Stacks Plans Monthly Bitcoin Bonding as Epoch 4.1 Targets December

Stacks expects to open Bitcoin (BTC) bonding periods every month in Q4 while expanding ways to use staked BTC in applications. The network is also preparing Epoch 4.1, an upgrade targeted for early December that would make Clarity 7 the default for new smart contracts.

The first two bonding rounds brought in about 735 BTC. The Genesis Bond stood at 230 BTC at quarter-end, and Bonding Period 2 added 505 BTC on Oct. 8. Stacking DAO accounted for 483 BTC of the second round. The first two bonding periods brought in about 735 BTC, setting a base for the next phase of the program.

Stacks expects the monthly schedule to continue through 2026, with each period planned to have more capacity than the last. Bonding Period 3 is expected to open around Nov. 10. In each bond, participants lock BTC on Bitcoin’s base layer and commit the Stacks token (STX) on the Stacks network; the STX commitment determines their capacity in the staking system.

STX staking also grew as the bonding program expanded. The amount staked rose from 392 million STX after the PoX-5 hard fork to 493 million after Bonding Period 2, an increase of more than 25%. That figure tracks STX committed to the system, while the 735 BTC total counts Bitcoin brought in through the first two bond periods.

The Q4 roadmap includes self-custodial borrowing against staked BTC, Earn vaults and expanded stBTC integrations with Zest Protocol, Bitflow and Hermetica. stBTC is a liquid-staking token representing BTC in the system that can be used in Stacks applications. On Oct. 15, its supply was 636 BTC, and 97% of that amount was posted as collateral on Zest Protocol.

Epoch 4.1 is planned to include fixes and improvements to Clarity alongside the change to Clarity 7 as the default for new contracts. Stacks plans to announce the activation block height at least 30 days ahead, giving exchanges, node operators and signers time to prepare. The next expected bond opening is around Nov. 10, with the upgrade targeted for early December.