Babylon Protocol: When EigenLayer marries Bitcoin
The Bitcoin network has long been the most secure and decentralized blockchain in existence, yet its base layer has no built-in mechanism for staking, restaking, or securing external systems. Babylon protocol changes that. It introduces a way to extend Bitcoin’s security to other Proof-of-Stake (PoS) , without bridging or wrapping BTC. Babylon is built as a sovereign Layer-1 blockchain using the Cosmos SDK, but its core purpose is to allow Bitcoin holders to stake their coins natively on Bitcoin and use that economic weight to secure other systems, called Bitcoin-Secured Networks (BSNs). This makes Babylon the Bitcoin equivalent of Ethereum’s EigenLayer restaking concept. Bitcoin Staking What Babylon Enables Babylon’s design allows BTC holders to earn yield and participate in network security while keeping their assets self-custodied on Bitcoin. It does this through three main protocol layers: Bitcoin Staking Protocol – lets users lock BTC directly on Bitcoin and use it as coll...