# stSTX Basics

**stSTX** is the tokenised version of stacked STX, designed to earn up to 10% APY in auto-compounding STX rewards—while remaining usable across Stacks dApps.

Users deposit STX to mint stSTX, which increases in value automatically as stacking rewards are earned (stSTX = deposited STX + rewards). stSTX can then be deployed across DeFi protocols to generate additional yield or points—and can be swapped back to STX at any time.

Since launching in December 2023, stSTX has become a core building block of the emerging Stacks DeFi ecosystem. It now represents nearly half of all TVL on Stacks, making StackingDAO the largest DeFi protocol in the network.

More than 35% of stSTX liquidity has been put to work across DeFi apps like Zest, Bitflow, Velar, Hermetica, and Arkadiko—helping bootstrap the broader Stacks DeFi landscape.

**Key features:**

* **Non-custodial** – Users stay fully in control of their assets
* **Auto-compounding STX yield** – Rewards are automatically reinvested into the smart contracts behind stSTX
* **Seamless stacking** – No two-week unstacking delay, no 90k STX minimum, no need to run a node, and instant yield on deposit
* **Most integrated Stacks asset** – Use stSTX across major DeFi protocols including Zest, Bitflow, Velar, Arkadiko, and Hermetica
* **Flexible stSTXbtc<>stSTX switching** – Easily swap between stSTX and stSTXbtc without needing to unstack. One-click swaps are available directly on StackingDAO.

{% hint style="info" %}
Because stSTX auto-compounds and stacking rewards are distributed continuously, the value of stSTX doesn’t jump all at once at the end of each stacking cycle.

Instead, the stSTX ratio increases gradually over the two-week cycle, updating roughly every 70 Bitcoin blocks (about every 12 hours).
{% endhint %}


---

# Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation

If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question.

Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter:

```
GET https://docs.stackingdao.com/stackingdao/the-stacking-dao-app/ststx-liquid-stacking-with-stx-rewards/ststx-basics.md?ask=<question>
```

The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language.
The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation.

Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.