On December 18, the hybrid Layer 2 projectBOB(Build on Bitcoin) announced a partnership with the Bitcoin Staking protocolBabylon, where the two parties will leverage their respective strengths to integrate the security of the Bitcoin network, bringing Bitcoin Finality to BOB's hybrid L2 network.
Through the integration with the Babylon protocol, BOB will build a global leading Bitcoin Security Network (BSN), and the two parties will jointly create a more secure, low-threshold, and easy-to-participate Bitcoin Staking channel for users, supporting the development of the Bitcoin Staking ecosystem, and bringing users a new Staking experience between Bitcoin and BOB's powerful hybrid L2 network, ultimately unleashing the $500 billion potential of the Bitcoin Staking market. This is also an important step in the second phase of BOB's roadmap, which will be officially launched in early 2025.
BOB is a hybrid second-layer platform that combines the security of Bitcoin and the flexibility of Ethereum smart contracts, supporting Bitcoin ecosystem projects such as Ordinals, Lightning, and Nostr, aiming to improve the usability of Bitcoin and expand its functionality. BOB's vision is to use the most secure L1, BTC L1, to ensure security, and create a decentralized bridge to connect BTC, ETH, and other L1 blockchains. Therefore, the Hybrid L2 achieves interoperability without relying on third-party bridge tools, while also solving the problem of fragmented BTC multi-chain liquidity.
Leveraging the leading liquidity aggregation products and technologies of the Hybrid L2, BOB has been committed to promoting the large-scale use of BTC Liquidity Staking Assets (LSTs), unleashing the untapped BTC liquidity potential in the DeFi world. BOB believes that DeFi has greater potential on the Bitcoin network and emphasizes the irreplaceable role of BTC as the cornerstone of the future DeFi. It is reported that BOB has contributed over $200 million in TVL to the Bitcoin Staking ecosystem, including Babylon LST assets supported by liquidity aggregation platforms such as Solv, Bedrock, and PumpBTC. In addition, BOB's one-click Bitcoin Staking product - BOB Stake can enable millions of users to easily obtain Babylon LST assets with just one Bitcoin network transaction, through integration with third-party Staking service platforms (such as Staking Rewards, XverseEarn, and Everstake).
To support the new positioning of the BOB Bitcoin Security Network (BSN), Lombard has announced the introduction of LBTC on the BOB network. LBTC is the largest Bitcoin LST asset, with a TVL of about $1.5 billion, of which 80% is actively deployed in DeFi, and BOB will become the fourth native LBTC deployment network after Ethereum, Base, and BNB Chain.
Furthermore, BOB announced that starting today, the additional Babylon credits for Bitcoin LST asset Staking will be distributed to BOB users within the next 45 days, providing a channel and opportunity for users to directly participate in and obtain generous Babylon credits outside of the official Babylon Staking.
Alexei Zamyatin, co-founder of BOB and core contributor to BitVM, said: "Bringing Bitcoin Finality into the BOB hybrid L2 model through Babylon is an optimal natural choice, combining the best features of Bitcoin and Ethereum on a single platform. The LST assets based on Babylon have made a significant contribution to BOB's DeFi TVL. Furthermore, BOB will also integrate Lombard's LBTC. This collaboration strengthens our commitment to making BOB the 'home of BTC DeFi'. The Bitcoin Staking ecosystem has tremendous potential, with DeFi only accounting for 0.1% of BTC market cap, while ETH accounts for 30%."
On the Babylon platform, users can securely Stake their Bitcoin without having to move their Bitcoin out of their own addresses. This allows Bitcoin holders to earn rewards from their assets without the need for wrapping, custodianship, or other intermediaries, preserving the inherent security of the Bitcoin network. With the launch of the Babylon Cap-3 mainnet Staking last week, Babylon has once again demonstrated the surging demand for Bitcoin Staking.
Fisher Yu, CTO of Babylon Labs, said: "We are excited to support BOB in becoming a Bitcoin Security Network. Integrating Babylon LST assets into BOB's hybrid L2 model lays the foundation for the two parties to build a powerful Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem together. This integration is a key step in realizing the vision of a secure, decentralized Bitcoin world."
The integration between BOB and Babylon follows the release of the BOB Hybrid L2 vision paper, which outlines BOB's role in positioning Bitcoin as the cornerstone of DeFi. The second phase of the Hybrid L2 vision includes adding Bitcoin Finality, now provided by Babylon, as well as the launch of a trust-minimized Bitcoin bridge supported by BitVM (expected to be released on testnet in Q1 2025). This will enable BOB to combine the security of Bitcoin with the innovation of Ethereum, bringing a more thriving on-chain ecosystem to developers and users.
For more details, visit gobob.xyz.
About BOB (Build on Bitcoin)
BOB (Build on Bitcoin) is a hybrid Layer-2 network that combines the advantages of Bitcoin and Ethereum, aiming to become the "home of BTC DeFi". The unique Hybrid L2 model integrates the strengths of the two ecosystems - the security and dormant BTC capital of Bitcoin, as well as the DeFi innovation and multi-functionality of Ethereum. By positioning BTC as the cornerstone of the new decentralized financial system, BOB can unlock new use cases and trillions of dollars in BTC liquidity. BOB perfectly inherits the security of the Bitcoin network through the BitVM protocol and creates trust-minimized bridges between BOB, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other L1 networks. Therefore, the Hybrid L2 does not rely on third-party cross-chain bridges to achieve interoperability, easily concentrating liquidity around the Bitcoin network instead of being fragmented across multiple chains.
BOB is supported by leading investment firms such as Castle Island Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Ledger Cathay Ventures, and IOSG.
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About Babylon
Babylon is a project that designs a Bitcoin-secured shared protocol, aiming 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, L2s, Data Availability (DA) layers, etc.) to earn rewards, without third-party custody, cross-chain bridges, or wrapping services. Babylon's approach combines the high security and wide adoption of Bitcoin with the efficiency and scalability of PoS systems, increasing the utility of Bitcoin. Babylon was founded in 2022 by Professor David Tse from Stanford University and Dr. Fisher Yu. Professor Tse is a member of the US National Academy of Engineering, 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.
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