Babylon Bitcoin staking protocol enables bitcoin holders to provide security and liquidity to Bitcoin Secured Networks (BSNs) and, in return, get the opportunity to earn validation rewards from those networks. Babylon Genesis is the first Bitcoin Secured Network (BSN), leveraging crypto-economic security directly from Bitcoin via the Babylon Bitcoin staking protocol.
Babylon Genesis Chain serves as 1) a control plane that coordinates the other BSNs with Bitcoin so that they can efficiently receive Bitcoin security and liquidity with minimal integration efforts; 2) a hub that manages Bitcoin liquidity through on-chain applications that are secured by Babylon Genesis.
BABY is the native token of Babylon Genesis. It will play a critical role in transactions, governance, and security within the ecosystem.
Transaction Fees: BABY serves as the gas token for Babylon Genesis, facilitating transactions and smart contract execution in its role as a control plane and liquidity hub.
Governance: It also enables governance, allowing BABY token holders and their delegated validators to vote on protocol changes and network upgrades.
Staking : Babylon Genesis employs a dual staking model, utilizing both BABY and BTC to strengthen network security. Both Bitcoin stakers and BABY stakers contribute security and receive BABY rewards.
Security: By utilizing BABY tokens, Babylon Genesis aligns incentives across validators, Bitcoin stakers, and governance participants, positioning it to be a robust and decentralized Bitcoin Secured Network.
Babylon Genesis consensus consists of the following major components working in conjunction:
CometBFT: Babylon Genesis chain’s PoS consensus is built on the CometBFT stack.
Finality gadget: Bitcoin staking added in a modular way by means of a finality gadget.
Dual-quorum staking: 100 CometBFT validators running CometBFT consensus, together with 60 Bitcoin-staked Finality Providers adding Bitcoin-finality signatures. Blocks are considered finalized when they are finalized by both the CometBFT validators and the Bitcoin-staked Finality Providers.
The project has raised ~96 million USD through multiple rounds of private fundraising (SAFE + token warrants). The valuations were based on equity, not tokens.
As of April 10th, 2025, the total supply of BABY is 10,015,636,491, and the circulating supply upon listing will be 2,294,036,491 (~22.9% of the total token supply).
Key metrics (as at April 9th 2025):
What is Babylon
Project overview:
Babylon protocol enables bitcoin holders to trustlessly provide security and liquidity to Bitcoin Secured Networks (BSNs) and, in return, get the opportunity to earn validation rewards from those networks.
Babylon Genesis is the first Bitcoin Secured Network (BSN) to leverage Bitcoin's security and serves as the control plane for security and liquidity orchestration for future BSNs.
Built on the Cosmos SDK stack, Babylon Genesis introduces key innovations for enhanced PoS security and interoperability.
Project mission:
Babylon emerged to create new use cases for Bitcoin, aiming to unlock 21 million Bitcoins to secure the decentralized world
Bitcoin liquidity layer on top of the Bitcoin staking layer: Once bitcoins are locked and staked, protocols emerge to create liquidity and new use cases from those staked bitcoins.
Babylon Genesis is the first Bitcoin Secured Network (BSN) to leverage Bitcoin's security and serves as the control plane for security and liquidity orchestration for future BSNs.
Project value proposition
The Babylon protocol enables bitcoin holders to provide security and liquidity to Bitcoin Secured Networks (BSNs) and, in return, get the opportunity to earn validation rewards from those networks in a trustless manner.
Having these liquidity primitives exist directly on Babylon Genesis will allow BSNs to leverage BTC liquidity regardless of being directly connected to other BSNs or Ethereum. This offers a Bitcoin secured path for BTC liquidity and limits the need to rely on bridges which are less secure.
Project Key Highlights:
Since the launch of Phase 1 of the Babylon Mainnet in August 2024, more than 57,000 bitcoins have been staked through the Babylon protocol, locked in self-custodial staking contracts on the Bitcoin chain.
