FAQ
Stacks power apps and smart contracts on Bitcoin. Learn more about the Stacks cryptocurrency (STX) and find helpful resources.
Generally, you may check the status of previously purchased Stacks tokens on the Stacks Explorer by looking up your wallet address. If you purchased Stacks Tokens from a previous sale (not on an exchange) and are subject to a lock-up period, you can view your locked and unlocked status on the legacy explorer by searching for your wallet address. Additional wallet-related information is available here.
You can check your balance in your wallet of choice or by using the Stacks Explorer. Remember that blockchain transactions take time. Once Stacks are sent to you, you see a PENDING transaction, which means the transaction is still being recorded by the blockchain. Your balance will not change until the transaction is recorded. It may be minutes or hours before the transaction is recorded in the blockchain. When the transaction is complete, you can see a receipt for the transaction in your Stacks Wallet. The PENDING marker goes away once the funds are recorded on the blockchain. Then, at this point, the balance in your Stacks Wallet software should reflect the completed transaction.
Assuming that your tokens are vested/unlocked, yes. You can use the 'Send' and 'Receive' functions in the Stacks Wallet or the equivalent in your wallet of choice.
Stacks enable smart contracts and apps for Bitcoin and allows holders to earn BTC. The Stacks cryptocurrency (STX) is used as fuel for smart contract execution, transaction processing, and digital asset registrations on the Stacks 2.0 blockchain. STX are a unique crypto asset that can be locked by STX holders via ‘Stacking’ to earn Bitcoin (BTC) rewards from the protocol for supporting blockchain consensus. Stacks cryptocurrency was distributed to the general public through the first-ever SEC qualified token offering in US history.
2019 Regulation A offering: Stacks tokens sold pursuant to our Regulation A offering are subject to an approximately two-year time lock from the date of the hard fork that distributed the tokens. 1/24th of the amount of tokens purchased will be released from this time lock on the date of distribution of the tokens, and an additional 1/24th will be released approximately every month. These tokens will not be subject to a transfer lock.
2019 Regulation S offering: Stacks tokens sold pursuant to our Regulation S offering to non-US institutional investors are subject to a one-year transfer lock from the date of sale and an approximately two-year time lock that unlocks on an approximately monthly basis from the date of the hard fork that distributes the tokens.
2017 Accredited Investor Sale: Stacks tokens sold pursuant to our Regulation D offering to accredited investors in 2017 are subject to an approximately two-year time lock that unlocks on an approximately monthly basis from the date of the genesis block, except for 50,000,000 of those tokens, which are subject to an approximately four-year time lock. The tokens were previously subject to a one-year transfer lock, which has expired.
2017 Founder Sale & Equity Investor Sale: Stacks tokens sold to founders and certain stockholders of Blockstack PBC in 2017 are subject to an approximately three-year time lock that unlocks on an approximately monthly basis from the date of the genesis block.
You can always use the legacy explorer to look up your address and find out the status of your locked vs. unlocked tokens.
2019 Regulation S offering: Stacks tokens sold pursuant to our Regulation S offering to non-US institutional investors are subject to a one-year transfer lock from the date of sale and an approximately two-year time lock that unlocks on an approximately monthly basis from the date of the hard fork that distributes the tokens.
2017 Accredited Investor Sale: Stacks tokens sold pursuant to our Regulation D offering to accredited investors in 2017 are subject to an approximately two-year time lock that unlocks on an approximately monthly basis from the date of the genesis block, except for 50,000,000 of those tokens, which are subject to an approximately four-year time lock. The tokens were previously subject to a one-year transfer lock, which has expired.
2017 Founder Sale & Equity Investor Sale: Stacks tokens sold to founders and certain stockholders of Blockstack PBC in 2017 are subject to an approximately three-year time lock that unlocks on an approximately monthly basis from the date of the genesis block.
You can always use the legacy explorer to look up your address and find out the status of your locked vs. unlocked tokens.
For the most up to date information, please visit CoinMarketCap or Flipside Crypto.
There is no pre-set limit on the number of Stacks tokens that will be released over time. We anticipate that approximately 2,048,036,800 Stacks tokens will be in circulation in the year 2050 based on the assumption that mining is introduced in 2020, and fewer tokens than this estimate may be in circulation. For more details, please see Description of the Stacks Tokens—Creation of new Stacks Tokens in the offering circular.
Accredited Investors and funds in the 2017 Reg D token offering purchased tokens at a $0.12 price. Blockstack PBC raised $47.5M in this offering.
