Bitcoin‘s smart contract platform Stacks recently experienced a significant price increase following the approval of a major network upgrade. In the last few hours, the altcoin Stacks (STX) gained over 30% in value, reaching an all-time high of $3.65. However, it later retracted slightly, trading at $3.35 at the time of writing. This increase came after starting from a daily low of $2.75 on March 20th, with STX recording an impressive increase of 125% since the beginning of the year.
What’s Driving the Price Increase in Altcoin STX?
This significant price movement is a result of the approval of a major upgrade to the Stacks protocol. The Stacks Foundation announced that this upgrade was overwhelmingly approved following a community and governance vote on March 20th.
It was reported that over 150 million STX tokens from approximately 400 accounts voted in favor of the upgrade, while over 2,700 accounts voted for the Nakamoto version, marking a new milestone. The Nakamoto testnet is expected to go live on March 25th, with the mainnet activation anticipated in the last two weeks of May. This upgrade is set to improve block times and network security, making transactions on Stacks irreversible.
What Will the Upgrade Offer?
According to the official website, “The Bitcoin Economy will be launched on Stacks L2 with fast, affordable BTC transactions and full-featured smart contracts.”
On March 20th, Stacks co-founder Muneeb Ali stated that approximately $200 million in BTC returns would be provided to users this year, emphasizing that STX is the only digital asset with native BTC yield.
Other Altcoins Showing Strong Performance
Today in the cryptocurrency market, Stacks (STX) is not the only altcoin showing double-digit increases. Ethereum’s price rose by 12%, surpassing $3,500, while Solana also saw a similar increase, trading at $190 at the time of writing. THORChain (RUNE) also experienced an approximate 19% increase during the day, reaching $8.73.
On the other hand, meme coins also saw a rise today. Dogecoin traded at $0.15 after a 20% increase, while Shiba Inu gained 11% in value. The cryptocurrency FLOKI jumped by 42% during the day, and PEPE showed a 22% increase.
