Stacks
STX
Evaluation Score
Overall rating on a scale of 0-10
Dimension Breakdown
AI Analysis
Comprehensive evaluation of the token
Stacks (STX) serves as a Bitcoin-anchored smart contract layer exhibiting strong active development (8.5/10), evidenced by consistent protocol delivery including SIP-039 upgrades, Clarity releases, Dual Stacking, and the ongoing rollout of PoX-5. The team and governance structure (7.5/10) features experienced, public leadership and formal SIP governance, backed by institutional support. However, market and tokenomic factors present moderate headwinds: STX faces a ~5.75% annual emission rate without a hard supply cap, tempered on-chain user growth, and modest TVL relative to Bitcoin's size (Tokenomics: 5.5/10, Market: 6.5/10). Security scored 4.0/10 primarily due to substantial ecosystem-level exploits on its flagship DeFi platform ALEX Protocol (~$12.6M cumulative losses across 2024–2025) and an unrecovered price drawdown of over 50% from mid-2025 levels. Because these exploits occurred on an ecosystem application rather than the core Stacks layer itself, and market-wide price drawdowns do not constitute a core qualifying red-flag event under standard cap criteria, the overall score is determined by the weighted average across all six complete sections.
Development Activity
Code updates and developer engagement
Community Support
Social media presence and community engagement
Tokenomics
Supply, distribution, and utility
Market & Use Case
Value proposition and competitive landscape
Team & Governance
Team background and project governance
Security & Audits
Security history and audit status
About Stacks (STX)
Stacks (STX), originally founded as Blockstack, is a Bitcoin-anchored smart contract layer designed to bring programmability and smart contract functionality to Bitcoin. The network utilizes a consensus mechanism known as Proof of Transfer (PoX) and executes contracts using the Clarity programming language. STX serves as the native utility token used to pay transaction fees, participate in PoX consensus, and engage in Stacking, a process that locks STX to earn Bitcoin rewards alongside ecosystem initiatives such as sBTC.
The project's governance operates through formal Stacks Improvement Proposals (SIPs) and pluralistic entities including the Stacks Foundation and a Treasury Committee managing the Stacks Endowment. The circulating supply is fully liquid with no remaining cliff unlocks, though the network features an uncapped supply with an annual inflation rate of approximately 5.75% driven by the SIP-031 emission model and mining rewards. Ongoing development has introduced upgrades including SIP-039 (Clarity 5), Dual Stacking, and the PoX-5 protocol.
The Stacks ecosystem has faced challenges related to security incidents and user metrics. In May 2024 and June 2025, the ecosystem's primary decentralized finance platform, ALEX Protocol, suffered two major exploits resulting in cumulative losses of approximately $12.6 million, including a June 2025 liquidity pool vault breach where approximately 13.7 million STX (valued at roughly $8.3 million) was stolen. In addition to ecosystem security vulnerabilities, the network has experienced declining active addresses, modest total value locked relative to Bitcoin's capitalization, and a multi-stage price drawdown of over 50% from mid-2025 levels.