The Genesis Bond program launched on September 10, 2026, at Bitcoin block 966,350. Four institutions, including 21Shares, HashKey Cloud, UTXO Management, and Sypher Capital, have locked approximately 250 BTC. Participants commit to a six-month bonding period with a target yield of 3% APY, paid weekly in BTC through the Proof-of-Transfer consensus mechanism.
The protocol requires participants to hold STX tokens on the Stacks network equivalent to 5% of their locked Bitcoin value. BTC remains on the base layer via a timelock script, ensuring no third-party custody or wrapped tokens are used. Sypher Capital utilized StackingDAO for its participation, while the other three firms bonded directly.
The mechanism relies on the PoX-5 hard fork, which activated in late July 2026. Since the launch of Proof-of-Transfer in January 2021, the network has distributed over 4,200 BTC to participants. A second bonding period with increased capacity is scheduled for early October 2026, with plans to eventually transition to a permissionless model.
