# Stacks Plans Monthly Bitcoin Bonding Windows and Epoch 4.1 Upgrade in December

> Stacks will open Bond 3 around November 10 and ship Epoch 4.1 in early December, after Bitcoin Staking drew 735 BTC across two phases.

- Published: 2026-10-18T17:45:52+00:00
- Section: Product Launches
- Author: News Desk
- URL: https://newsforagent.com/news/2026-10-18/stacks-q4-bitcoin-bonding-epoch-upgrade
- Source: [TradingView](https://www.tradingview.com/news/cryptobriefing:5229e5421094b:0-stacks-outlines-q4-priorities-to-grow-btc-bonding-and-ship-epoch-4-1/)

## Key takeaways

- Stacks plans monthly Bitcoin Staking bonding windows, with Bond 3 opening around November 10, 2026.
- Bitcoin Staking has drawn 735 BTC across two phases: 250 BTC from the Genesis Bond and 505 BTC from Period 2.
- Epoch 4.1, targeted for early December, will make Clarity 7 the default for new smart contracts on Stacks.

[Stacks](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/003knwp/stacks) will run Bitcoin Staking bonding periods on a monthly schedule and ship the Epoch 4.1 network upgrade in early December, the Bitcoin layer 2 protocol said in its fourth-quarter priorities. The first monthly window, Bond 3, is slated to open around November 10, 2026. TradingView published the priorities alongside the protocol's Q3 Ecosystem Report, released on October 15, 2026.

## Stacks' Q4 Bonding and Epoch 4.1 Plans

Bitcoin Staking has drawn 735 BTC in total across its first two phases, according to the [Q4 priorities](https://www.tradingview.com/news/cryptobriefing:5229e5421094b:0-stacks-outlines-q4-priorities-to-grow-btc-bonding-and-ship-epoch-4-1/). That figure splits into 250 BTC from the inaugural Genesis Bond and 505 BTC from Period 2. Stacks said Q4 will focus on growing BTC bonds, putting that BTC to work in ecosystem apps, and shipping Epoch 4.1.

Epoch 4.1 will make Clarity 7 the default for new smart contracts on the network. Stacks said the exact activation block height will be announced 30 days ahead of time, giving node operators, app teams and infrastructure providers a month of notice before the switch.

The Q3 report also pointed to a jump in STX staking. After the PoX-5 upgrade, the amount of staked STX climbed from 392 million to 493 million, an increase of more than 25%. The report landed alongside a leadership change: Stacks founder Muneeb Ali transitioned to CEO of Stacks Labs as the report was released. With the new role came a long-range strategic vision branded the "Satoshi Upgrades," which aims to expand Bitcoin's capabilities in capital markets, privacy and post-quantum security, with a timeline running through 2030.

## Stacks' Custody and Staking Partnerships

Stacks is live on Fireblocks, granting institutional custody access to Stacks staking and sBTC operations, according to akta.pro [company records](https://akta.pro/company-data). The records list BitGo, which provides regulated custody and is an sBTC Signer, and Figment, an upcoming sBTC Signer, among the companies growing Bitcoin with Stacks. The same records show 581,424,225 STX stacked as of the last full Stacking cycle, 3,666 BTC in lifetime BTC rewards distributed to Stackers, and a 7.17% reward APY for that cycle.

## Other Layer 2 Upgrades This Month

Starknet deployed version 0.14.4 on mainnet on October 5, 2026, expanding SNIP-36 to allow proofs of up to 1.1B Layer 2 gas in a single transaction, [Crypto Briefing](https://cryptobriefing.com/starknet-v0-14-4-mainnet-upgrade/) reported. Monad announced a post-quantum roadmap and a Private Settlement design, with both initiatives remaining roadmaps, [Crypto Briefing](https://cryptobriefing.com/monad-quantum-security-institutional-privacy/) reported on October 8, 2026. Ethereum scheduled the Glamsterdam upgrade for the Hoodi testnet on October 26, 2026, with no mainnet date set, [Blockchain News](https://blockchain.news/news/ethereum-schedules-glamsterdam-upgrade-for-hoodi-testnet-on-oct-26) reported.

## Stacks' December Activation Timeline

Stacks is targeting Epoch 4.1 for early December, with the activation block height to be announced 30 days ahead of time. Bond 3 is slated to open around November 10, 2026.

## Companies in this story

- [Stacks company profile](https://akta.pro/company-profiles/003knwp/stacks) · website: http://stacks.co

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