Babylon, a project that aims to build a Bitcoin-secured decentralized world, today announced the completion of its $70 million funding round. This funding round – led by Paradigm with significant contributions from Bullish Capital, Polychain Capital, and other investors – signals momentum in the Bitcoin economy.
This latest funding round will drive Babylon’s goal to enable a Bitcoin-secured decentralized economy.
Babylon Bitcoin Staking protocol enables Proof-of-Stake (PoS) systems such as PoS chains, L2s, Data Availability (DA) layers, oracles, etc. to buy staking capital from bitcoin, the largest, decentralized crypto asset in the world. And through its modular design and slashing functionality, Babylon Bitcoin Staking protocol will enable PoS systems to introduce bitcoin as a staking asset and enjoy higher crypto-economic security than what native tokens can provide.
So PoS systems will be able to utilize Babylon’s scalable staking and restaking features to unlock value from the idle, unencumbered $1+ trillion Bitcoin ecosystem. Since bitcoin is huge in supply and was serving as a store of value without much yield, using it as a staking asset can greatly reduce PoS chains’ inflation pressure and enhance its financial utility to holders.
Babylon’s journey was marked by significant milestones, including the launch of the world’s first trustless Bitcoin staking testnet in February 2024. And the testnet – which saw over 100,000 stakers within 48 hours – demonstrated the platform’s potential to evolve Bitcoin into the security backbone of PoS systems. And this achievement not only showcases Babylon’s technical prowess but also its commitment to creating a secure, decentralized economy.
KEY QUOTES:
“We are thrilled by the confidence shown by Paradigm, Bullish Capital, Polychain Capital and other investors. This funding will accelerate our mission to make Bitcoin the security backbone of PoS systems. Our team is dedicated to advancing the utility of Bitcoin beyond its traditional roles and enhancing the security of the entire blockchain ecosystem.”
- David Tse, co-founder of Babylon
“Trustless staking is a novel and fundamental primitive for bitcoin and the broader ecosystem. We are thrilled to partner with David Tse and the Babylon team, who are among the best researchers and builders pushing at the frontier of Bitcoin innovation.”
- Arjun Balaji, Investment Partner at Paradigm
“The ability for holders to stake their bitcoin whilst retaining their keys is a significant breakthrough. It is a hard problem that has been solved by Babylon with some cryptographic genius. We are excited to be working with such an impressive team and look forward to partnering with them as they roll out this innovative technology.”
- Alasdair Foster, CEO of Bullish Capital
“Polychain is excited to double down our investment in Babylon. We align with the vision of unlocking Bitcoin to boost the decentralised security market through Babylon’s trustless design. Babylon will be the catalyst that redefines the utility of BTC and paves the way for a new era of Bitcoin-native applications.”
- Luke Pearson, General Partner at Polychain Capital
