Babylon announces launch of Bitcoin staking mainnet
Babylon, a self-hosted Bitcoin staking protocol, has revealed that it will be launching its mainnet on August 22, 2024. This announcement marks a significant milestone for the protocol as it aims to tap into the growing decentralized finance market on the leading blockchain network.
Bringing a new use case for Bitcoin
Co-founder Fisher Yu of Babylon highlighted that the launch of the mainnet will introduce a “third native use case for Bitcoin,” providing users with the ability to stake their Bitcoin as collateral for both value storage and payments. This new functionality expands the utility of Bitcoin beyond its traditional roles as a store of value and a medium of exchange.
Empowering proof-of-stake networks
With the launch of Babylon’s mainnet, proof-of-stake networks will be able to leverage the security of the $1 trillion Bitcoin network. This opens up opportunities for projects across various sectors, including layer 2 chains, data availability layers, and oracles, to benefit from the robust security and revenue potential offered by staking.
Support from the crypto community
Babylon’s mainnet launch comes on the heels of a successful funding round, where the platform raised $70 million led by crypto venture capital firm Paradigm. The project has garnered support from over 200 finality providers, such as Allnodes, Galaxy Digital, and Figment, as well as top wallets like Binance Web3 Wallet and OKX Web3 Wallet.
