The Bitcoin (BTC) community, or “plebs” as they are affectionately known, are a force to be reckoned with. They banded together in less than seven days to stack over $160,000, or 7 BTC, in a “stackchain.”
The so-called stackchain, a portmanteau of the blockchain (Bitcoin’s ledger) and stacking Sats (buying BTC), is a community-driven meme. The investment chain derived from one man’s desire to express the idea that buying Bitcoin every day and doing dollar-cost averaging (DCA) is essential to being a Bitcoiner.
ArizonanHodl, the Bitcoiner in question, told Cointelegraph contained that he would “eliminate any excuses” by posting a $5.00 purchase. Here is the original tweet:
Even on days when I’m broke as hell I still stack. Feel free to join me. pic.twitter.com/e8TRUXFxi6
— AriZonan Stackchain #5 (@AriZonanHODL) July 18, 2022
Bitcoin buyers from around the world supported the gesture. They took the idea by the scruff of the neck and made it a movement. The community began stacking sats in increasing increments of $1.00 at a time. $5.00 became $6.00, $7.00, etc until the cumulative total passed the $100,000 mark over the Saturday weekend.
According to the stackchain’s official GitHub (because, of course, there is an official GitHub), Derek Ross explains that the stackchain is “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.”
However, the “bit of fun” grew exponentially. While Arizonan had set a goal of $10,000 for the bear market tomfoolery, in a matter of days, the plebs had stacked a whole BTC, or $22,000 at the time of writing:
“At that point, I thought people might think the goal had been reached and lose interest, but the exact opposite happened. Plebs started to FOMO into the stackchain!”
By Monday, the stackchain passed $150,000. Each “stack” is now well over half a grand. The incremental amounts will soon approach four-figure purchases, and the hype around the stack chain has caught the eye of Bitcoiners around the world.
EPIC STACKCHAIN MOMENT:
-Money invested in the #Stackchain surpasses $150,000 with 548 incremental #Bitcoin purchases. pic.twitter.com/M3xQGFEEQG
— MACE ⚡️TACKCHAIN (@macenymity) July 25, 2022
For those of humbler means, “stack joins,” or combined efforts from Bitcoiners working together to reach large Bitcoin buys, are possible. Plus, well-known Bitcoiners in the space, including Cory Klippsten, CEO of Swan Bitcoin, have got in on the action:
#stackchaintip $475@swanbitcoin represent!#stackchain pic.twitter.com/tMiPtWj8qx
— Cory Klippsten (@coryklippsten) July 23, 2022
Klippsten told Cointelegraph:
“The #stackchain is classic Bitcoin Twitter — something fun, exciting, just a tad competitive, and great for Bitcoin.”
Behind the scenes, the stackchain core developers — a riff on the Bitcoin core developers — keep the stackchain in check. A Telegram group of stackchainers, called the Lightstack Network, aids the organization and shares memes. “We need fun too,” says ArizonanHODL.
#stackchain https://t.co/KUMIA8WKJy pic.twitter.com/6q08WsxRo4
— RABBINSTEIN #58 (@IwanRabbinstein) July 21, 2022
The Telegram group also endeavors to avoid stackchain forking. A fork occurs when the stackchain Twitter thread splits off and a stacker inadvertently “double spends.” An unwanted outcome, the forked stack can disrupt the orderly flow of stacks and must therefore be merged into the stack and validated by “nodes.”
Incidentally, the Twitter thread has become so congested by stacks that reportedly, Twitter servers are buckling under the 1000-long thread load. ArizonanHODL sums it up succinctly:
“The stackchain is actually quite complicated, but these plebs made it look effortless and had fun while doing it. It’s just such a cool thing to be a part of.”
But, why buy Bitcoin at all? Despite the price plummeting from the meme-worthy $69,000 to $17,000, analysts would suggest the macro backdrop is forming a healthy bottom. Bitcoin the asset is a savings technology and remains the best-performing asset of the past decade. ArizonanHODL that stacking sats is not just about money, though:
“I stack for so many reasons. I stack for fun. I stack for my mental health. I stack for my future. I stack for my kids. I stack to defy central authority.”
Indeed, uundeterred by recent bearish price action, the stackchain may surge to greater highs. At the time of writing, the cost to “mine” on the stackchain approaches $600.