What is Stackchain?
Simply put, Stackchain is buying bitcoin consecutively with other Bitcoiners. We’re all buying bitcoin, right? We know that bitcoin is the hardest money in the world and we’re already going to be buying as much as we can, so why not gamify it a little bit, have some fun, and be social with your fellow bitcoin plebs.
In layman's terms:
"it's just fun and shitposting with a little bit of bitcoin lingo thrown in to make it more fun as we shitpost as we buy bitcoin."
Derek Ross, Stackchain height $234
Stackchain was born completely organically when AriZonanHODL decided to buy $5 of bitcoin and see if anyone else wanted to buy a little with him. Someone replied with a $6 purchase. Next, someone replied to that $6 purchase with a $7 purchase. Then, someone replied to that purchase with an $8 purchase. These consecutive purchases kept coming in, iterating one after another, growing the chain of purchases, expanding the amount of bitcoin that was being purchased. Eventually, many bitcoin plebs fell in love with the idea of stacking bitcoin consecutively with one another, growing their stack, acquiring more bitcoin, all the while growing the chain of posts on the original Twitter thread. And thus, Stackchain was born.
How do I participate?
Anyone and everyone that wants to buy bitcoin can participate in Stackchain. The only requirement is that you want to expand your stack. Even if you only have a very small amount of fiat available, you can still have your purchase included in Stackchain.
Before you make your bitcoin purchase, you need to determine the current block height. Once the current block height has been found, you need to determine if you want to buy an entire block yourself or if you want to do a Stackjoin and join your stack with other’s stacks to purchase an entire block together.
To find the current block height, you can search Twitter for the latest hashtag #StackchainTip, to find the current block height or tip. You can also join our Telegram channel and ask users in there if you’re having trouble determining the current tip on Twitter. This can sometimes be confusing if there are lots of miners trying to get their transactions included in the Stackchain all at once, especially if we’re approaching an iconic or notable block height.
Once the current height has been determined and you’re planning on purchasing an entire block yourself, you will need to buy that amount of bitcoin. For example, if the current block height (the last confirmed and most recent verified amount purchased) is $599 USD, then the next purchase will need to be $600 USD. After your purchase, you will need to post a screenshot of that purchase to the chain. If you post your screenshot as a reply to an incorrect post, you run the risk of creating a fork in the chain, and someone else may claim your block on the correct chain. It’s important to verify you’re on the correct chain before posting. Once your screenshot is posted, other Stackchain participants will validate your transaction or multiple transactions, if you purchased multiple blocks in a row. This sometimes happens around iconic and notable block heights, as Stackers aim to etch their purchase into the Stackchain and claim these special numbers for themselves.
If you are unable to purchase an entire Stackchain block yourself (meaning if the current height is $599, but you only are able to make a $1 to $599 purchase, you can post your screenshot on the main chain and still participate. You will need to specify that you are looking to do a Stackjoin by using the #Stackjoin hashtag. This will let other Stackers know that your purchase is available for them to use to complete an upcoming block. This also gets your transaction entered into the Mempool where it will sit until it’s utilized by other Stackers.
While Stackchain doesn’t have many rules, Stackchain does have some standards that have been proposed by the community, discussed, voted on, and implemented. These are referred to as SIPs or Stackchain Improvement Proposals. All of the Stackchain SIPs are outlined on the Stackchain GitHub repository.
Current SIPs such as SIP-0003 and SIP-004 have been implemented to outline the Stackjoin process and to prevent Stackers from double-spending transactions.
Stackchain FAQs
What are iconic or notable block heights?
These are usually complete whole numbers, three numbers that are the same, or any other number that is referenced in pop-culture. i.e.:
21, 69, 100, 111, 200, 222, 256, 300, 333, 400, 404, 420, 444, 500, 555, 600, 666, etc.
What if my fiat currency isn’t USD?
You can still participate. Since the originating Genesis Block was completed in USD, all consecutive purchases are denominated in USD. If you do not use USD, you can still participate, you just need to do the conversion from AUD, CAN, GBP, EUR, etc. into USD for your purchase.
Does Stackchain have leadership?
Stackchain is a living and breathing chain without leadership, though many Stackers choose to help out as much as possible by collectively maintaining or working on various aspects of Stackchain from verifying transactions, to writing SIPs, to holding discussion Spaces, to organizing the Mempool, to writing documentation, everyone has an equal share of say and the Stackchain ecosystem as a whole governs itself.
What’s the goal of Stackchain?
To have fun while buying as much bitcoin as possible.
Glossary of Stackchain Terms
- stack: A purchase of bitcoin.
- receipt: A screenshot of a stack.
- partial stack: A stack insufficient to create a block and must be stackjoined to be in a block.
- block: A reply that contains one or more receipts.
- self confirmation: Building on top of your own block to get a higher chance of validation.
- confirmation: How many blocks exist after a given block. Usually counted as zero if the poster has self confirmed and no one else has built on their chain.
- multi block: A block that advances the tip height more than 1.
- solo block: A block mined by a single person. May be a stackjoin as all inputs are provided by the same person.
- stackjoin: The combination of multiple receipts to create a valid (multi) block.
- miner: A person that participates in stackjoin creation or the creation of solo blocks.
- orphan block: A block that is not in the longest chain. The receipts in orphan blocks are usually added to the mempool.
- double spend: A single receipt being used multiple times in a single chain.
- chain: A chain of blocks from the genesis block to the chain tip.
- orphaned chain: A chain that is not the longest chain.
- fork: Two chains that are competing to be the longest one. Usually this will go on until one of the chains become unmaintained and becomes an orphaned chain.
- chain tip: The block with the highest value in a chain.
- mempool: A document containing unused receipts to be stackjoined. Currently maintained by Semisol, FalseFaucet and sathoarder.
- proxy block: A block posted outside the tip being quote tweeted on the tip in case the miner does not care.
The proxy block will be deleted if the miner posts to the tip themselves. - validation: The verification of blocks by nodes.
- node: A Stackchain participant.
- SIP: A Stackchain Improvement Proposal. The most popular SIP is SIP-0003 Stackjoin.
- genesis block: The first block of the Stackchain.
Other Resources
Stackchain’s Layer 2 - The LightStack Network Stackchain has a Layer 2 solution that helps bring conversations off of the main chain and into a different layer. We use a Twitter Community to accomplish this. The community can be used for memes, posting questions, Stackjoins, and all things Stackchain. Originally Mempool management was done on Layer 2, but we’ve since moved the majority of Mempool management over to our Sidechain.
Stackchain’s Sidechain - Telegram/Matrix We set up a Telegram and Matrix channel that are bridged together to allow Stackers to collaborate together more easily in an easily followed and searchable manner. We use Telegram to talk about Stackchain, discuss upcoming SIPs, post transactions that need a Stackjoin, discuss forks and orphaned transactions, and manage the Mempool.