At TOKEN2049 Singapore, Ali sets out the three frontiers the Satoshi Upgrades will take on to turn idle Bitcoin into productive capital by 2030.
SINGAPORE, October 8, 2026 - Muneeb Ali, founder of Stacks and new CEO of Stacks Labs, today set out his 2030 vision for STX on the OKX main stage at TOKEN2049 Singapore. Ali named three frontiers the Satoshi Upgrades will take on over the next years: Bitcoin capital markets, privacy, and post-quantum Bitcoin.
Stacks is the leading Bitcoin layer by Bitcoin yield distributed to users, and opened its self-custodial Bitcoin staking product with the Genesis Bond in September. The Satoshi Upgrades build on that foundation to make Bitcoin the base of a full capital market.
Bitcoin Capital Markets: Bitcoin staking gives Bitcoin a native rate, letting BTC earn BTC, settled on Bitcoin, without holders handing over their keys. The next development is self-custodial Bitcoin lending, where holders can borrow against BTC without selling it and with no counterparty holding the collateral. Credit is how capital markets historically scale, and together these products bring new BTC into the financial applications already live on Stacks. This deployment incentive drives capital into Stacks, driving usage across the network, and the economic activity it creates sets a rising baseline for the staking rate, a flywheel that compounds as more Bitcoin is put to work.
Privacy: Institutions do not move size in public, which makes privacy features for Bitcoin like confidential transfers a prerequisite for Bitcoin capital markets. sBTC leads this work, with confidential transfers that shield amounts and counterparties while letting holders disclose activity to auditors and regulators when they choose. That makes privacy one of the three frontiers for Stacks, onboarding institutional capital that cannot operate on a fully public ledger.
Post-quantum Bitcoin: Post-quantum signatures are far larger than today's, and Ali estimates a quantum-safe Bitcoin will have roughly a tenth of its current transaction capacity. Most activity will need a post-quantum layer above Bitcoin, with the base layer as the settlement anchor, and the Satoshi Upgrades set out to make Stacks that layer.
"Bitcoin won the argument as money. The next decade is about Bitcoin as capital," said Ali. "That takes a native yield rate and credit, the privacy that serious capital needs, and a path through the quantum transition, all anchored to Bitcoin. Stacks is taking on all three."
STX powers Bitcoin Capital Markets, providing the staking capacity that lets BTC holders earn native BTC and fueling every transaction on the network. Ali's full keynote, "The Frontier of Bitcoin," will be available on Token2049 YouTube.
Read the full announcement here.
About Stacks
Stacks is the leading Bitcoin L2, enabling smart contracts and decentralized applications to use Bitcoin as a secure base layer. Stacks extends Bitcoin’s functionality without modifying Bitcoin itself, unlocking BTC for decentralized finance and other onchain applications.
Learn more at stacks.co.
Media Contact: Shannon Voight, PR & Events, press@stackslabs.com
