1. Beginning of the Nakamoto Upgrade Process
2. Changes and Improvements to Stacks Protocol
3. Community Reaction and Current Status

The leading Bitcoin layer-2 network, Stacks, has announced the commencement of the Nakamoto upgrade, aimed at enhancing functionality and integration with the base blockchain.

Beginning of the Nakamoto Upgrade Process

According to a press release, Stacks began the Nakamoto Activation Sequence on August 28. The process involves four key steps: final code delivery, upgrade period for network operators, core developers selecting the final hard fork, and the Hard Fork Block for full implementation of Nakamoto rules.

Changes and Improvements to Stacks Protocol

The Nakamoto upgrade is named after Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of the Bitcoin network. It introduces several improvements to the Stacks protocol, including increased transaction speed, stronger transaction finality guarantees, reduced Bitcoin Miner Extractable Value opportunities, and enhanced network resilience against blockchain reorganizations. Muneeb Ali, co-creator of Stacks, commented: "Bitcoin is the most exciting place to be building applications right now. Bitcoin L2s are becoming the future. The Stacks Nakamoto upgrade will be a catalyst for builders on other chains to make the jump to Bitcoin and its L2s, with Stacks leading the way. Think of this activation as building Solana-type rails that will help decongest the Bitcoin L1 while allowing the Bitcoin economy to scale on the L2."

Community Reaction and Current Status

It is worth mentioning that the Stacks community approved the Nakamoto upgrade in mid-March, and it went live on the protocol’s testnet later that month. The Stacks Foundation intends to celebrate the Nakamoto Activation Sequence progress with daily surprise updates and giveaways for the next 21 days. Meanwhile, Stacks’ native token STX has not reacted positively to the upgrade news. According to CoinMarketCap data, the token has seen a drop of 14% in the past 36 hours, priced at $1.6 at the time of writing, down from over $1.8 earlier this week.

Layer-2 networks like Stacks enhance Bitcoin’s scalability and execute faster and more cost-effective transactions, increasing the network’s utility and programmability. As Bitcoin evolves from digital gold to an economic ecosystem, Stacks believes new use cases and significant capital will be unlocked, creating a new wave of BTC-based applications.