Announcing the Q2 2026 Stacks Endowment Grantees

Q2 2026 was a challenging quarter for the broader crypto market, and that context shapes how ecosystems allocate resources and where builders choose to focus their energy. The Stacks Endowment views a difficult market as a reason to lean in rather than pull back. The projects that will define the next phase of Bitcoin-native finance are being built during periods exactly like this one, and supporting those builders is precisely what this program exists to do. The projects that define the next phase of Bitcoin-native finance are being built right now, and the Stacks Endowment exists to ensure the best builders have the resources to do so.

This cycle, we focused our funding on the foundational infrastructure that will make Stacks the home of an onchain Bitcoin economy when conditions improve. We're also being deliberate about where we direct that support. Rather than duplicating what Stacks Labs is already focused on, we want to fund the parts of the ecosystem that require independent builders to develop and mature: the financial products, privacy primitives, agentic infrastructure, and liquidity tools that make Stacks genuinely well-rounded and ready to serve as the destination for Bitcoin onchain activity.

To optimize the cycle, the application timeline was shortened, and a new Grants Portal was introduced to streamline both submissions and evaluations. Additionally, a Request for Projects was deployed to pinpoint specific gaps within the ecosystem. The cycle was also organized around four strategic pillars tied directly to Bitcoin-native finance: DeFi and Perps, Real-World Assets, Agentic Applications, and Privacy.

This quarter’s goal was to increase the quality and relevance of funded work by prioritizing teams building products, infrastructure, and primitives that can compound alongside sBTC, Bitcoin Staking, and broader Stacks adoption.

The next phase requires applications and infrastructure that make BTC more useful onchain: deeper liquidity, better execution, accessible yield products, privacy-aware transaction flows, agentic payment rails, and tooling that helps users, builders, and institutions participate more effectively. 10 teams were selected this cycle. 

Meet the Q2 2026 Grantees

PaySats

PaySats is building a more accessible way for users to save, borrow, and manage Bitcoin-backed assets through an agentic interface.

By bringing its Bitcoin savings product to Stacks, PaySats will enable users to DCA into sBTC, borrow against sBTC, and manage those flows through a human-approved AI agent. The project integrates directly with the emerging Stacks DeFi stack, including Bitflow and Zest, making it easier for everyday users to interact with Bitcoin-native finance without having to navigate every step manually.

Jing

Jing Swap is expanding liquidity and execution for sBTC through an RFQ market-making mechanism on Stacks.

The project builds on Jing’s live Stacks DEX, Jingswap, by introducing a CEX-hedged quoting flow for sBTC swaps. This gives users better price certainty while allowing professional market makers to source liquidity off-chain and settle atomically on Stacks. Better execution is a key requirement for deeper DeFi activity, and Jing is focused on making sBTC swaps more reliable and competitive.

Covault

Covault is bringing options infrastructure to Stacks, giving BTC-backed asset holders new ways to manage risk and earn yield.

The project is building a fully collateralized, cash-settled European options clearinghouse, settled in sBTC or native STX. By avoiding margin, liquidation engines, and complex funding mechanics, Covault is focused on creating a more transparent and defined-risk options layer for Stacks. This expands the financial toolkit available to sBTC holders and helps move the ecosystem toward a more mature market structure.

Privara

Privara is building privacy infrastructure for Stacks-native assets.

The project is developing a privacy execution layer for SIP-010 assets, enabling intent-based transfers with selectively traceable wallets. Its grant supports a testnet protocol with Clarity smart contracts, a TypeScript SDK, and a reference relayer for privacy-aware payment flows. As more users, DAOs, and institutions interact with Stacks-based assets, privacy-preserving transaction infrastructure will become increasingly important.

PerkOS

PerkOS is building trust, payments, and reputation infrastructure for AI agents on Bitcoin.

Already live on Stacks mainnet, PerkOS enables agents to register, escrow funds, validate work, and build reputation through smart contracts. This grant supports the next phase of its Stacks Agentic Commerce layer, including sBTC-denominated escrow, an agent SDK, security review, and early adoption. As AI agents become more capable of transacting online, PerkOS is helping bring those interactions onto Bitcoin-native rails.

BitYield

BitYield is making Bitcoin yield easier to access for users who do not want to navigate DeFi complexity.

