Babylon, a self-hosted Bitcoin staking protocol designed to build a decentralized world secured by Bitcoin, will launch its first phase mainnet on August 22, 2024. Following a $70 million round led by Paradigm, the launch of the Babylon Bitcoin staking mainnet represents an important milestone in integrating Bitcoin security into the Proof of Stake (PoS) ecosystem. The Babylon Bitcoin staking protocol allows systems such as PoS chains, L2, data availability layers (DA), oracles, etc. to obtain stakes from the largest decentralized crypto asset - Bitcoin.
The Babylon Bitcoin staking mainnet will be launched in phases. The upcoming first phase will address the supply side of the two-sided market, allowing Bitcoin holders to lock their Bitcoin using a self-custodial Bitcoin staking script on the Bitcoin chain. Future phases of the Bitcoin staking protocol will allow PoS networks to leverage staked Bitcoin to provide cryptoeconomic security.
In order to maximize the security of the Bitcoin staking system, the system initially set a total of 1,000 Bitcoins as the system's staking threshold. The Babylon Bitcoin staking mainnet is supported by more than 200 finality providers, which are similar to PoS validators in that they receive voting rights delegation from BTC stakers and can earn commissions from staking rewards. The mainnet integrates finality providers including industry leaders Allnodes, Figment, Galaxy Digital, Luganodes, P2P, Stakefish, etc.
Major wallets including Binance Web3 Wallet, Bitget Wallet, Imtoken, Keystone, OKX Web3 Wallet, OneKey Wallet and TomoWallet have integrated with the Babylon Bitcoin staking ecosystem, improving accessibility and user experience. In addition, the mainnet has also integrated Liquid Staking Token Protocols (LST) such as Acorn, Babypie, Bedrock, Chakra, Kinza, Lombard, Lorenzo, Nomic, pSTAKE, PumpBTC, Solv, etc., demonstrating its commitment to cultivating a diverse and resilient Bitcoin staking ecosystem.
David Tse, co-founder of the Babylon project, said: “We are excited to announce the launch of the mainnet, which is an important step in our mission to make the largest crypto asset a secure cornerstone of the PoS system. Our team is committed to advancing the utility of Bitcoin beyond its role as a traditional currency.”
Fisher Yu, co-founder of the Babylon project, said: "This mainnet launch brings a third native use case for Bitcoin assets beyond value storage and simple payments: staking to protect the network and earn returns. We expect this will enhance the cryptoeconomic security of PoS chains and other decentralized applications, providing them with a more secure and reliable infrastructure, while unlocking the value of the idle, unrestricted $1 trillion Bitcoin ecosystem."
A Binance Web3 Wallet representative said: “Binance Web3 Wallet is very excited to be one of the first wallets to support the Babylon mainnet launch. Our goal has always been to provide users with seamless on-chain access while supporting top projects in their early stages of development.”
Jason Lau, Chief Innovation Officer at OKX, said: “For over 10 years, we have been at the forefront of supporting Bitcoin innovation and growth, focusing on expanding Bitcoin’s accessibility and usage. With the launch of the Babylon Bitcoin Staking Protocol, OKX Wallet web users can now easily explore new use cases for their self-custodial Bitcoin. We can’t wait to see how the community will utilize this new platform.”
Alex Esin, CEO of P2P, said: “We are very excited to have the opportunity to support and actively participate in the development of Babylon. From the first testnet to the mainnet. It brings opportunities to BTC holders and brings significant changes to the BTC-based DeFi track.”
Jacob Phillips, co-founder of Lombard, said: “By bringing the supply side to Babylon, Lombard will allow Bitcoin holders and institutions to earn yield by staking BTC through the Babylon protocol, while providing a DeFi-compatible liquid asset for them to use in the protocol. This dual advantage opens up new horizons for Bitcoin’s role in the decentralized economy and has the potential to bring billions of Bitcoin into the Web3 ecosystem.”
Babylon has achieved several important milestones, including the launch of the world's first trustless Bitcoin staking testnet in February 2024. The testnet attracted more than 100,000 stakers in 48 hours, demonstrating the platform's potential to develop Bitcoin as the security backbone of PoS systems. This achievement not only demonstrates the technical strength of the Babylon protocol, but also its commitment to creating a secure, decentralized economy.
To learn more about the countdown to the mainnet launch, follow @babylonlabs_io on Twitter. For more information about Babylon, visit the Babylon official website ( www.babylonlabs.io ).
For media inquiries, please contact Dayana Aleksandrova at (310) 260-7901 or dayana@melrosepr.com
About Babylon
Babylon is a project that designs Bitcoin security sharing protocols to build a decentralized world secured by Bitcoin. Its latest development is the world's first trustless and self-custodial Bitcoin staking protocol, which allows Bitcoin holders to stake their Bitcoin on proof-of-stake (PoS) systems such as PoS chains, L2, and data availability (DA) layers, enabling them to earn returns without the need for third-party custody, cross-chain bridges, or packaging services. Babylon's approach combines the high security and widespread adoption of Bitcoin with the efficiency and scalability of PoS systems, increasing the practicality of Bitcoin. Babylon was founded in 2022 by Stanford University professors David Tse and Dr. Fisher Yu. Professor Tse is a member of the U.S. Academy of Engineering and is known for inventing the legendary proportional fair scheduling algorithm. Babylon is led by a team of consensus protocol researchers and experienced L1 blockchain engineers from around the world.
For more information on the Babylon project, visit:
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