Path to Mainnet: Things to Know Ahead of Stacks 2.0

Ahead of the upcoming launch of Stacks 2.0 on Jan. 14th 2021, we wanted to outline some important information for Stacks holders and others that may be entering the ecosystem for the first time. First of all, thanks for being here. We're so excited for all the rich features and opportunity that Stacks 2.0 holds!

The Stacks 2.0 launch is a hardfork of the network happening over the course of a few days — anticipated ~Jan. 11th to Jan 14th. We've made consistent progress in getting to this point, having reached feature completion of the network on December 15th. We've stress-tested and audited the network and have seen testnet mining competitions with over 800 miners and tons of community contributions and involvement.

UPDATE as of Jan. 11, 2021: See latest launch timelines here.

We're thrilled to be around the corner from mainnet launch, but this is just the start of the journey. To that end, there are a few things we want early adopters of Stacks to keep in mind when upgrading to the 2.0 network, and we've outlined those areas below. Please see the brief summary below and jump to any topic for further details:

Exchanges and Custody Providers: In the process of the hardfork from Stacks 1.0 to Stacks 2.0, users might see some expected impacts on exchange activity and custody providers. You should check with your exchange or custody provider to see how the hardfork might impact those services.

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Apps: You may need to log in and out of apps that you were logged into on Stacks 1.0. App developers are individually responsible for upgrading their apps, and some might take time to fully upgrade. Given ongoing work at Hiro, a small group of apps that subsidize their names through a subdomain registrar will be impacted for a brief period of time upon launch.

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Stacking: We encourage you to register for Stacking as soon as it is live on the network, but keep in mind that the first cycle is to get the network kicked off and will not offer BTC rewards. Stacking rewards are anticipated to start the following reward cycle, roughly ~2 weeks post mainnet launch, approximately at the end of January 2021.

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Wallet: Given network upgrades, we recommend a few paths forward for Stacks holders. As long as you have your wallet seed phrase, your funds are safe and can be restored on the new Stacks 2.0 wallet.

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Exchanges

In the process of the hardfork from Stacks 1.0 to Stacks 2.0, users might see some expected impacts on exchange activity. Users with STX on exchanges or custody providers should refer to updates from respective exchanges and custody providers on how the network upgrade impacts them. You can review what exactly is happening behind the scenes in this forum post on the Path to Mainnet. We're providing all resources possible to make it a seamless experience for exchanges, custody providers, and their users.

Accessing Apps

We're thrilled to begin showcasing what is possible with Stacks 2.0 with demos during the launch event. This hard fork unlocks new features for app founders including Clarity smart contracts, scalable transactions, and building directly on Bitcoin. Through the transition, the Hiro team is making several upgrades to the Stacks login experience. Please see this post for app founders on anticipated changes. As a result of these upgrades, you may be asked to authenticate your Stacks ID and log back into apps at some point. Lastly, we're in the midst of upgrading the subdomain registrar and apps that subsidize names as soon as possible. Multiplayer apps that rely on usernames registered for free with this subdomain registrar may be impacted for a brief time following launch. We're working on it!

Lastly, several apps might be in the process of upgrading on their end. We can't wait for you all to see what has been built and explore this space further, but it's still early days. Follow or connect with your favorite projects in Discord and be patient with them as they work to upgrade.

Earning BTC rewards through Stacking:

Stacks 2.0 blockchain enables Stacks (STX) holders to participate in consensus and earn Bitcoin (BTC). This process of locking STX to earn BTC rewards from the protocol is called Stacking and is a key component of the Proof-of-Transfer consensus mechanism for the Stacks 2.0 blockchain.

Upon launch, STX holders will be able to participate in the first Stacking cycle to test setup. BTC rewards are anticipated to start in following rewards cycle starting around the end of Jan. 2021. During the first reward cycle the network essentially getting up to speed and an anticipated beginning phase for the network.

To participate, STX holders lock a dynamic minimum amount of STX and publish useful information periodically on the network; this process is made easy by our native Stacks wallet and amazing Stacking providers. See Stacks.org/stacking for more info.