A thriving ecosystem of projects is integrating the Babylon protocol, including: Liquid staking protocols, Wallets and custodians, Bitcoin Secured Networks (BSNs), including both L1 and L2 networks, and Finality Providers.
Babylon Genesis is a standalone Layer 1 with advanced security features, and will also serve as a control plane as well as a liquidity hub for other Bitcoin Secured Networks (BSNs), enabling them to integrate with Bitcoin’s security and liquidity
Existing Products:
The Babylon protocol is being launched in three phases:
Phase 1: Bootstrap of the supply side of the Bitcoin security and liquidity marketplace. Over 57,000 bitcoins have been staked from over 140.02K.unique stakers. A thriving ecosystem of projects is integrating the Babylon protocol, including Liquid staking protocols, Wallets and custodians, Bitcoin Secured Networks (BSNs), and Finality Providers.
Phase 2: Launch of the first BSN: Babylon Genesis. During Phase 2, Babylon Genesis will have DEX, restaking, vault, and BABY LST minting functionality live on-chain. BTC LST holders will be able to bridge their assets to Babylon Genesis and participate in BTCFi while reaping all of the benefits of the protocol being Bitcoin secured.
Phase 3: Launch of the other BSNs, completing the demand side. During Phase 3, Babylon Genesis will transform into a vibrant ecosystem. Specifically, other Bitcoin-Secured Networks (BSNs) will be onboarded, and EVM compatibility will be integrated to power liquidity primitives—particularly BTC LSTs. Here's some of what we expect from independent third parties building on Genesis: DEXs, LST Minting, BTC-based Lending Protocols, Restaking, Incentive Markets, Vaults, and Genesis Reward Hub.
Technical Infrastructure:
Consensus mechanism: Babylon Genesis will be the first blockchain that is secured by Bitcoin staking. Its PoS consensus is built on the CometBFT stack, with Bitcoin staking added in a modular way by means of a finality gadget. Babylon Genesis’ security derives from dual-quorum staking: 100 CometBFT validators running CometBFT consensus, together with 60 Bitcoin-staked Finality Providers adding Bitcoin-finality signatures.
Voting process: Babylon Genesis employs an on-chain governance system built on the Cosmos SDK governance module. This module empowers BABY token holders, along with their delegates, to propose, vote on, and enact modifications to the network through a transparent and decentralized process. To foster a culture of transparency and openness, an off-chain discussion in a structured forum is essential. This approach aligns with the practices of similar projects. The framework is crafted to enable swift decision-making while safeguarding against potential abuses and attacks. https://forum.babylon.foundation/t/governance-docs/19
Token sales and economics:
Token Distribution:
*Pie chart excludes inflation. Percentage of genesis token supply of 10B
Token Release Schedule
*100% represents the genesis total token supply of 10B.
Risk Analysis:
Initial Circulating Retail:Institution Ratio:
Airdrop Cluster Analysis:
Initial TGE Main Bucket On-chain Wallets Addresses:
Disclaimer: This report is written before spot opening to trade; the liquidity token in the liquidity pool may be transferred while opening.
Other risks
Slashing risk for Bitcoin stakers: The staked Bitcoin is slashed if and only if the delegated finality provider double signs blocks. This implies that, even if the Babylon Genesis is compromised and taken over by malicious actors, as long as the Finality Provider it delegates to doesn’t double sign, the staked bitcoin is still secure.
Slashing risk for BABY stakers: Similar to any other Cosmos SDK chain, there are standard slashing risks for BABY stakers if their delegated validators double sign blocks or remain inactive for some time.
Roadmap & Updates:
Completed Milestones:
Link to litepaper on Bitcoin staking: https://docs.babylonlabs.io/papers/btc_staking_litepaper(EN).pdf
Link to Babylon Genesis blog: https://babylon.foundation/blogs/the-three-facets-of-babylon-genesis
Current Roadmap:
Q2 2025:
[Milestone 1] Launch of the first BSN: Babylon Genesis
[Milestone 2] Bitcoin holders can trustlessly lock and use their bitcoins to secure the Babylon Genesis Chain.
