The charm of Ordinals drives funds to STX ── Crypto asset funds pay attention | coindesk JAPAN | Coindesk Japan

Crypto investment fund North Rock is betting on Bitcoin (BTC) growth and eyeing Stacks token STX. Stax is a so-called Layer 2 companion chain for smart contracts focused on Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, enabling the creation of related financial instruments.

According to CoinGecko data, STX is up about 23% in the last 24 hours. That was on top of a 50% jump in the previous seven days. Demand for the token is fueled by the Ordinals Protocol, which launched on January 21 and allows users to carve references to digital art onto the Bitcoin blockchain. The token has a market capitalization of over $1.2 billion as of February 27.

In a recent paper, Northrock highlighted Stax’s focus on decentralized finance (DeFi), innovative use of smart contracts, and compatibility with Bitcoin as strengths that set it apart from other blockchain projects. are doing.

Hal Press, founder of North Rock, said:tweets of the weekend“We believe there is a huge and relatively untapped market opportunity, a major cultural inflection point for the community (originating from Ordinals), and a game-changing Stax upgrade later this year.” there is

The company notes that Stax has a strong community, experienced leadership and a clear roadmap for growth, and investment in Stax has the potential to deliver significant returns as the project develops and spreads. concludes that there is.

Ordinals remains active after its boom in January. (Dune Analytics)

Immediately after its release, Ordinals sparked a surge in Bitcoin transactions and a resurgence in Bitcoin network development. It has also rekindled the debate over Bitcoin’s scalability, which has been contentious in the cryptocurrency industry.

To date, Dune Analytics data shows that more than 197,000 unique instructions, a term used to describe individual tokens on Ordinals, have been executed.

Northrock did not disclose details of its investment in Stax. He reached out to a spokesman for comment but did not receive a response.

In its paper, Northrock says that Stax offers several advantages over blockchain platforms such as Ethereum, including lower gas prices, shorter transaction times, and stronger security.

The analysis also explores potential use cases for Stux’s technology, including creating decentralized social media platforms, prediction and trading markets, and lending apps. Such products underpin $50 billion worth of tokens locked in applications built on other blockchains, DeFi Llama data shows. there is

With the halving only a year away we have been thinking about how to position for what will be the largest theme in crypto over the next twelve months. We have spent several months looking for the best ways to get exposure to this theme and all roads have led back to $STX.

—Hal Press (@NorthRockLP) February 25, 2023

A Stax upgrade scheduled for March 20th may also have contributed to the recent STX price hike. The developer introduced the 2.1 upgrade in a post last week, detailing some new features and improvements.

One of the main features is the introduction of Stacking 2.0, an updated version of Stacks’ consensus mechanism. This is the process by which STX holders lock up their tokens to help secure the network and earn rewards.

Stacking 2.0 aims to make this process more accessible and inclusive by allowing smaller token holders to participate and be rewarded. In addition, the upgrade will also add improved smart contract functionality, increased scalability through the use of the new “microblock” feature, and enhanced support for NFTs.

｜Translation: coindesk JAPAN
｜Editing: Toshihiko Inoue
｜Image: Ordinals Protocol
｜Original: Allure of Bitcoin Ordinals, DeFi Drives Crypto Funds to Bitcoin Layer 2-Token Stacks