Babylon Genesis Debuts as First-Ever Layer-1 Secured by Bitcoin

Babylon Labs has officially launched Babylon Genesis, marking the debut of the first Layer-1 blockchain to be secured directly by Bitcoin — a major milestone not just for Babylon, but for the broader vision of Bitcoin-native infrastructure.

This launch follows nearly eight months of groundwork since the project’s Phase 1 rollout in August 2024, when Babylon first introduced its innovative Bitcoin staking system. Unlike traditional Proof-of-Stake models, Babylon’s approach allows users to stake BTC through self-custodial smart contracts, maintaining full ownership and control of their assets. This model — which resonates with the core ethos of Bitcoin — has already attracted 49,678.65 BTC (roughly $4.06 billion) in staked assets, according to DefiLlama. That places Babylon as the #2 restaking protocol by Total Value Locked (TVL), second only to EigenLayer.

Now entering Phase 2, Babylon Genesis goes live with a full suite of blockchain infrastructure: validator nodes, finality providers, token economics, and the official release of the native BABY token. From day one, BABY supports both transfers and staking, and eligible participants will begin receiving their airdropped tokens directly in their wallets.

The Babylon design introduces an unprecedented dual-layer security model: network consensus is powered by validators staking BABY, while Bitcoin stakers act as finality providers, ensuring added security and economic alignment through BTC collateral. This hybrid model gives Babylon Genesis the robustness of Proof-of-Stake finality and the unmatched monetary security of Bitcoin, all without relying on custodial intermediaries.

What sets Babylon apart is its insistence on non-custodial staking. Users locking BTC in the network are not surrendering their funds to a contract or centralized party. Instead, slashing logic is enforced through on-chain cryptographic contracts, allowing bad actors — whether validators or finality providers — to be penalized while users retain full control of their private keys. As Fractal Bitcoin’s Spencer Yang put it, “Bitcoin OGs really care about custodying their own keys, having control over their own financial decisions.” Babylon’s architecture is built for exactly that demographic.

Looking ahead, Phase 3 promises even more ambitious developments, including the rollout of Bitcoin-Secured Networks — modular chains or apps that can plug into Babylon and borrow its BTC-secured consensus. A particularly exciting feature in the pipeline is BitVM2, a trust-minimized bridge between Bitcoin and Babylon Genesis. Rather than rely on multisig validators or federated setups, BitVM2 uses slashing conditions and cryptographic proofs to create a truly decentralized BTC bridge — one of the most elusive goals in Bitcoin Layer-1 scaling.

With the Genesis chain now live, Babylon’s long-term roadmap appears to be targeting a Bitcoin-centric future for decentralized infrastructure — one where liquidity, security, and sovereignty converge. Whether it’s staking, bridging, or launching app-chains, Babylon’s model could redefine how Bitcoin participates in the future of smart contract ecosystems.