[Milestone 3] Genesis will have DEX, restaking, vault, and BABY LST minting functionality live on-chain.
[Milestone 4] BTC LST holders will be able to bridge their assets to Genesis and participate in BTCFi while reaping all of the benefits of Genesis being Bitcoin secured.
Q3 2025:
[Milestone 1] Significantly expands Babylon Genesis, transforming it into a vibrant ecosystem.
[Milestone 2] Other Bitcoin Secured Networks (BSNs) will be onboarded
[Milestone 3] EVM compatibility will be integrated to power liquidity primitives—particularly BTC LSTs.
[Milestone 4] Independent third parties building on Genesis: DEXs, LST Minting, BTC-based Lending Protocols, Restaking, Incentive Markets, Vaults, and Genesis Reward Hub.
Q4 2025:
[Milestone 1] A trust-minimized bridge between Bitcoin and Babylon Genesis.
[Milestone 2] Trustless BTC LST creation offering users full control of their underlying BTC while having access to BTC liquidity on Babylon Genesis.
[Milestone 3] A shared Bitcoin bridge for other BSNs offering trust minimized liquidity to the broader Babylon ecosystem.
Commercial and Business Development Progress:
1. [Osmosis (https://osmosis.zone/): Osmosis is an open-source decentralized exchange (DEX) and automated market maker (AMM) protocol built on Cosmos. Osmosis is integrating the Babylon Bitcoin staking protocol to become a Bitcoin Secured Network (BSN).] As part of the integration, 50% of trading fees from Bitcoin LSTs and Babylon ecosystem assets on Osmosis will be distributed to BTC and BABY stakers.
2. [Tower DEX (https://www.tower.fi/) ]: Tower is an independent project that strives to become the foundational decentralized exchange (DEX) for BTCFi, that will launch on top of Babylon Genesis blockchain on Day 1 of mainnet launch. Tower intends to unlock Bitcoin liquidity, enabling seamless trading of Bitcoin LSTs and LRTs as well as all BSN and BVS tokens of the broader Babylon Ecosystem.
3. [Anchorage (https://www.anchorage.com/): Anchorage Digital is a regulated crypto platform that provides institutions with integrated financial services and infrastructure solutions; Anchorage became a custodial provider for Babylon bitcoin staking, which allows institutions to stake bitcoin on the Babylon bitcoin staking protocol.]
4. [Hex Trust (https://hextrust.com/): Hex Trust offers fully regulated institutional digital asset Custody, Staking and Markets services to builders, investors and service providers; Hex Trust became a custodial provider for Babylon bitcoin staking, which allows their clients to stake bitcoin on the Babylon bitcoin staking protocol.]
5. [Binance Exchange (https://www.binance.com/en): Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, serves over 250 million users in more than 180 countries. Binance has integrated with the Babylon BTC Staking protocol and launched the first on-chain staking product supported by Binance On-Chain Yields.]
6. [SatLayer (https://satlayer.xyz/)]: SatLayer is the leading protocol unlocking Bitcoin’s full potential for liquidity, economic security, and capital efficiency via restaking that will go live shortly after Babylon Genesis mainnet. By deploying as a set of smart contracts on Babylon Genesis, SatLayer enables full programmability of slashing conditions, such as node liveness and challenge proofs, for Bitcoin, the most pristine asset and collateral.
Community:
Twitter: [https://x.com/babylonlabs_io]
Medium: [https://medium.com/babylonlabs-io]
Telegram: [https://t.me/babyloncommunity]
Github: [https://github.com/babylonlabs-io]
Appendix:
Babylon Bitcoin Staking Dashboard: https://btcstaking.babylonlabs.io/
Technical Documentation: https://docs.babylonlabs.io/