Babylon Chain closes $18M funding for Bitcoin staking

Polychain Capital and Hack VC led the $18 cardinal Series A backing circular of Babylon Chain, a protocol moving connected Bitcoin (BTC) staking, bridging the decentralized concern (DeFi) ecosystem with the Bitcoin blockchain. 

According to the Dec. 7 announcement, the funds volition beryllium used to enactment the improvement of Babylon’s Bitcoin Staking protocol, which enables proof-of-stake (PoS) networks to involvement BTC, adding liquidity and information to emerging chains.

For context, a PoS concatenation is a benignant of blockchain that relies connected participants to validate transactions. To beryllium a validator and make caller blocks, a subordinate indispensable involvement the chain’s autochthonal token. The information and integrity of a PoS concatenation beryllium connected the magnitude of tokens staked. Bitcoin, however, uses a antithetic mechanism, known arsenic proof-of-work (PoW), wherever miners lick analyzable mathematical problems to validate transactions.

Babylon wants some worlds to beryllium combined into one. The startup introduced its Bitcoin staking minimum viable merchandise (MVP) successful October, claiming it would assistance trim ostentation unit connected PoS chains that could trust connected Bitcoin to pull superior done staking portion strengthening the information of emerging chains.

Bitcoin timestamping testnet with 31 chains. Source: Babylon Chain.

According to the startup's lite paper, its biggest situation is to remotely “slash each information violations without having a astute declaration connected the Bitcoin chain.” To code this issue, the protocol claims to usage accountable assertions, finality gadgets, Bitcoin emulation and timestamps. "Our operation is modular, and tin beryllium utilized connected apical of each PoS statement protocols. No brushed oregon hard fork of Bitcoin is needed to instrumentality our Bitcoin staking protocol," Babylon wrote.

Staking could pave the mode for much developers to physique solutions connected the Bitcoin network, which is 1 of the challenges facing the archetypal blockchain. As the archetypal and large cryptocurrency successful the world, Bitcoin has a marketplace capitalization of $847.8 cardinal astatine the clip of writing. A Glassnode report found that 66% of its circulating proviso has been dormant for astatine slightest a year.

"Babylon not lone unlocks the largest blockchain asset, but tin besides marque Bitcoin-backed information services (such arsenic information availability service) imaginable for the broader blockchain ecosystem," said Alex Pack, managing spouse astatine HackVC.

Additional investors successful the circular see Framework Ventures, Polygon Ventures, Castle Island Ventures, OKX Ventures, Finality Capital, Breyer Capital, Symbolic Capital, and IOSG Ventures.

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