• Babylon, the standalone Bitcoin staking protocol, will launch its main network on August 22, 2024.
• The launch brings a “third native use case of Bitcoin” to users, adding staking to the store of value and payment, said Fisher Yu, co-founder of Babylon.

Babylon, a self-custodial Bitcoin staking protocol, has announced the launch of its Phase 1 mainnet, setting its sights on the growing decentralized finance market on the leading blockchain network.

Babylon Announces Bitcoin Staking Mainnet

In an announcement on Monday, the protocol revealed that the mainnet launch will begin on August 22, 2024. The first phase of the mainnet will allow BTC holders to stake their coins using the self-custodial protocol.

🔶🔒 The countdown to Babylon Bitcoin Staking Mainnet launch has begun!

🔑 Independent Bitcoin Staking
🛡️ Bitcoin Security for PoS Systems
⚡ On-demand disconnection
💎 Leverages over $1T of idle Bitcoin capital

📖 Read the announcement: https://t.co/awTMV1c5Q6

🔒 Betting Dashboard:… photo.twitter.com/TItPoUbLv2

— Babylon (@babylonlabs_io) August 19, 2024

Meanwhile, upcoming phases will see the Bitcoin protocol give proof-of-stake networks access to the $1 trillion Bitcoin network security. Projects that can access and leverage this ecosystem include layer-2 chains, data availability layers, and oracles.

“This launch ushers in the third native use case for Bitcoin, the asset beyond store of value and simple payment: staking to secure and monetize networks,” said Fisher Yu, co-founder of the Babylon Project. “We expect this to enhance the cryptoeconomic security of PoS chains and other decentralized applications, giving them a more secure and reliable infrastructure, while simultaneously unlocking value from the $1 trillion idle, 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 supported by over 200 finality providers, including Allnodes, Galaxy Digital, P2P, Figment, Luganodes, and Stakefish.

The project has also received support from major wallets such as Binance Web3 Wallet, OKX Web3 Wallet, Bitget Wallet, Keystone, and TomoWallet.