A few thoughts on my long-term hopes for Stacks 2.0, Stacking, PoX, and Bitcoin. 1/

One of the least talked-about problems with the Web today is that it robs users of their worth. Users create a ton of value for apps by using them, but does that translate into wealth for them? Nope. 2/

Do users get to borrow against the value they create online? Nope. Do users get to invest the value they create? Again, nope. 3/

Look no further than this site to see an example: @elonmusk draws people to Twitter and makes them money, so why shouldn't @elonmusk get directly compensated for the value he creates? 4/

(Maybe he does behind closed doors, but I wouldn't know. I definitely don't get compensated by Twitter.) 5/

Of course not everyone can be @elonmusk, but by coming to this site and interacting with users, we all make Twitter more valuable. How might we users translate the value they create into personal wealth? 6/

This is where I see Stacking playing a role. Today, you Stack $STX to get a $BTC yield. The Stacks blockchain is compensating you for your participation! But, can we do that with Web apps? 7/

I think we can. What if (1) each Web app had its own minable PoX token, and (2) creating value in that Web app translated into Stacking it under the hood for a $STX yield? Then, you'd get compensated for participation. 8/

(Namely because, you'd be able to turn around and Stack the $STX for $BTC. In general, there'd be a sequence of Stacking operations that would turn a Web app's PoX token into a $BTC yield; more on this below). 9/

What might this look like? Here's one possibility (for Clubhouse). Suppose each user had their own PoX-mined token. Then to enter a room, you'd have to have recently mined (via PoX) or Stacked the main speakers' tokens. 10/

Users who many people want to hear from or talk to would have more valuable tokens that produce larger yields, by virtue of there being more mining competition (and PoX payouts) for their tokens. They get rewarded for their value. 11/

Users who acquire and Stack other users' tokens effectively get rewarded for discovering and signal-boosting high-value users, which is also valuable. Of course, this is just one possibility; other models could work too. 12/

How might this work at scale? Recall that Stacks 2.0 gets mined by PoX'ing $BTC. This generalizes -- instances of Stacks 2.0 tailored for individual apps ("appchains") can be mined on top of Stacks 2.0. 13/

Their tokens can be Stacked to get a $STX yield, which in turn can be Stacked to get a $BTC yield. In general, tokens at layer N can be Stacked to get tokens at layer N-1, all the way down to Bitcoin. 14/

So, transaction bandwidth (and thus transaction fees) isn't really a problem. Need more bandwidth? Add more chains. Users only need to track the chains they care about (and their hosts), so you only need to track O(log(num-chains)) state. 15/

Moreover, Stacks 2.0's smart contract language ( http://clarity-lang.org ) could be used in lower-level chains to guard higher-level chains from hostile take-overs by limiting who can mine, to what extent the chain can fork, and so on. 16/

So, Stacking provides users a way to realize the wealth they create online. As an added bonus, it also dissuades data mining and surveillance capitalism as we know it today, because users will gravitate towards apps that reward them. 17/

This turns surveillance capitalism into a liability for app creators: it cuts into the wealth that they could offer users, so users would selfishly abandon their app for apps that don't short-change them. 18/

What does this all mean for Bitcoin? If successful, it gives a lot of Web users a reason to want Bitcoin to be valuable, which I think most cryptocurrency folks would welcome. 19/

It also means Bitcoin has alternative paths to long-term success that don't depend on magical apocalyptic thinking, like Bitcoin becoming the world's reserve currency or all national currencies crashing. 20/

In this world, Bitcoin could become wildly valuable simply by acting as a commodity -- its market value becomes the measuring stick for all users' combined economic activity on the Web. 21/

So, everyone wins -- users get to realize the value they create online through Stacking (e.g. by selling earned tokens for an actual currency), survellance capitalism becomes unprofitable, AND ... 22/

Bitcoin (and cryptocurrencies built on it) remain valuable and mutually support each other. /fin