Stacking up the gains: Stacks (STX) pump powered by Ryder devices and 2.1 upgrade
Stacks (STX), the native token for a Bitcoin layer for smart contracts, enables DeFi, NFTs, and other dApps to run in a Bitcoin layer. Recently, the project’s token STX experienced a considerable pump. The cryptocurrency experienced a massive uptick on the 10th, quickly rising from $0.27 to $0.35 in just an hour.
What led to the sudden uptick?
The recent surge in the market has coincided with the pre-sale of Ryder devices, which are now available for pre-order. Users have the opportunity to get their hands on the first 5,003 Ryder devices by minting a digital collectible in the form of a PFP (Profile Picture) NFT (Non-Fungible Token). Ryder wallets are sold on a first-come, first-served basis at the mint price of 299 USD in Ether (ETH) or STX, which may have driven up demand for the token.
Ryder is the world’s first social wallet, offering users the ability to save, swap, and recover assets with just one tap. The first edition is limited to 5,003 pieces, which can be redeemed for the Ryder device. Each collectible comes with its own unique early backer benefits.
These benefits may include a 1-to-1 drop of evolving PFP, special trips, free luxury merch collections, domain names, memorabilia, exclusive access, and more. The Ryder digital collectibles are redeemable for the device and offer these unique early backer benefits.
Stacks 2.1: A major upgrade that may have helped with the pump
The Stacks Foundation has announced the release of Stacks 2.1, a major upgrade to the Stacks blockchain. The new release includes several improvements to Stacking, the proof-of-transfer reward and security mechanism, and adds new Clarity functions for parsing and validating data. Stacks 2.1 also includes support for decentralized mining pools and pay-to-anyone Coinbase transactions.
One of the key improvements in Stacks 2.1 is the removal of the “PoX sunset,” which was set to expire after two years in Stacks 2.0. This change allows for the continuation of PoX and Stacking until the network decides to renegotiate. The upgrade also introduces continuous Stacking, which allows users to stack their tokens whenever they want without missing out on reward cycles.
Stacks 2.1 also adds support for stacking to native segwit or taproot addresses, which saves users on Bitcoin transaction fees and enables greater programmatic control over the accumulated Bitcoin. This allows for the creation of decentralized stacking pools that pay out in BTC.
The new release also includes several new Clarity keywords that make it easier for developers to write contracts that react to Bitcoin transactions and ingest off-chain data. These include decoding Bitcoin transactions, verifying SPV proofs, and converting Bitcoin public keys and signatures to Stacks addresses.
In addition to these improvements, Stacks 2.1 includes better bridges to other blockchains and support for mining with segwit and taproot. This allows for the creation of Bitcoin-native assets and smart contract control.
Overall, the new release of Stacks 2.1 is expected to provide a number of benefits to users and developers, which may have contributed to the recent increase in the price of STX.
