Stacks Bond 3 Sells Out as BitGo Announces Custody-Based BTC Staking

Stacks’ third bond for Bitcoin (BTC) staking sold out in November, highlighting a use for its native token, STX, while BitGo announced a separate custody option for select institutions.

Bullish and 21shares participated in Bond 3, and individual holders also joined through pooled staking. Under the current structure, participants timelock BTC on Bitcoin and lock STX on Stacks worth 5% of the staked BTC’s value. The bond term is about six months.

The first two bonds had drawn about 735 BTC by Oct. 15. Bond 2 accounted for 505 BTC, paired with more than 6.7 million STX. Those figures predate the November sellout of Bond 3.

BitGo announced Nov. 3 that eligible institutional clients could stake BTC held in BitGo Bank & Trust custody and receive rewards in BTC. At launch, the option was limited to whitelisted institutional partners. Stacks founder Muneeb Ali said Aug. 27, “Institutions want their Bitcoin to earn Bitcoin without giving up custody or moving it off the base layer.”

A proposed open auction for staking capacity could offer another route to participate under the planned PoX-6 design. Bidders whose offers clear would source STX and lock it alongside BTC. The proposal is aimed at 2027, but the design remains in research and development, has no confirmed activation date and is subject to the community proposal process. Earlier coverage examined possible PoX-6 settings.

Stacks also has a 2027 plan for stablecoin borrowing against staked BTC. That lending feature and related market plans remain designs under development, not launched services.

STX also pays transaction fees and is part of Proof of Transfer. Miners commit BTC to compete for block production and earn STX and fees; their BTC commitments fund participant rewards.

Stacks is exploring whether users and agents could pay transaction fees in sBTC. If adopted, that approach could change how much network activity directly requires users to hold STX for fees. The proposed auction’s final design remains subject to the community proposal process, with no activation date confirmed.