As Bitcoin pushes down crypto markets today, Stacks (STX) has slipped 5%. However, Stack’s core fundamentals are improving, putting it on course to be among the altcoins to rebound once the market turns green again.
Stacks is a Bitcoin layer-2 platform that opens up the Bitcoin ecosystem by allowing people to use BTC as collateral for loans and settle transactions on the original blockchain for decentralized apps. With more than $1 trillion of value locked in its protocol, Bitcoin is the most significant, most valuable, and most secure decentralized asset ever created.
Because of its high fees and slow transaction times, using it as collateral or settling applications on top of it is largely impractical. By integrating Stacks as a layer, investors believe there’s up to $500 billion worth of potential in Bitcoin DeFi.
One lesser-known strength is that Stacks always knows everything about the Bitcoin network at all times. That’s because Stacks uses a proof-of-transfer consensus mechanism. Stacks can always access all valid information about every transaction everyone has ever made using BTC.
Portal DeFi Now Supports Stacks
While these strengths guarantee Stacks long-term growth, in the short term, there is a host of other news that could uplift this high-potential altcoin.
🟧 @portal_finance announces support for Stacks and sBTC on Portal Cross-Chain DEX
Portal DeFi is a premier liquidity hub for DeFi built on Bitcoin, committed to providing access for layered assets built on Bitcoin.
Activate the Bitcoin economy with the leading Bitcoin L2 🧡 pic.twitter.com/RVU6KTdY53
— stacks.btc (@Stacks) April 9, 2024
One is Portal DeFi’s announcement today that it would support STX and synthetic bitcoin (sBTC) on its Cross-Chain Decentralized Exchange. This is a big deal in enhancing the use cases for Stacks as it seeks to open up the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Total Value Locked Is On The Rise
Another indicator of Stacks growing adoption is the rising Total Value Locked (TVL). The latest reports show that TVL has grown from $55m to $187m since the start of the year. This 240% increase in value locked suggests more people are using Stacks to perform smart contracts with BTC collateral.
Since the start of the year, @Stacks‘ TVL has grown from $55 million to $187 million, marking a 240% increase.
Additionally, a recent shift in mindshare has onboarded over 142,927 new accounts in Q1, driving a record number of transactions to the platform. pic.twitter.com/mAQ53wMmNk
— Satoshi Club (@esatoshiclub) April 9, 2024
The protocol witnessed unprecedented growth during the first three months of this year, as fresh data shows. Stacks Q1 data reveals it registered a record-breaking influx of 142,927 new users and saw hundreds of new projects launched on its network.
In addition to boosting transaction volumes and TVL, these launches likely helped STX’s price appreciate from under $1 to over $3 year-to-date.
Nakamoto Release Is Coming Up
Looking ahead, there is even more big news for Stacks investors. Stacks Nakamoto Release will take place between April 15 – 19. This is a big deal as this is the same period when the Bitcoin halving will happen; hence, demand for cryptocurrencies will be high.
Nakamoto is set to enable finality within seconds and offer a range of other Layer-2 features. The idea is to make Stacks even more usable, which is perfect news ahead of an event that precedes parabolic price rallies – the Bitcoin halving.
STX Is Listed On Major Exchanges
The best part is that Stacks is easily accessible on most top cryptocurrency exchanges, such as Binance, UpBit, and Coinbase. This means in an environment of FOMO that is likely to follow the BTC halving; Stacks is expected to attract more retail money than most altcoins.
Analysts believe that with all these factors at play, a Stacks breakout through $10 is likely in the coming days.
In the section below, we do a Stacks price prediction to determine how it could trade today.
Stacks Crypto Price Prediction
When going to press, Stacks was trading at $3.12, down by 5.66%. Like much of the broader market, trading volumes were down too. Volumes had dropped by 6% in 24 hours to stand at $112.03 million.
Stacks has been on a downtrend for the better part of the last 24 hours. This is mainly driven by Bitcoin, which has been in a minor correction in the previous 24 hours. However, Stacks has found strong support at $3.114. If this support holds, Stacks could bounce back, with $3.5 as the key target intra-day.
The Case For A Bullish Reversal
Stacks is currently in a buy zone around $3.11, and bullish momentum is rising around this price level. This is an indicator that a bullish reversal could be underway. The trigger to this is FOMO around the upcoming Stacks upgrade that is set to coincide with the Bitcoin halving. This and the integration into Portal Finance make the case for a Stacks rally, especially if Bitcoin has a bullish reversal today.