On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Muneeb Ali, the founder of Stacks. Stacks is a Bitcoin layer-2 blockchain that turns BTC into programmable money — unlocking smart contracts, lending markets, and yield without changing Bitcoin’s base layer. The network has already surpassed $500 million in total value locked and is pushing toward self-custodial infrastructure that removes the need for signers or bridges.
They discuss Muneeb’s journey from Princeton PhD to building one of the earliest Bitcoin layer-2s, why Bitcoin DeFi (or BTCFi) is finally having its moment, and how institutions, nation-states, and even bots are in the next wave of adoption. Muneeb breaks down why Stacks’ BTC-backed assets are taking off, what the Satoshi upgrade means for scalability, and why making Bitcoin productive could reshape the global financial system.
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