Bitcoin Birds #367 & #343 — Currently Going For 2,600 STX & 2,000 STX Respectively
Named after the Bitcoin Honey Badger meme, this last collection is a collection giffy Badgers that reminds of Cool Cats art-style.
Badger 224 — Currently Going For 750 STX
This team is focused on the metaverse angle, as evident by their roadmap, Discord and Twitter activity. Bitcoin Badgers appear to be making progress in this space, starting with 3D models and ending with an immersive virtual Reality NFT gallery. Only time will tell if they move towards a Somnium Space/Decentraland competitor.
Interestingly, despite the strong secondary sales, Bitcoin Badgers is the only collection in this list with an unfinished mint (per itswebsite, the 2nd & final half start around Dec. 3rd/4th).
Final Thoughts: How Stacks (STX) is Bringing the NFT Revolution to the King
Understandably, the numbers mentioned short seem diminutive relative to the latest Beeple or Bored Ape Yacht Club sale, yet it’s worth stressing that Stacks is an ecosystem worth watching. Recall that this activity is within the first seven months of launch & amidst a particularly bad USA on-boarding process (listed on a single exchange with a 10-day withdrawal period– OkCoin).
Stacks is not perfect. A single search will yield salient counter-arguments, from introducing its token (aka Bitcoin) to having a VC presale. It’s still in its infancy stage and right in the middle two great principles: the stability of Bitcoin and the increased flexibility of Ethereum.
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XCN defies Bitcoin and Ethereum slump with 97% spike
Onyxcoin (XCN) has risen 97% in the past 24 hours as altcoins enjoy massive buying pressure. The XCN price bucks the trend that saw Bitcoin and Ethereum down after notable gains a day earlier. Tariffs and other market conditions weigh on investor sentiment. Onyxcoin (XCN) has defied a dip for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and top altcoins…
Onyxcoin (XCN) has risen 97% in the past 24 hours as altcoins enjoy massive buying pressure.
The XCN price bucks the trend that saw Bitcoin and Ethereum down after notable gains a day earlier.
Tariffs and other market conditions weigh on investor sentiment.
Onyxcoin (XCN) has defied a dip for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and top altcoins with an impressive 97% over the past 24 hours.
In a price rally that put it on top of the daily gainers’ list, XCN shot up to an intraday high of $0.017.
The performance bucks the downward pressure that has seen Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) pare gains from a day ago with dips below $80k and $1.5k, respectively.
XCN price performance
The XCN token’s standout performance sees it outpace Flare, Kaspas, and Walrus, among other notable gainers.
According to data from CoinMarketCap, XCN is currently trading at $0.017, with its volume up 1,230%.
The token’s market, though tiny at $531 million, is up 97% and puts Onyxcoin in the top 100 by market cap.
XCN has flipped Floki and CORE, which currently rank 100th and 99th by market cap, respectively.
Onyxcoin’s massive spike comes despite a broader risk market downturn in the past 24 hours.
BTC, ETH, and other coins’ dip has seen the global cryptocurrency market cap drop by 3.9% to $2.52 trillion.
Volume is down 20% to about $127 billion as crypto mirrors losses on Wall Street.
Overall market outlook
Crypto and the stock market rose sharply on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump changed his tariffs stance.
His announcement of a 90-day pause sent risk assets skyrocketing, with Bitcoin’s price breaking to above $82k.
S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial jumped, rising by historic single-day gains.
However, the S&P 500 and Dow opened lower on Thursday and looked to close lower with 3.2% and 2.4 %, respectively.
Dow was down more than 900 points.
On Thursday, Trump announced an additional 25% tariff on China, bringing this to 145%.
After excluding it from the 90-day pause, analysts say the trade war will continue to hurt optimism.
This looks to be the case as stocks sold off despite the latest inflation report that showed CPI dropped to 2.4% against an expected 2.6%.
While this sees many turn to the Federal Reserve for expectations of interest rate cuts, analysts are pointing to “sticky” prices and tariff impact for likely pressure on equities and crypto. Analysts point to a potential bull trap.
“I’ve never seen such a mass selloff of US assets. The US dollar, bonds, and stocks are all getting killed. I can’t remember when the dollar lost 3.5% against the Swiss franc in one day. America’s ride on the global gravy train is about to come to a screeching halt. Buckle up.”