- Babylon, the self-custodial Bitcoin staking protocol, will launch its mainnet on August 22, 2024.
- The launch brings a “third native use case of Bitcoin” to users, adding staking to its store of value and payment, said Babylon co-founder Fisher Yu.
Babylon, a self-custodial Bitcoin staking protocol, has announced the launch of its Phase 1 mainnet as it eyes the growing decentralized finance market on the leading blockchain network.
Babylon Announces Bitcoin Staking Mainnet
In an announcement made Monday, the protocol revealed Its mainnet launch will take place on August 22, 2024. The first phase of the mainnet will allow BTC holders to stake their coins with the self-custody protocol.
The countdown to the launch of Babylon’s Bitcoin staking mainnet has begun!
Self-custody Bitcoin staking
Bitcoin Security for PoS Systems
Unlock on demand
Leverage over $1,000,000 of idle Bitcoin capitalStaking Dashboard:… pic.twitter.com/TItPoUbLv2
— Babylon (@babylonlabs_io) August 19, 2024
At the same time, the next phases of the Bitcoin protocol will allow proof-of-stake networks to leverage the security of the $1 trillion Bitcoin network. Projects that can access and use this ecosystem include layer 2 chains, data availability layers, and oracles.
“This launch paves the way for Bitcoin’s third native use case, the asset beyond value storage and simple payment: staking to secure networks and earn money,” said Fisher Yu, co-founder of the Babylon project. “We hope this will strengthen the crypto-economic security of PoS chains and other decentralized applications, providing them with a safer and more reliable infrastructure, while unlocking the value of the $1 trillion idle and unencumbered Bitcoin ecosystem.”
Babylon’s announcement comes after the platform raised $70 million in a funding round led by crypto venture capital firm Paradigm. Mainnet is backed by over 200 service providers, including Allnodes, Galaxy Digital, P2P, Figment, Luganodes, and Stakefish.
The project has also received support from top wallets such as Binance Web3 Wallet, OKX Web3 Wallet, Bitget Wallet, Keystone, and TomoWallet.
