Stacks' STX Posts Best Weekly Performance as Institutional Use Increases Thanks to Bitgo Link

The DeFi ecosystem on the Stacks platform has seen a significant increase in liquidity, with stablecoin volume growing by over 400% in Q1.

Author: Omkar Godbole | Edited by: Sheldon Reback Updated: April 25, 2025, 12:49 PM Published: April 25, 2025, 7:46 AM

Key points:

• STX, the native cryptocurrency of the Stacks protocol, has increased by 56% over the past week, becoming the best performing cryptocurrency among the top 100 by market cap.
• BitGo announced the integration of sBTC, which will expand institutional access to the Stacks ecosystem and bring new opportunities for Bitcoin in the decentralized finance space.
• The Stacks-powered DeFi ecosystem has seen a remarkable increase in liquidity, with stablecoin supply increasing by over 400% in Q1.

STX, the second-layer token of the Bitcoin Stacks protocol, has risen 56% in a week to become the best-performing cryptocurrency among the top 100 amid expectations of institutional adoption.

The token hit a two-month high of 92 cents on Friday, up more than 21% in the past 24 hours, the biggest jump in a day, according to CoinDesk data.

By subscribing, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy .

Stacks is the leading Layer 2 for developing smart contracts and decentralized applications on the Bitcoin blockchain. On Tuesday, BitGo, a provider of digital asset custody and infrastructure services and the sponsor of the Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) token, gave its customers the opportunity to explore yield opportunities on Stacks by integrating sBTC, a synthetic derivative that represents Bitcoin (BTC) on a 1:1 basis on the Stacks blockchain.

“sBTC opens up new horizons for programmable, decentralized financial products without compromising the core principles of Bitcoin — this is just the beginning,” said Abhishek Singh, product manager at BitGo. “With over $3 trillion in transactions processed and over $48 billion in assets under management, BitGo is uniquely positioned to help institutions embrace the next era of Bitcoin utility.”

STX serves several functions in the Stacks ecosystem, including communication with the parent blockchain and Bitcoin, support for smart contract creation, and network governance. It is also used to pay transaction fees and plays a key role in the proof-of-transfer consensus mechanism, allowing holders to earn BTC by locking up their STX.

The sBTC token allows holders to participate in the Stacks DeFi ecosystem while maintaining a peg to their underlying Bitcoin. The expected sBTC withdrawal feature, set to launch on April 30, will allow institutions to easily move between BTC and sBTC, opening up new opportunities to build applications that combine Stacks’ smart contract functionality with the security of Bitcoin.

Increasing the liquidity of the ecosystem

Liquidity in the decentralized finance ecosystem powered by Stacks is improving, the protocol's management announced Friday morning, highlighting a more than 400% increase in stablecoin supply in the first quarter, making it the third-largest behind Morph and Cronos.

According to DefiLlama, the total supply of stablecoins in the ecosystem has exceeded $7 million, up from around $1 million in early January.