Blockstack is transferring 100 million Stacks tokens to the Stacks Foundation to decentralize its network

Quick Take

  • Blockstack is transferring 100 million Stacks (STX) tokens to the Stacks Foundation to decentralize its network.
  • Ultimately, the effort seems to be aimed at removing the “security” tag of STX tokens.

Muneeb Ali's blockchain project Blockstack is transferring 100 million Stacks (STX) tokens to the Stacks Foundation to decentralize its network.

The tokens are currently worth about $27 million. Blockstack is also offering $950,000 worth of loan to the foundation for meeting working capital requirements, according to a form filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday.

Ali said the foundation would have "complete control" over Blockstack assets, including tokens and I.P. rights for the Stacks 2.0 blockchain software, and "complete discretion" over their subsequent administration, development, and deployment.

"We believe that for us to be successful in our mission to build a user-owned internet, the infrastructure underlying the Stacks ecosystem cannot be controlled or significantly influenced by a single party," said Ali.

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The Stacks Foundation is a non-profit organization that was set up in February of this year to develop governance of the project. "The Stacks Foundation should be a long-term, permanent home for Blockstack-related governance," Blockstack said at the time. Blockstack itself is a public-benefit corporation, with a traditional corporate goal of maximizing profit for shareholders. Ali said transferring assets to the non-profit foundation would help ensure that the Stacks ecosystem reaches its full potential.

Stacks tokens are currently treated as securities in the U.S. since they are SEC-qualified tokens. Ali, however, recently said that the tokens wouldn't have to be treated as securities forever. "The board of Blockstack PBC will periodically consider if the Blockstack network is decentralized enough for Stacks to be treated as non-security in the U.S.," Ali said at the time.

As and when Stacks tokens get a non-security tag, they could see a listing on U.S. crypto exchanges, who have generally shied away from listing tokens that are deemed as securities. Stacks tokens are currently listed on Binance, KuCoin and Hoo exchanges, according to Coingecko.


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Yogita Khatri is a senior reporter at The Block, covering all things crypto. As one of the earliest team members, Yogita has played a pivotal role in breaking numerous stories, exclusives and scoops. With nearly 3,000 articles under her belt, Yogita holds the records as The Block's most-published and most-read author of all time. Prior to joining The Block, Yogita worked at crypto publication CoinDesk and The Economic Times, where she wrote on personal finance. To contact her, email: [email protected]. For her latest work, follow her on X @Yogita_Khatri5.