Key takeaways:
- Stacks (STX) price has surged over 200% in the past month and recently hit a new all-time high of $2.62, driven by interest in Bitcoin-based NFTs and the upcoming Bitcoin halving cycle
- algorithm predicts STX could see another 35-42% price increase over the next 3 months, potentially reaching $3.73
- Long-term growth prospects for Stacks look favorable as it builds developer traction and adoption as a smart contract platform leveraging Bitcoin’s security
Stacks Price Prediction: Here’s How High STX Could Go Weeks After the Bitcoin Halving
Stacks (STX), the smart contract platform built on the Bitcoin network, has seen substantial growth over the past several weeks. Algorithms recently predicted that the price of STX could see a 35+% surge in the coming weeks following the upcoming Bitcoin halving event.
This prediction comes at an opportune time, as STX has already posted impressive gains of over 200% in the last 30 days.
Early today, the token peaked at $2.62, surpassing its all-time high price of $2.20 reached in September 2021. This recent rally firmly places STX into the top 50 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Currently, STX sits at No. 29 with a market cap of $4.76 billion as of today
Now, let’s explore the factors driving the tokens growth and assess the prediction in depth.
Stacks Bringing New Utility to Bitcoin
At its core, Stacks aims to unlock the possibilities of Bitcoin through smart contract functionality. Unlike networks like Ethereum and Solana, Bitcoin does not inherently support advanced logic like smart contracts. This hinders its ability to power decentralized applications (dApps), decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and other cutting-edge use cases.
This is where Stacks comes in, solving this limitation by building a layer on top of Bitcoin while leveraging its security model. The network functions via “proof-of-transfer” consensus, which verifies transactions through broadcasting Bitcoin transactions. In addition, it anchors its network security to Bitcoin by recording block headers on the blockchain.
This approach allows Stacks to enable Turing-complete smart contracts, dApps, NFTs, and DeFi products while benefiting from Bitcoin’s battle-tested blockchain. The bridge between Bitcoin’s reliability and Stacks’ flexibility provides a uniquely compelling value proposition.
With these capabilities, Stacks is carving out a niche as the leading smart contract platform for Bitcoin. Major multinationals like Deloitte and software firm Blockstack are already building solutions on Stacks. This rising adoption signals the strong product-market fit between Stacks’ offerings and demand for smart contract functionality on Bitcoin.
Surging Interest in Bitcoin-Based NFTs
A key driver of Stacks’ recent growth is the burgeoning interest around launching NFTs on Bitcoin’s network. Stacks unlocks Bitcoin’s ability to support non-fungible tokens, bringing BTC’s security and brand recognition to the NFT space.
The recent launch of Ordinals, an NFT protocol built on Stacks, perfectly captures this trend. Ordinals introduces a standard for creating NFTs backed by the Bitcoin ledger. The protocol saw tremendous engagement upon launch, with over 6,700 NFTs minted in the first week.
Ordinals have catalyzed a cultural shift in #Bitcoin that will work to $STX‘s benefit. For those that want more programmable uses of $BTC, applications built on top of @stacks will provide what they seek. https://t.co/icPTUGrMFQ
— Chris Burniske (@cburniske) February 26, 2023
This enthusiasm highlights the strong appetite for accessing NFT capabilities on top of Bitcoin’s robust blockchain infrastructure. Given Stacks’ integral role in enabling these offerings, the heightened NFT demand directly feeds into the platform’s growth. With this, its safe to say Stacks is positioned perfectly to capitalize on this tailwind and drive further adoption.
Upcoming Bitcoin Halving Cycle
Beyond network usage growth, another factor stacking up in Stacks’ favor is the upcoming Bitcoin halving cycle. Expectedto occur in April 2024, the highly anticipated halving will slash Bitcoin’s block reward by 50%
Historically, these halving events which gradually reduce new BTC supply have catalyzed massive bull runs. The previous halving cycles in 2012 and 2016 ushered in Bitcoin’s most parabolic price surges.
Many analysts predict the 2024 halving will ignite Bitcoin’s next major breakout. Given Stacks’ symbiotic relationship to Bitcoin, it is likely to be swept up in any Bitcoin bull frenzy. The previous halving powered Stacks’ STX token up over 1202% from its March 2020 lows to its September 2021 all-time high.
With the next halving fast approaching, Stacks appears primed to capitalize on the hype again and replicate its previous halving parabolic price performance.
Algorithm Forcast 3-Month STX Price
According to our algorithm, STX is expected to reach $3.73 by May 15, 2014. This represents a potential growth of around 42.37% from current levels. The algorithm also predicts STX could reach as high as $3.96 by August 2024.
Fundamentals Supporting Long-Term Growth Trajectory
Zooming out beyond the noise of short-term price predictions, Stacks presents a compelling value proposition and continues gaining developer traction. Leveraging on Bitcoin’s security while unlocking advanced functionality like smart contracts and NFTs is a unique advantage.
Moreover, the number of Stacks wallet address downloads reached 40,000 since its launch , demonstrating steadily growing adoption. Meanwhile, total value locked in Stacks DeFi protocols has breached $75 million according to DeFiLlama.
Stacks Total Value Locked. Source: Defillama
Furthermore, Arkadiko, a Stacks-based decentralized autonomous corporation focused on auto financing, exemplifies the type of new DeFi application being built on the platform. Arkamoto blends NFT auto titles with STX payment advantages, resulting in an alignment of interests between owners and buyers.
Use cases like Arkadiko underscore why developers are attracted to Stacks’ blend of smart contract functionality with Bitcoin’s advantages. This allows builders to innovate and gain a first-mover advantage in the emerging Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem.
Bottom Line
Overall, Stacks shows promise at becoming a leading smart contract and NFT platform anchored to the world’s most secure, recognized, and scalable blockchain. While short-term price fluctuations will inevitably occur, long-term growth prospects appear favorable.
Source: https://coincodex.com/article/37879/ai-predicts-35-stacks-stx-price-surge-weeks-after-halving/