Stacks STX/USD, an internet project revolving around adding smart contracts and decentralized applications or DApps functionality to Bitcoin BTC/USD, has announced 25 investments across industry verticals through its Stacks Accelerator program.
What Happened: The investment picks span DeFi on Bitcoin, non-fungible token discovery and marketplaces, art provenance and censorship resistance.
The projects to be funded include Pravica, which provides peer-to-peer and end-to-end encrypted communications, and Arkadiko — a project centered on empowering DeFi on Bitcoin through Stacks.
GoStats, another awardee, allows users to receive Satoshis, the smallest unit of Bitcoin, instead of cashback for spending on Udemy and Fossil among others.
Eggschain, which holds a patent for tracking embryos, organs and tissues via blockchain, is also one of the awardees.
“The variety of decentralized applications being built highlights the incredible talent that Stacks attracts because of its mission and leading-edge technology,” said Trevor Owens, managing partner at Stacks Accelerator.
Stacks said that the Accelerator will provide entrepreneurs the ability to get “hands-on coaching” from mentors such as Morgan Creek Digital founder Anthony Pompliano and entrepreneur and author Eric Ries.
Stacks traded 18% lower at $0.536 over 24 hours. The cryptocurrency was down 17.37% against BTC over 24 hours at press time. BTC-traded Bitcoin traded 7.1% lower at $29,940.
Why It Matters: As per the accelerator’s website, cash investments of up to $50,000 are available for startups without a valuation cap. Stacks Foundation also provides non-equity grants up to $100,000 for an open-source contribution with special consideration for accelerator companies.
See Also: Stacks (STX) Crypto Has Surged 3792% In A Year — What Is Going On?
A Stacks spokesperson told Benzinga that the accelerator program is a continuing effort that involves investments of $4 million in 100 companies over the next three years.
Eighty percent of the returns from the fund are to be recycled back into the fund for additional investments. The spokesperson revealed that the program is a 15-year fund.
“The Stacks Accelerator supports startups building a user-owned internet built on Bitcoin with Stacks, especially practical applications that help bring ‘the first billion’ to blockchain,” said Mitchell Cuevas, head of growth at the Stacks Foundation. A full list of projects built on Stacks was shared by Cuevas.
In an exclusive interview with Benzinga last week, Cuevas touched on building on top of the Bitcoin blockchain, stacking, and the popularity of Stacks in South Korea, among other topics.
The accelerator project is backed by Digital Currency Group, Winklevoss Capital, YCombinator, Recruit among others, as per its website.
Photo by Hektor Ehring Jeppesen on Flickr.
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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