Stacks Bitcoin staking Bonding Period 3 opens
⚠ The date is not confirmed yet and may change.
Bonding Period 3 of the Stacks institutional Bitcoin staking program is expected to open around November 10, 2026. The date is an estimate rather than a confirmed schedule, and the event involves the STX and BTC coins.
What is happening
Stacks runs a self-custodial Bitcoin staking program in which participants lock BTC directly on the Bitcoin blockchain while keeping control of their private keys. The program does not use wrapped BTC or cross-chain bridges. Rewards are paid in BTC and come from the Proof of Transfer mechanism, where miners contribute BTC while competing to produce blocks and the network allocates those funds to eligible participants.
To take part, a participant must pair the BTC with STX worth roughly 5% of the Bitcoin position's value. This ratio sets the staking capacity available during a bonding period. For example, bonding $1 million in BTC would require about $50,000 in STX. Each bonding period lasts around six months, new periods open about once a month, and BTC rewards are paid weekly. Stacks has stated an annualized target yield of about 3%, though the actual figure depends on mining activity and network conditions.
The first institutional bond, the Genesis Bond, drew about 230 BTC and 3.57 million STX from participants including 21Shares, HashKey Cloud, UTXO Management and Sypher Capital. Direct participation is currently limited to approved participants, while pooled staking offers another route. CoinMarketCal lists Bonding Period 3 as the next stage of the program, with the date still marked as an estimate.
Why it matters
Because the program requires STX to be locked alongside BTC, each bonding period creates demand for STX tied to the value of the Bitcoin committed. For holders, the event is a point at which new capacity opens and institutional participation can be observed. Stacks Labs notes that risks remain, including changes in the STX price, the lock-up period and potential smart contract risks. There is no protocol-level slashing of bonded BTC, and early withdrawals return BTC but forfeit the remaining yield, while the paired STX stays locked for the original period.
For traders, the date is worth monitoring, but the timing is not final and could shift. The current PoX-5 phase has bonding capacity, target yield and the BTC-to-STX ratio set by the Stacks Endowment. A later PoX-6 phase is intended to remove the whitelist and use open auctions, but it needs governance approval and has no confirmed activation date.
Key details
- Date: expected around November 10, 2026 (estimate, day precision, not confirmed)
- Project: Stacks
- Coins: STX, BTC
- Category: Staking
- Status: tentative
- Source: crypto.news, "Stacks price jumps ahead of Bitcoin staking event" (https://crypto.news/stacks-price-jumps-ahead-of-bitcoin-staking-event/)