Babylon Launches Phase One of Self-Custodial Mainnet

The Bitcoin (BTC) staking protocol Babylon has launched phase one of its self-custodial mainnet.

Staking Through Smart Contracts

Now, Babylon users can stake BTC via smart contracts. The platform has already attracted 12,710 stakers who have made over 20,600 staking delegations, according to Babylon’s website.

“The Babylon Bitcoin Staking Mainnet launch introduces the third native use case for Bitcoin, alongside value storage and simple payments: staking to secure PoS networks and earn rewards,” the protocol stated on social media platform X on Thursday.

Babylon teased the self-custodial mainnet launch on August 21 amid its phased rollout timeline.

Babylon Funding

Babylon has garnered significant interest from crypto venture capitalists. In December 2023, the firm raised $18 million in Series A funding led by Polychain Capital and Hack VC, with an undisclosed amount from Binance Labs two months later.

Later, in late May of this year, Babylon secured $70 million in funding led by Paradigm, with additional backing from Bullish Capital, Polychain Capital, Hashkey Capital, Mantle, Galaxy, and Hack VC.