The Quest for Utility: BTC Staking Ecosystem Update
The pursuit of unlocking Bitcoin’s true potential as more than just a store of value has been a longstanding quest in the crypto realm. For years, the industry has sought to push the boundaries of Bitcoin innovation. Part of this has been exploring ways to harness the power and security of the world’s largest $1 trillion cryptocurrency to drive real-world utility. This quest has led to the Babylon BTC Staking protocol, redefining the role of Bitcoin in the decentralized economy.
The Babylon Staking Protocol allows Proof-of-Stake (“PoS”) systems such as PoS chains, L2 rollups, Data Availability (DA) layers, and oracles to acquire staking capital from Bitcoin, the largest decentralized crypto asset in the world. Through its modular design and slashing functionality, The Babylon Staking Protocol will enable PoS systems to introduce Bitcoin as a staking asset and enjoy higher crypto-economic security than native tokens can provide. As a result, PoS systems will be able to utilize Babylon’s scalable staking and restaking features to unlock value from the idle, unencumbered $1 trillion Bitcoin ecosystem.
This blog will highlight our growing ecosystem joining us to enable a Bitcoin-secured decentralized economy. By joining, they are set to unlock the full potential of Bitcoin security.
Bedrock, Nomic, and Solv: Liquid Staking Tokens for Staked Bitcoin
Bedrock is launching a liquid restaking token called uniBTC on top of The Babylon Staking Protocol. Bedrock aims to build a one-click liquid restaking solution for BTC and WBTC and has already launched a successful liquid restaking solution for EigenLayer and IoTeX.
Additionally, Solv is a yield and liquidity infrastructure layer backed by Binance Labs and Blockchain Capital that leverages The Babylon Staking Protocol. They are launching SolvBTC, a yield-bearing liquid restaking token for Bitcoin where users will stake Bitcoin to Solv to receive SolvBTC.
Lorenzo Protocol: Redefining Bitcoin DeFi
Lorenzo Protocol, a project redefining the Bitcoin DeFi landscape, announced its integration with the protocol as part of its pursuit to build a scalable and performant Bitcoin application layer. This synergy ensures that all Bitcoin assets are compatible with Lorenzo’s modular L2, enabling the use of Bitcoin not only for storing critical asset data but also for providing unparalleled security to users.
Persistence One: Maximizing Yield and Security
Since April 2023, Persistence One has been a part of Babylon’s Timestamping testnet. Persistence One is a purpose-built Layer 1 on a mission to maximize yield and security through Liquid Staking and Restaking. Their mission perfectly aligns with Babylon, as it greatly improves their ecosystem, bolstering the capital staked and security threshold. With Babylon, Persistent One ensures its ecosystem has the highest level of security.
AltLayer & B2 — Consuming Security to Bolster New Use Cases
The rapid expansion of Babylon’s ecosystem goes across both the supply and demand side, whereby Babylon’s impact extends beyond just enabling staking. Several projects also tap on the staked Bitcoin to enhance their security and drive further utility. This represents the demand side leveraging Bitcoin’s robust security facilitated by Babylon:
AltLayer is a decentralized verification layer for rollups, collaborating with Babylon to build rollup infrastructure secured by staked BTC. This allows rollups to achieve decentralized verification, better latency, and improved interoperability. B² network incorporates Babylon’s BTC Staking functionality in the B² Rollup, supporting the BTC LSD and Restaking use cases for Rollups. Additionally, their B² Hub utilizes Babylon’s Bitcoin timestamping protocol to avoid long-range attacks on the PoS consensus mechanism. After the Babylon BTC Staking mainnet launch, B² Rollup will enable users to directly stake their BTC on the Bitcoin network through Babylon to participate in securing the B² Network.
Glacier, Automata, Yala and Hana Network: Bolstering Security, Accessibility and Research
Other key projects have integrated and collaborated with Babylon to enhance security, accessibility, and research. Glacier Network integrated with Babylon to strengthen and expand its validator network using Babylon’s Bitcoin staking. Automata Network has collaborated to advance Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) research and enhance multi-prover rollup security leveraging staked Bitcoin. Hana Network has integrated to allow seamless Bitcoin restaking through its gateway while benefiting from Babylon’s robust security. The modular Yala layer for Bitcoin has integrated Babylon to build an interoperable Bitcoin ecosystem extending its proof-of-work security to PoS chains and rollups.
Conclusion
The rapid expansion of Babylon’s ecosystem shows Bitcoin’s untapped potential. By enabling Bitcoin holders to stake their bitcoins securely and earn yields while bolstering the security of PoS systems and more, Babylon is paving the way for a future where Bitcoin’s utility extends far beyond its traditional role as a store of value.
