Babylon Testnet-4 Pre-Launch Announcement

The Babylon team plans to launch a new testnet towards the end of May 2024. This announcement explains the purpose of this testnet and how to prepare for it.

Why Babylon Testnet-4?

Our current testnet, bbn-test-3, allows Bitcoin stakers to engage in a full range of activities including staking, unbonding, withdrawing, claiming rewards, and experiencing the slashing mechanism. We will sunset it at 12PM UTC 16/May/2024. Of course, it is only a testnet and no real BTC were used.

Community feedback has been very positive on the user experience so far, while also emphasizing a key consideration for participating in such as protocol: the security of their staked Bitcoins. Users want assurance that their Bitcoin won’t be stolen, can unbond and withdraw anytime, and won’t be slashed.

Therefore, the new testnet (bbn-test-4) will focus on the security of the staked Bitcoins by testing the user’s interaction with the BTC Signet test network.

Key Features

Here’s what this means for users:

• This testnet will only involve BTC Signet test network without a Babylon PoS test chain.
• Simplified interaction: Bitcoin stakers can stake, unbond, and withdraw by submitting the corresponding transactions to BTC Signet test network via the staking web dapp.
• No slashing: Bitcoin stakers are not requested to sign any slashing related authorisations, which means slashing will be disabled.
• No PoS reward: Since there is no Babylon PoS test chain, the test staking reward feature will not be applicable.
• No voting: For the same reason, finality providers will only need to publish their EOTS public key to allow stake delegation. They do not need to actively maintain any programs (such as node and finality provider daemons).

In addition,

• Finality provider registration: To counter spams while preserving decentralisation, for a finality provider to be included in the initial list of finality providers in the staking web dapp, we request the finality provider to deposit a small amount of Signet Bitcoin and submit a PR to a dedicated Github registry repo before the testnet launch (see instructions below).
• Staking cap: We will apply gradually increasing staking caps, starting with 5 sBTC, to control Signet Bitcoin ingress while testing the system through security audit and public security campaign.

Preparation

Bitcoin stakers: If you are interested in participating, please consider unbonding and withdrawing your Signet Bitcoin from the existing testnet (btcstaking.babylonchain.io). We will also reopen Discord faucet very soon.

Finality providers: Please read this guide (networks/bbn-test-4/finality-providers at main · babylonchain/networks ) to register yourself if you would like to appear in the initial finality provider list of the staking web dapp with proper information display (name, logo, etc).

Final Notes

This testnet is NOT incentivised. Its purpose is to allow interested parties to evaluate and get familiar with Bitcoin staking related operations.

We would also like to emphasise that Signet Bitcoin is only a simulated Bitcoin for testing that can be used only for the BTC Signet test network. It does not carry any monetary value, and it is not redeemable or tradable.

We appreciate your continued support and enthusiasm as we work together to refine and secure the future of Bitcoin staking.