HashKey Cloud disclosed that it has joined Stacks' self-custody Bitcoin staking program as a founding partner and has officially become a Genesis Bond participant and sBTC signer operator. Stacks developers anticipate that the institutional Genesis Bond will launch around September 10, although the exact timing and allocation have not yet been finalized.
First batch open to institutional investors
Stacks' newly launched Protocol Bond requires participants to lock BTC on the Bitcoin mainchain and lock the corresponding STX on the Stacks network. The project team states that this design does not alter Bitcoin's native consensus rules, and the locked BTC remains under the holder's control in their wallet.
The first phase of Genesis Bond is primarily targeted at institutions and professional market participants and will not be fully open to retail users initially. Stacks stated that initial capacity will be prioritized for approved partners, with some allocations potentially available through designated pooling services.
Earnings are credited in sBTC
Stacks uses a Proof of Transfer (PoX) mechanism, where miners compete to mine blocks by submitting BTC, and the protocol distributes a portion of the rewards to eligible participants. Therefore, the so-called "Bitcoin staking" in Genesis Bonds is not native staking on the Bitcoin mainchain, but rather a yield product designed based on Stacks' mechanism.
According to the project’s technical documentation, a Bond has a term of 12 Stacks reward cycles, approximately six months. Participants may exit early but will forfeit any remaining rewards for the current period. Rewards accrue initially in sBTC; if the selected signer manager supports mainchain withdrawals, participants may also request settlement in native BTC.
HashKey Cloud joins the signing network
In addition to participating in the inaugural Genesis Bond, HashKey Cloud will join the sBTC signer network. sBTC is a 1:1 BTC-pegged asset within the Stacks ecosystem, and signers are responsible for jointly approving BTC deposits and withdrawals between the Bitcoin network and Stacks; no single signer can independently transfer the underlying BTC.
Stacks previously confirmed that HashKey Cloud, Ankr, and The Tie have joined the signer set. The project team believes that incorporating Asian infrastructure providers will help expand institutional access and distribute operational responsibilities across more companies and regions. However, increasing the number of signers does not eliminate all technical and governance risks.
Details still to be disclosed before launch
HashKey Cloud has not yet disclosed how much BTC or STX it plans to commit, nor has it published details on participation fees, customer eligibility criteria, or a list of supported regions. For the market, the official launch date of Genesis Bond, the actual amount of BTC locked, the first participating institutions, and available capacity will be the first quantifiable signals to gauge initial demand.
Additional information: HashKey Cloud is a subsidiary of HashKey Holding Limited. This partnership was announced by Stacks founder Muneeb Ali at the HashKey Cloud and Cactus Custody event in Hong Kong.