Stacks blockchain
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{{Short description|Bitcoin smart contract platform}}Stacks, formerly Blockstack, is a Bitcoin layer-2 blockchain.
History
The Blockstack project was originally founded by Muneeb Ali and Ryan Shea in 2013. By 2017, Blockstack locked in two additional funding rounds totalling $4 million. In 2017, Blockstack went on to launch an initial coin offering (ICO). BlockStack PBC (now called Hiro PBC) was the first to launch a SEC qualified token offering in July 2019. The start-up spent almost a year to ensure they met the SEC qualifications.{{Cite news |last=Vigna |first=Paul |date=2019-07-11 |title=SEC Clears Blockstack to Hold First Regulated Token Offering |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/sec-clears-blockstack-to-hold-first-regulated-token-offering-11562794848 |access-date=2021-06-22 |work=Wall Street Journal |language=en-US |issn=0099-9660}}
In October 2020 the community rebranded Blockstack to Stacks.
With the introduction of the Stacks Blockchain 2.0 on 14 January 2021, Hiro PBC revoked their sole control of the network.{{cn|date=June 2025}} Due to this, the Stacks token could no longer be viewed as a security under SEC Regulation A+ qualifications and filed an exit report.{{Cite web |last=Chavez-Dreyfuss |first=Gertrude |date=7 December 2020 |title=Blockstack's Digital Currency 'Stacks' to Be Tradable in U.S. Once New Blockchain Arrives |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/technology/articles/2020-12-07/blockstacks-digital-currency-stacks-to-be-tradable-in-us-once-new-blockchain-arrives |work=U.S. News|agency=Reuters}}
Design
At its inception, Blockstack aimed to offer solutions to the problems of internet privacy, security and data breaches (especially in cloud storage).
{{cite news |last=Singh |first=Harminder |date=1 October 2017 |title='New internet' looks to keep user data away from tech giants and bypass China censorship |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/2113521/new-internet-looks-keep-user-data-away-tech-giants-and-bypass |newspaper=South China Morning Post}} Blockstack perports to offer users greater choice in what data they share with other users and applications.{{cite news |last=Fung |first=Brian |date=23 March 2018 |title=The new technology that aspires to #DeleteFacebook for good |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/03/23/the-new-technology-that-aspires-to-deletefacebook-for-good/?noredirect=on |newspaper=The Washington Post}}{{cite news |last=Dillet |first=Romain |date=5 September 2018 |title=Stealthy wants to become the WeChat of blockchain apps |url=https://techcrunch.com/2018/09/05/stealthy-wants-to-become-the-wechat-of-blockchain-apps/ |newspaper=TechCrunch`}}{{cite news |last=Simonite |first=Tom |date=5 March 2018 |title=The Decentralized Internet Is Here, With Some Glitches |url=https://www.wired.com/story/the-decentralized-internet-is-here-with-some-glitches/ |newspaper=Wired Magazine}}
CityCoins
In 2021, the CityCoins project launched fungible tokens for the cities of Miami and New York City.{{Cite news|last=Brown|first=Dalvin|date=2021-09-30|title=Crypto tax: 'MiamiCoin' has made the city $7 million so far, a potential game-changer for revenue collection|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/09/30/crypto-miamicoin/}}{{Cite news|last=Chen|first=Elaine|date=2021-11-03|title=Eric Adams Aims to Make NYC Crypto-Friendly With Coin Similar to Miami's|language=en-US|work=Bloomberg|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-03/mayor-elect-eric-adams-to-explore-nyc-coin-similar-to-miami-s}} In September 2021, Miami's city commissioners voted to accept the protocol treasury,{{Context inline|date=November 2021}} valued at $21 million at the time.{{Cite news|last=Greely|first=Brendan|date=2021-11-03|title=MiamiCoin, a currency without sovereignty|language=en-US|work=Financial Times|url=https://www.ft.com/content/f2907890-c2da-4959-bc39-589ada847b0a}} MiamiCoin's value crashed, and so Stacks donated $5.25M to the City of Miami.{{Cite web |last=Benavides |first=Cristian |date=February 3, 2022 |title=Miami Announces It Cashed Out Some MiamiCoin as Crypto Markets Are Down |url=https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/miami-announces-it-cashed-out-some-miamicoin-as-crypto-markets-are-down/2680613/ |access-date=2022-04-13 |website=NBC 6 South Florida |language=en-US}}
As of March 2023, Bloomberg was reporting that CityCoin was facing a "quiet demise" as liquidity issues and a lack of interest caused both the New York City and Miami coins to be delisted from the OkCoin cryptocurrency exchange.{{cite news |last1=Wanna |first1=Carly |title=Miami and New York's Crypto CityCoins Meet Quiet Demise |url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/personalfinance/miami-and-new-york-s-crypto-citycoins-meet-quiet-demise/ar-AA18U7y1 |access-date=8 April 2023 |work=MSN |agency=Bloomberg |date=21 March 2023}}