Babylon Chain, a groundbreaking protocol focused on Bitcoin staking, has secured $18 million in Series A funding, with Polychain Capital and Hack VC spearheading the investment round.
This development, as revealed in an announcement on December 7th, is set to propel Babylon’s Bitcoin Staking protocol forward, effectively connecting the decentralized finance (DeFi) landscape with the Bitcoin blockchain.
The central aim of Babylon Chain’s Bitcoin Staking protocol is to facilitate proof-of-stake (PoS) networks in staking BTC, thereby injecting liquidity and enhanced security into emerging blockchain ecosystems.
In the context of blockchain, PoS chains hinge on participants who validate transactions.
Validators, in order to create new blocks, are required to stake the native coin of the chain.
The overall security and reliability of a PoS chain are heavily contingent on the volume of coins staked.
However, Bitcoin deploys an alternative mechanism, known as proof-of-work (PoW), in which miners solve intricate mathematical problems to validate transactions.
Babylon’s vision is to bridge these two worlds seamlessly.
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The startup unveiled its Bitcoin staking minimum viable product back in October, asserting its ability to alleviate inflationary pressure on PoS chains, which could harness Bitcoin for capital infusion via staking while simultaneously fortifying the security of emerging chains.
One of Babylon’s major challenges, as outlined in its lite paper, revolves around the need to “slash all safety violations remotely without necessitating a smart contract on the Bitcoin chain.”
To tackle this, the protocol relies on accountable assertions, finality gadgets, Bitcoin emulation, and timestamps.
Importantly, Babylon emphasizes the modularity of its construction, highlighting its compatibility with all PoS consensus protocols.
Crucially, no soft or hard fork of Bitcoin is needed to implement the Bitcoin staking protocol.
The introduction of staking in the Bitcoin network may pave the way for an influx of developers looking to create innovative solutions.
This is a significant challenge facing the original blockchain. As the pioneer and most prominent cryptocurrency, Bitcoin boasts a market capitalization of $847.8 billion.
Notably, a Glassnode report revealed that a staggering 66% of its circulating supply has remained dormant for a minimum of one year.
Alex Pack, the managing partner at Hack VC, underlines the transformative potential of Babylon’s technology, stating that it “not only unlocks the largest blockchain asset, but can also make Bitcoin-backed security services (such as data availability service) possible for the broader blockchain ecosystem.”
In addition to Polychain Capital and Hack VC, several other prominent investors have participated in this funding round, including Framework Ventures, Polygon Ventures, Castle Island Ventures, OKX Ventures, Finality Capital, Breyer Capital, Symbolic Capital, and IOSG Ventures.
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