Paradigm leads $70 million raise for Bitcoin staking protocol Babylon

The Bitcoin staking protocol Babylon raised $70 million in funding led by the venture firm Paradigm.

Bullish Capital, Polychain Capital, Hashkey Capital, Mantle, Galaxy, Hack VC, ViaBTC Capital, Amber, HTX Ventures and others also participated in the round, according to a company release . 

Babylon builds infrastructure that allows proof-of-stake systems to obtain staking capital from bitcoin. The platform uses modular design and slashing functionality to let stake-base systems, such as blockchains, Layer 2s, DA layers and oracles, incorporate bitcoin as a staking and restaking asset.

"This funding will accelerate our mission to make Bitcoin the security backbone of PoS systems," Babylon co-founder David Tse said in a statement. "Our team is dedicated to advancing the utility of Bitcoin beyond its traditional roles and enhancing the security of the entire blockchain ecosystem."

Babylon's previous funding

Binance Labs, the venture arm of the crypto exchange Binance, previously invested an undisclosed sum in Babylon on Feb. 28. The platform had launched its public testnet , complete with NFT pass rewards, the day prior.

Polychain Capital and Hack VC also co-led a December 2023 Series A funding round of $18 million, The Block previously reported.

As for why Polychain participated again in Babylon's most recent funding round, the firm sees potential in the new use case for the world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

"Polychain is excited to double down our investment in Babylon," Polychain Capital General Partner Luke Pearson said in a statement. "We align with the vision of unlocking Bitcoin to boost the decentralised security market through Babylon's trustless design. Babylon will be the catalyst that redefines the utility of BTC and paves the way for a new era of Bitcoin-native applications."

Bitcoin was valued at $68,610, seeing a 1.3% increase in the past 24 hours, as of 10:41 a.m. ET (14:41 UTC) on May 30, according to The Block Prices .