Industry Heavyweight Asymmetric Research Enters the Stacks Ecosystem As Core Security Contributor and Signer For sBTC
New York, New York, October 22nd, 2024, Chainwire
Today, the Stacks Foundation announced that leading security firm Asymmetric Research has joined the Stacks ecosystem as a security contributor to the leading Bitcoin L2. The team is already making significant contributions to the ecosystem, acting as an embedded security team during their audit of the upcoming sBTC asset and joining the Stacks signer network through our delegation program.
Asymmetric has a proven track record of securing some of the industry’s most prominent protocols. It is the security partner for leading bridge Wormhole, Jump Crypto, several top DeFi projects, and leading protocols such as Solana, Cosmos, Berachain, and others. Asymmetric is also a core contributor to Solana’s highly anticipated new validator client, Firedancer.
Signers play a critical role in the Stacks network, securing the deposit and withdrawal process between BTC and sBTC, ensuring a seamless and secure transfer of BTC to the Bitcoin L2 ecosystem. Asymmetric will join other industry leaders in supporting the network and overall security of sBTC, including BitGo, Blockdaemon, Copper, Figment, Kiln, Luganodes, Chorus One, and more than 30 other institutional node operators, making the Stacks Signer network the most robust in the Bitcoin ecosystem.
The release of sBTC, expected in Q4 of this year, will offer developers a trust-minimized, decentralized, programmable Bitcoin asset. The asset is 1:1 Bitcoin-backed and will allow developers to leverage the security, network effects, and 1.2T in latent capital of the Bitcoin network. Among other use cases, sBTC will enable more secure forms of Bitcoin DeFi which is expected to be a major catalyst in activating the Bitcoin economy.
For any project, layers of security are crucial, and Asymmetric Research represents one more major addition to Stacks’ overall security program. This program already includes sBTC’s decentralized network of validators/signers (removing the need to entrust a single entity and mitigating counterparty risk) and sBTC’s design to include 100% Bitcoin finality, securing sBTC at the consensus level of a $2.5 billion network.
In addition to numerous audits, including Asymmetric Research’s audit efforts, other initiatives this year have added to a well-rounded approach to Stacks security. This includes direct and ongoing testing with the aforementioned leading Signers, the onboarding of Hypernative, the emergence of a dedicated whitehat security program, a consultation agreement with the Staking Defense League, an ongoing Immunefi bug bounty program, and dedicated Stacks Foundation Residents focused exclusively on fuzz and penetration testing throughout 2024.
“The value of building on Bitcoin comes down to security. It’s not enough to simply build on Bitcoin— ecosystems must prioritize securing activity at all layers as we collectively look to unlock the Bitcoin economy. With Asymmetric Research, the Stacks ecosystem is adding yet another high-caliber entity to the mix of industry leaders collaborating to make sBTC the best version of programmable sBTC available. Stacks core developers and Asymmetric share a commitment to protecting users and developers, and in addition to being a match in technical pedigree, are culturally aligned groups that will enhance each other’s thoughtful and rigorous approaches.” Mitchell Cuevas, Executive Director at The Stacks Foundation said.
Jonathan Claudius, Chief Executive Officer at Asymmetric Research added, “Asymmetric Research is proud to participate in the Stacks ecosystem as it pioneers trust-minimized, decentralized assets like sBTC.”
Please join us in welcoming the Asymmetric Research team to the Stacks Ecosystem, and look out for more information in the coming weeks about how you can engage with the work they will be doing.
About Stacks
Stacks is a Bitcoin L2 that enables smart contracts and decentralized applications to use Bitcoin as a secure base layer. The 2024 Nakamoto and sBTC releases will bring faster speeds and transactions backed by 100% Bitcoin finality. Stacks is the current leading Bitcoin L2 by developer traction and market cap and is poised to help unlock Bitcoin and its $500B in passive capital as a fully programmable, productive asset. The Stacks (STX) token, used as gas on the L2, was the first to undergo an SEC-qualified sale in the United States. The project explicitly decentralized with the mainnet launch in 2021. In the Stacks ecosystem, there are currently 30+ contributing entities including a non-profit Stacks Foundation, a developer tooling company Hiro, Xverse, Trust Machines, Mechanism, Bitcoin L2 Labs, ALEX, Bitcoin Frontier Fund, and more.
