Stacks takes a pyramidal approach to its architecture:

1. Foundation Layer (Bitcoin): Provides security and trust guarantees
2. Middle Layer (Stacks): Adds smart contracts and programmability

This architecture allows Stacks to offer Ethereum-like functionality while leveraging Bitcoin's security rather than competing with it. A key differentiator is Stacks' ability to both read from and write to the Bitcoin blockchain:

• Applications on Stacks can read transactions that occurred on Bitcoin and trigger actions based on them
• Through sBTC (a 1:1 pegged token representing BTC on Stacks), applications can directly access Bitcoin liquidity

These capabilities enable developers to build applications that users can interact with directly from the Bitcoin network, unlocking the trillion-dollar liquidity pool that exists on Bitcoin.