September Recap: Bitcoin Staking, CAB Refresh, Tools Update
Hey Stackers, September has been a packed month anchored by the rollout of Bitcoin Staking. After many months of research, a ratified SIP, and a lot of coordination across the ecosystem, the first institutional BTC is bonded and earning rewards on Stacks. September also kicked off a long-overdue refresh of the CABs and a round of new governance tools.
Bitcoin Staking goes live
Bitcoin Staking launched on Stacks in September. The Genesis Bond opened with its first institutional cohort: UTXO Management, 21Shares, HashKey Cloud, and Sypher Capital, with infrastructure through Fireblocks. Bonding Period 2 is now open, and capacity is allocated in order of registration.
Institutional access expanded through the month. HashKey Cloud joined as both a launch partner and an sBTC signer. STX listed on Bullish. Anchorage Digital is building support so institutions can fund a BTC bond directly from their Anchorage custody account.
Stacks Labs published explainers on both ways to participate: self-custodial staking through the Genesis Bond and pooled staking.
The Stacks Endowment sets staking parameters during the current bootstrap phase, as SIP-045 specifies. The community ratified SIP-045 in July.
Institutional access expanded through the month. HashKey Cloud joined as both a launch partner and an sBTC signer. STX listed on Bullish. Anchorage Digital is building support so institutions can fund a BTC bond directly from their Anchorage custody account.
Stacks Labs published explainers on both ways to participate: self-custodial staking through the Genesis Bond and pooled staking.
The Stacks Endowment sets staking parameters during the current bootstrap phase, as SIP-045 specifies. The community ratified SIP-045 in July.
CAB member rotation
A self-nomination form opened in August for community members interested in serving on the Economic, Governance, or Tech CAB, and it closes at the end of September. We've received some excellent candidates and will be ensure that everyone is followed up with prior to the internal CAB group reviews. First, we are confirming which existing members, if any, want to step down from their CAB positions. From there, remaining current CAB members will review nominees to fill open seats and build out groups with lighter membership. Rotations are targeted for finalization in early-mid October.
The refresh is overdue; the goal is to refresh membership across CABs to drive engagement and bring forward newer community members into more active roles across the ecosystem.
The Steering Committee is also refreshing its membership, pending proposed bylaw updates. Gina stepped down from the SC earlier this year as part of that process (she remains at Stacks Labs). CABs and the SC operate under separate bylaws and are independent of each other.
The refresh is overdue; the goal is to refresh membership across CABs to drive engagement and bring forward newer community members into more active roles across the ecosystem.
The Steering Committee is also refreshing its membership, pending proposed bylaw updates. Gina stepped down from the SC earlier this year as part of that process (she remains at Stacks Labs). CABs and the SC operate under separate bylaws and are independent of each other.
Governance tooling updates (Zero Authority DAO)
Zero Authority, the Foundation’s partner in governance tooling, shipped several updates to the SIP Tracker. The site has new navigation along with pages for each CAB group and a Steering Committee policies page that pulls directly from GitHub.
Additionally, the platform now has capabilities for general (non-consensus-breaking) voting that is being tested. This provides the option for CABs and Steering to use the platform to make less formal decisions as a group.
Also new is a governance reporting and insights page that tracks key metrics over time (SIPs, voting, etc.). This tool will be crucial in developing a more robust end-of-year governance report, which will be published b y the Foundation later this year.
Additionally, the platform now has capabilities for general (non-consensus-breaking) voting that is being tested. This provides the option for CABs and Steering to use the platform to make less formal decisions as a group.
Also new is a governance reporting and insights page that tracks key metrics over time (SIPs, voting, etc.). This tool will be crucial in developing a more robust end-of-year governance report, which will be published b y the Foundation later this year.