It’s time for the annual hard fork of 2019. This is something we’ve done every year since 2015 to release backward-incompatible protocol fixes and upgrades.

As discussed in 2018, we plan to feature at least two hard forks in 2019. The first, (this one) will introduce the tokens from the recent Regulation A and Regulation S sales, as well as the August and September App Mining STX payouts. If you participated in the Regulation A or Regulation S offerings or received STX tokens in App Mining, this hard fork instantiates your tokens and begins the unlock process for them.

This hardfork should not be confused with the upgrade to Stacks blockchain v2. The hardfork to Stacks blockchain v2 with native mining is expected in Q1 2020 or later.

This Oct’19 hard fork is expected to go live on or about October 18, 2019, at Bitcoin block 599866.

What does it mean for me?

If you participated in the Regulation A or Regulation S offerings or participated in App Mining, you can verify your token allocation and unlock schedule at https://explorer.blockstack.org/verifier

If you run a Blockstack Core node, you must upgrade your core node to the new fork, the new version will be released when we’ve finalized the genesis block (approximately October 14, 2019).

→ How To Upgrade a Blockstack Core Node

We’re excited to push out these updates and continue strengthening the underlying technology powering the Blockstack ecosystem. Thanks for your support, please reach out to us via the Forum if you need any help, have questions, or other input on these developments.

Learn more about the 2019 hardfork on the forum.

Note: A previous version of the forum post had listed the hard fork date as October 9, 2019. Prior to that date, we had released a draft genesis block and self-service audit page, linked above, and we were in a position to execute the hard fork by this original date. However, we’ve received many support requests and questions leading up to that date, and we wanted to ensure we left ample time to address all the concerns and questions of our users. Per the offering circular filed with the SEC, we may take up to an extra 30 days (for a total of up to 60 days from the end of the sale) to prepare for the technical delivery of the token, and so we are taking approximately 10 of those 30 extra days to address the support requests and questions.

Important disclaimer

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has qualified the offering statement that we have filed with the SEC. The information in that offering statement is more complete than the information we are providing now, and could differ in important ways. You must read the documents filed with the SEC before investing. The offering is being made only by means of its offering statement. This document shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction.

An indication of interest involves no obligation or commitment of any kind. Any person interested in investing in any offering of Stacks Tokens should review our disclosures and the publicly filed offering statement and the final offering circular that is part of that offering statement here. Blockstack is not registered, licensed or supervised as a broker dealer or investment adviser by the SEC, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) or any other financial regulatory authority or licensed to provide any financial advice or services.

Forward-looking statements

This communication contains forward-looking statements that are based on our beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to us. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by the following words: “will,” “expect,” “would,” “intend,” “believe,” or other comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements in this document include, but are not limited to, statements about our plans for developing the platform and future utility for the Stacks Token, our Reg A+ offering and launch of our network, and collaborations and partnerships. These statements involve risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause actual results or performance to be materially different. More information on the factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause or contribute to such differences is included in our filings with the SEC, including in the “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion & Analysis” sections of our offering statement on Form 1-A. We cannot assure you that the forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date hereof. We disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.