Holders of Blockstack’s Series A convertible preferred stock—who had purchased a total of $5.1 million as of late 2016 and funded Blockstack’s early growth and development before the decision to create a token, or the drafting or publication of any white papers—were also provided an opportunity to purchase tokens at a nominal price per token before the 2017 Reg D offering. This opportunity to participate at a nominal price was given in return for their early support and in proportion to their equity ownership, and it was based on their reasonable expectation as early purchasers that they would receive tokens if Blockstack ever decided to create a digital token.
These tokens are subject to a three-year time lock, commencing upon the introduction of the genesis block to the Blockstack network in November 2018. The tokens for founders and employees are also subject to a three-year time lock starting November 2018.
Further, affiliates of Blockstack PBC including Union Square Ventures, Muneeb Ali, and Ryan Shea — three of the largest holders of Stacks tokens — have additional restrictions on selling tokens on the open markets.
Holders of Blockstack’s Series A convertible preferred stock—who had purchased a total of $5.1 million as of late 2016 and funded Blockstack’s early growth and development before the decision to create a token, or the drafting or publication of any white papers—were also provided an opportunity to purchase tokens at a nominal price per token before the 2017 Reg D offering. This opportunity to participate at a nominal price was given in return for their early support and in proportion to their equity ownership, and it was based on their reasonable expectation as early purchasers that they would receive tokens if Blockstack ever decided to create a digital token.
These tokens are subject to a three-year time lock, commencing upon the introduction of the genesis block to the Blockstack network in November 2018. The tokens for founders and employees are also subject to a three-year time lock starting November 2018.
Further, affiliates of Blockstack PBC including Union Square Ventures, Muneeb Ali, and Ryan Shea — three of the largest holders of Stacks tokens — have additional restrictions on selling tokens on the open markets.
The safety of your Stacks tokens is extremely important to us. To help ensure that you complete the process of receiving your tokens correctly and securely, please read the following guidelines:
- Website Safety: When inputting data on a website or verifying the presence of data on a website, it is essential that you confirm that the URL is correct and that your browser is using HTTPS.
- Email Safety: Blockstack will never ask for your personal identifying information over email, or call you directly. When we ask verifying questions, we will only do so when you call us to confirm your identity. We will never ask you for money or your Seed Phrase (private key).
The beauty of the Stacks Ecosystem is that more wallet options coming online all the time.
- The Stacks Wallet by Hiro - https://www.hiro.so/wallet
- The Boom Wallet - https://boom.money/wallet
- Xverse Wallet - public beta
- Have one to add? Let us know
When you create a wallet address, you also create a seed phrase. With one significant exception, a seed phrase is similar to a banking pin in that it gives you access to your wallet and your token allocation. Unlike a pin, if you lose your seed phrase, you can never access your wallet or your token allocation ever again.
Warning: Losing a seed phrase is final and destructive. There is not a copy of your seed. Nobody in the Stacks Ecosystem can give you a new seed, get your access to your wallet, or return your tokens if you lose your seed phrase.
Keep your seed phrase secret. Just as with a banking pin, anyone that knows or steals your seed phrase can access your allocation.You should write your seed phrase down and store the paper you write on in at least two secure locations. A safe or lockbox is a good location.
You can also store it online in an encrypted password manager such as 1Password. You should never simply store a seed phrase in Apple Cloud or Dropbox.
Warning: Losing a seed phrase is final and destructive. There is not a copy of your seed. Nobody in the Stacks Ecosystem can give you a new seed, get your access to your wallet, or return your tokens if you lose your seed phrase.
Keep your seed phrase secret. Just as with a banking pin, anyone that knows or steals your seed phrase can access your allocation.You should write your seed phrase down and store the paper you write on in at least two secure locations. A safe or lockbox is a good location.
You can also store it online in an encrypted password manager such as 1Password. You should never simply store a seed phrase in Apple Cloud or Dropbox.
During the initial grant process, purchasers submitted a public Stacks Wallet address to Blockstack. This is a string of letters and numbers starting with an ‘SP’ or SM’; for example, SP017AUV5YRM7HT3TSQXJF7FCCYXETAB276BQ6XY is a wallet address.
Version 3 of the Stacks Wallet software is unable to access the Stacks 2.0 blockchain. To view Stacks balances, send or receive Stacks you need to use the latest version 4 wallet. You can use the seed phrase you created with the old wallet with the new version.
For questions or help regarding the Stacks Wallet, you can contact [email protected].