The project is building a consumer-grade Bitcoin yield dashboard on Stacks, designed for BTC holders who may not yet understand sBTC, STX, or DeFi protocols. Its grant supports routing into live Stacks yield opportunities, and a closed beta with real Bitcoin holders. If successful, BitYield can help bridge the gap between passive BTC ownership and active participation in the Stacks economy.

DeepStack

DeepStack is building an autonomous liquidity infrastructure for Stacks.

Created by the builder behind FlashStack, DeepStack is a Bitcoin-native market-making and liquidity agent designed to support deeper onchain markets. The grant funds autonomous liquidity operations on the Bitflow sBTC-STX pool, AI-assisted risk tuning, a public metrics dashboard, and a 30-day mainnet pilot. Stronger liquidity is foundational to Stacks DeFi, and DeepStack is focused on making that liquidity more active, measurable, and resilient.

AgentPay

AgentPay is bringing spend controls and verifiable payment infrastructure to AI agents using sBTC.

The project enables AI agents to pay for tools and services within hard budget caps, while keeping payments non-custodial and auditable. Its grant funds a Stacks and sBTC adapter for AgentPay’s existing x402 gateway, SDK, MCP server, and receipt layer. This helps bring a practical layer of governance to agentic payments, making it safer for AI systems to transact through Bitcoin-native infrastructure.

Degen Labs

Degen Labs is advancing privacy-focused infrastructure for the Stacks ecosystem.

Building on its experience shipping Stacks tooling and developer infrastructure, Degen Labs is focused on privacy primitives for Stacks-native assets and applications. Its work supports the broader need for private transaction flows, selective disclosure, and developer-ready infrastructure as more financial activity moves onchain through Stacks.

Vibewatch

Vibewatch is building an AI-powered ecosystem intelligence for Stacks.

The product tracks and summarizes community sentiment across Discord, Telegram, X, Reddit, Nostr, forums, and other sources, helping teams understand what their communities are saying and where attention is moving. Through this grant, Vibewatch will build a public Stacks Ecosystem Sentiment Index and an x402-payable endpoint that allows AI agents to query sentiment data in sBTC. This brings better visibility, analytics, and agent-readable ecosystem data to Stacks.

What This Cohort Represents

The Q2 cohort is smaller than the first grant cycle by design. Rather than repeating an open-category process, this cycle was structured around a clearer funding thesis: Bitcoin-native finance requires more than capital entering the ecosystem. It requires products that can make BTC useful onchain, infrastructure that improves liquidity and execution, privacy tools that protect users and institutions, and agentic systems that can transact through Bitcoin-native rails.

Several priorities are reflected across the selected projects. First, the cohort strengthens the financial layer around sBTC. PaySats, Jing, Covault, BitYield, and DeepStack each address a different part of the BTC-backed financial stack, including savings, swaps, options, yield access, and liquidity operations.

Second, the cohort advances agentic applications and programmable capital. AgentPay, PerkOS, and Vibewatch are building toward a future in which AI agents can transact, pay, coordinate, and consume ecosystem data via Bitcoin-native infrastructure. This requires more than wallets. It requires payment controls, reputation, analytics, readable data, and infrastructure that makes agent activity safe and useful.

Third, the cohort supports privacy as a necessary component of Bitcoin-native finance. Privara and Degen Labs are focused on privacy-aware infrastructure for Stacks-native assets and applications. As more users and institutions interact with BTC-backed products onchain, selective disclosure and privacy-preserving transaction flows will become increasingly important.

Bitcoin Staking creates a direct path from a Bitcoin holder to a Stacks user. When someone stakes BTC and earns rewards, they enter the Stacks ecosystem, and what they find there will determine whether they stay and go deeper. The Q2 grantees are building the products, infrastructure, and financial primitives that make that possible.

Supporting Grantees Beyond Funding

Grant funding is one way the Endowment supports builders. Selected grantees will receive ongoing support through progress check-ins, milestone-based feedback, and access to relevant expertise from the Stacks Labs team across key areas, including marketing, go-to-market, product, and technical strategy. This support is designed to help teams stay focused, unblock execution, and connect their work to the broader needs of the Stacks ecosystem.

Q2 marked a more focused phase of ecosystem funding for Stacks. In a challenging market, that focus matters. The Endowment’s role is to fund with discipline, support high-alignment builders, and help ensure that Stacks is ready for the next phase of Bitcoin-native finance. Congratulations to the Q2 2026 Stacks Endowment grantees!