In just two days, Babylon will launch its self-custodial bitcoin staking mainnet as part of a phased rollout.

This innovative platform will enable users to stake their bitcoin through a designated smart contract, allowing them to maintain control over their assets without relying on intermediaries.

During the initial phase, Bitcoin holders will kick off the staking process by submitting transactions to the Bitcoin blockchain.

The staking mainnet is designed to leverage bitcoin's economic properties to enhance security in proof-of-stake blockchains.

Babylon's platform will support a variety of decentralized systems, including sovereign PoS chains, Layer 2 solutions, data availability solutions, and oracles.

Additionally, Babylon will implement a BTC timestamping protocol that allows users to timestamp any data sent to the platform using Bitcoin's blockchain, bolstering security against long-range attacks.

The launch follows a successful fundraising effort, where Babylon raised $70 million in May 2024, led by Paradigm, after securing $18 million in a Series A round in December 2023, co-led by Polychain Capital and Hack VC.