Binance Labs, the venture capital and incubation wing of Binance, has announced a strategic investment in Babylon, an innovative Bitcoin staking protocol.
Babylon introduces a unique approach to staking Bitcoin directly on Proof of Stake (PoS) blockchains, allowing users to earn yields without relying on intermediaries like third-party custodians, bridge technologies, or wrapping services. This method offers PoS chains slashable economic security while providing Bitcoin holders a more fluid process for unbonding stakes, thus improving liquidity.
Binance Labs has recently intensified its investment activities in the staking and re-staking domains, marking a strategic pivot towards startups. It also invested in Puffer Finance and Rezo, which recently became the second and fourth largest Ethereum liquid re-staking protocols, as per data from DeFiLlama.
Binance Labs’ investment is critical for Babylon, as the protocol is preparing for its mainnet launch before the end of 2024. This support is expected to expedite Babylon’s development efforts significantly. Babylon aspires to extend its support to other ecosystems, such as the Cosmos Hub, and unlock new possibilities in crypto staking by integrating Bitcoin into the broader PoS economy.
While the exact financial details of Binance Labs’ investment remain undisclosed, several sources indicate that the figure is on par with Babylon’s previous funding rounds, which secured $18 million and $8.8 million in seed and series A financing, respectively.
