Nakamoto upgrade delay raises concerns as STX struggles below $2

• Stacks network users have expressed discontent with the hard fork activation delays
• Countdown to Nakamoto activation on Stacks Foundation’s website expired on 9 October

The much-awaited Nakamoto upgrade for the Stacks (STX) network appears to have experienced another setback in its activation timeline.

The activation window of the hard fork, which is expected to bring fast blocks and Bitcoin finality, opened on 28 August, heralding Epoch 3.0. In a 20 September blog, Stacks Foundation said core developers had selected the block for the hard fork to occur (block number 8646846) on 9 October.

Uncertainty around Nakamoto activation

The Bitcoin L2 network confirmed the successful completion of subsequent milestones, including the activation of the Nakamoto testnet hard fork on 27 September. In this update issued at the end of September, the foundation also revealed that the developers found bugs “related to how nodes communicate with each other regarding tenure extensions” during the first testnet activation.

“Before the mainnet hard fork, these bugs will need to be addressed and then tested with a new version on the Nakamoto testnet and then the primary testnet,” the foundation said in the blog. It added,

“The goal is to be ready to upgrade the primary testnet […] and observe it is running the latest code stably for at least one week before the mainnet hard fork.”

Last week, the foundation said the hard fork working group had updated the testnet with the Release Candidate 2 software.

The expiry of the Nakamoto activation countdown this week with no communication or update addressing the same has left the Stacks community in suspense.

Some STX holders took to X (formerly Twitter) to express their frustrations. One user posted,

“Holders have been patiently supportive of the Nakamoto upgrade despite delays to the schedule so far. Repeated delays to the schedule stimulate the imagination of whether Nakamoto upgrade and sBTC was a virtually unfeasible dream.”

No new date has been communicated as of yet, raising questions about the internal processes behind the delay.

STX faces technical challenges

The Nakamoto upgrade promises to be a major leap for the Stacks ecosystem by unlocking more network utility and attracting more decentralized applications. In the spot market, this development could boost the demand and price of its native token, STX.

Stacks (STX) has been trading within an ascending triangle pattern on the daily chart, with rising support levels. Many STX holders contend that the upgrade could be the catalyst needed to push the price of STX above $2.

Source: TradingView

This psychological barrier has proven challenging to break since 13 June. Bulls’ attempt to flip the resistance on 27 September saw rejection at $2.08, followed by another thwarted uptrend at $1.99 on 4 October.

While the delay surrounding the upgrade raises concerns, its potential remains intact. If successfully implemented, it could provide a mild boost to STX’s price. However, growing concerns around its timeline could cultivate negative sentiment, exerting downward pressure on STX.