The minimum number of STX to participate natively in Stacking are dynamic based on amount of liquid supply that is participating. More details are available in SIP-007.

Stacking thresholds: By end-Jan 2021 approximately 1,006M (1B) liquid STX participation rates are as follows:

• Assume 25% of liquid supply is participating, the min threshold is 70k STX (~62.5k STX rounded up to the nearest 10,000)
• Assume 50% of liquid supply is participating, the min threshold is 130k STX (~125k STX rounded up to the nearest 10,000)

Pooling and services: Users can pool together to meet the minimum threshold using the delegate transactions. For example, third parties like OKCoin, Staked, and others anticipate enabling users to participate in Stacking even if they don't individually own the minimum threshold amount of STX.

Stacks future supply: The Stacks cryptocurrency has a predefined future supply that reaches approximately 1,818M STX by year 2050. See here for data on STX tokens unlocking by block.

Stacks Holdings and Wallets through the transition from Stacks 1.0 to Stacks 2.0:

Prior to Stacks 2.0 mainnet launch, you may check the status of previously purchased Stacks tokens at the Stacks 1.0 Explorer. Upon the launch of Stacks 2.0, you can check the status of Stacks tokens on the updated Stacks 2.0 Explorer (to be released upon launch, available at explorer.stacks.co). Additional wallet-related information is available here.

The launch of Stacks 2.0 will port all of the data and information from Stacks 1.0 to Stacks 2.0, so there is no action required to translate your Stacks 1.0 purchases to Stacks 2.0. Your STX holdings will automatically move to the new network upon launch.

Once Stacks 2.0 goes live, the Stacks 1.0 wallet will not work to send Stacks tokens, only to hold and receive them. You will need to download the new Stacks 2.0 wallet to send Stacks. Upon downloading the new desktop wallet, STX holders will need to restore their holdings from their Stacks Wallet Secret Key, either a 24 word phrase or hardware wallet used to initially set up your wallet.

The current wallet and latest official release can always be found at Blockstack.org/wallet. Until Stacks 2.0 launch on Jan. 14, this URL reflects Stacks 1.0. Post launch, it will redirect to the new version for Stacks 2.0.
The new Stacks 2.0 wallet for testing only is available at Blockstack.org/testnet-wallet.

Past token sale participants might have used a Trezor or Ledger hardware wallet in conjunction with the Stacks software wallet. Both hardware wallets are cross compatible, however, so the seed phrase you used when setting up your Trezor can be used to restore that same wallet on a Ledger.

At the Stacks 2.0 launch, Ledger will be the first and only hardware wallet option. Trezor hardware wallets are no longer supported. The Stacks software wallet offers a software wallet option, but hardware wallets are generally recommended for security. Several other entities in the Stacks ecosystem are working on wallets, like Secret Key Labs, Cerebro Wallet and the Boom Wallet.

Trezor hardware wallet users will have 2 options:

1. [Recommended, Low Risk] Purchase a Ledger (Nano S or X) device and restore it using the same seed phrase as on your Trezor. Then install the Stacks app from the Ledger Live app.
2. [High Risk]: It is also possible to recover your Trezor funds by using a software wallet. Be warned: it is not a recommended security practice to enter your hardware wallet seed phrases to a software wallet. Only use this method if you have removed all other funds from your Trezor device first
   

Note that if you choose to do nothing, your Stacks will remain safe. You won't be able to send your Stacks until you upgrade to the new version of the wallet and recover your wallet from seed phrase OR transfer to Ledger.

In the past, users have needed both STX and BTC to transact on Stacks. Upon Stacks 2.0 launch, only STX will be required for transacting in the STX ecosystem. Folks that held bitcoin in the Stacks 1.0 wallet can still access their Bitcoin via the Stacks 1.0 wallet and are encouraged to send it elsewhere at their convenience.

We're thrilled to be so close to the launch of Stacks 2.0 and for the continued updates to follow. Reminder to sign up for the Stacks 2.0 launch event here. For any additional questions, please see the Stacks Token FAQ.

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