Polychain Capital and Hack VC have led a $18 million Series A funding round for Babylon Chain, a protocol that aims to bridge the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem with the Bitcoin blockchain. The funds will be used to support the development of Babylon’s Bitcoin Staking protocol, which allows proof-of-stake (PoS) networks to stake BTC, thereby adding liquidity and security to emerging chains.
A PoS chain is a type of blockchain that relies on participants to validate transactions by staking the chain’s native coin. In contrast, Bitcoin uses a different mechanism called proof-of-work (PoW), where miners solve complex mathematical problems to validate transactions. Babylon aims to combine both worlds by introducing its Bitcoin staking minimum viable product, which reduces inflationary pressure on PoS chains and strengthens the security of emerging chains.
Babylon’s biggest challenge is to address safety violations without having a smart contract on the Bitcoin chain. To overcome this, the protocol uses accountable assertions, finality gadgets, Bitcoin emulation, and timestamps. The construction is modular and can be used on top of all PoS consensus protocols, without the need for a soft or hard fork of Bitcoin.
Staking on the Bitcoin network could pave the way for more developers to build solutions, addressing one of the challenges facing the original blockchain. With a market capitalization of $847.8 billion, Bitcoin is the first and most prominent cryptocurrency. Babylon’s protocol not only unlocks the largest blockchain asset but also enables Bitcoin-backed security services for the broader blockchain ecosystem.
Additional investors in the funding round include Framework Ventures, Polygon Ventures, Castle Island Ventures, OKX Ventures, Finality Capital, Breyer Capital, Symbolic Capital, and IOSG Ventures.
This News Article was automatically generated by Bob the Bot (AI)
| Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Geography | Global |
| Countries | |
| Sentiment | very positive |
| Relevance Score | 1 |
| People | Alex Pack, None |
| Companies | Hack VC, Symbolic Capital, IOSG Ventures, Polygon Ventures, Babylon Chain, Finality Capital, Breyer Capital, OKX Ventures, Castle Island Ventures, Framework Ventures, Polychain Capital |
| Currencies | Bitcoin |
| Securities | None |
