Muneeb Ali

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Muneeb Ali
Muneeb Ali.png
NationalityAmerican, Pakistani
Education Princeton University (PhD)
Known for Stacks, Protothread
Scientific career
Fields Distributed Computing
Thesis Trust-to-Trust Design of a New Internet  (2017)
Doctoral advisor Andrea LaPaugh

Muneeb Ali is a Pakistani-American computer scientist and internet entrepreneur. He is a co-founder of Stacks, an open-source smart contract platform for Bitcoin. He is known for the regulatory framework that resulted in the first SEC-qualified offering for a crypto asset [1] [2] and for his doctoral dissertation which formed the basis of the Stacks network. [3] [4] He is a co-author of Protothread and Proof-of-Transfer (PoX) consensus. [5]

Career

Ali studied Computer Science at LUMS [6] and received his PhD in Computer Science from Princeton University in 2017. [7] Ali co-founded Stacks (formerly Blockstack) with Ryan Shea and went through Y Combinator in 2014. [8]

His work mainly focused on sensor networks, blockchains, and cloud computing.

Ali was a technical advisor to the HBO Silicon Valley show, and appeared in the Amazon Prime Video Rizqi Presents: Blockchain show. [9]

In 2019, he convinced the SEC regulators to allow his company to start a token offering under Reg A+ exemption, becoming the first to do so. [1] [2] In 2020, Ali released a legal framework for non-security status of Stacks. [10]

In 2021, he co-founded Trust Machines, an organization created to accelerate Bitcoin adoption through the Stacks layer, where he assumed the role of CEO. [11] Around the same period, he also transitioned from his earlier position as CEO of Hiro Systems to serving on its board, focusing on guiding the company’s strategy and supporting the development of tools for the Stacks ecosystem. [12]

In 2023, Ali actively promoted Bitcoin layer-2 solutions at international conferences, including Consensus 2023, where he argued that scaling Bitcoin through layers like Stacks was essential for mass adoption. [13] In 2023, Ali actively promoted Bitcoin layer-2 solutions at international conferences, including Consensus 2023, where he argued that scaling Bitcoin through layers such as Stacks was essential for mass adoption and programmability. [14]

In October 2024, Stacks finalized the major "Nakamoto" network upgrade, significantly boosting transaction speed and enabling confirmations secured by 100% of Bitcoin’s hash power. [15] Following this, in early December 2024, Stacks launched sBTC — a trust-minimized, 1:1 pegged representation of Bitcoin aimed at enabling programmable use of BTC on the Stacks layer. [16] Additionally, Yahoo Finance reported that the long-awaited Nakamoto Upgrade was activated successfully, marking a pivotal moment in Stacks’ evolution as a Bitcoin-based layer-2 platform. [17]

In early 2025, Ali signaled a strategic shift for Stacks, changing his bio on X (formerly Twitter) to "War-time Founder @Stacks", a move he described as indicating a transition from technical upgrades to market expansion and user acquisition. [18] Later that year, he warned that the “honeymoon phase” for Bitcoin layer-2 projects was over and predicted that more than two-thirds of existing projects may fail within three years, as Stacks continued to consolidate its position as a “blue chip” project among Bitcoin L2s. [19]


References

  1. 1 2 Vigna, Paul (10 July 2019). "SEC Clears Blockstack to Hold First Regulated Token Offering". The Wall Street Journal .
  2. 1 2 "Squawk Box on SEC's work to regulate crypto". CNBC Television.
  3. ↑ "Princeton-Trained Computer Scientists Are Building a New Internet That Brings Privacy and Property Rights to Cyberspace". Reason TV. 22 June 2017.
  4. ↑ Vigna, Paul (26 October 2019). "Tech Giants Have Hijacked the Web. It's Time for a Reboot". The Wall Street Journal .
  5. ↑ "Blockstack anchors to Bitcoin network with new mining algorithm". ZDNet .
  6. ↑ "LUMS Graduate, Muneeb Ali Featured at TEDX New York". LUMS News.
  7. ↑ "Researchers link realism to blockchain's promise". Princeton University News.
  8. ↑ "Top 100 Y Combinator Companies". Y Combinator Database (YCDB).
  9. ↑ WIECZNER, JEN (June 8, 2018). "Meet the Blockchain Startup That Inspired HBO's 'Silicon Valley' Season 5". Fortune. Retrieved October 28, 2020.
  10. ↑ Chavez-Dreyfuss, Gertrude (2020-12-07). "Blockstack's digital currency 'Stacks' to be tradable in U.S. once new blockchain arrives". Reuters.
  11. ↑ Lunden, Ingrid (2022-02-03). "Stacks founders' Trust Machines raises $150M to build Bitcoin apps". TechCrunch. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
  12. ↑ "Big Moves at Hiro: New Roles for Muneeb, Alex, and Diwaker". Hiro Blog. 2024-08-15. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
  13. ↑ Nelson, Danny (2023-04-27). "Bitcoin Layers Take the Stage at Consensus 2023". CoinDesk. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
  14. ↑ Nelson, Danny (2023-04-27). "Bitcoin Layers Take the Stage at Consensus 2023". CoinDesk. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
  15. ↑ IQ.wiki. "Nakamoto Upgrade". IQ.wiki. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
  16. ↑ IQ.wiki. "sBTC Launch". IQ.wiki. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
  17. ↑ Yahoo Finance. "Stacks, Prominent Bitcoin Layer-2 Project, Activates Long-Awaited 'Nakamoto' Upgrade". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
  18. ↑ Wang, Nelson (2025-01-14). "Stacks co-founder Muneeb Ali: Let Bitcoin L2 thrive". ChainCatcher. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
  19. ↑ Sarkar, Arijit (2025-02-20). "Bitcoin L2 'honeymoon phase' is over, most projects will fail — Muneeb Ali". Cointelegraph. Retrieved 13 September 2025.


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