Epicenter - Learn about Crypto, Blockchain, Ethereum, Bitcoin and Distributed Technologies

Babylon: Self-Custodial Bitcoin Native Staking & Bitcoin-Secured Networks - David Tse

Episode Summary

We were joined by David Tse, Professor at Stanford University & co-founder of Babylon, to discuss Bitcoin native staking and how it enables Bitcoin-secured networks and liquid staking derivatives.

Episode Notes

Throughout the years, there were many attempts of tapping into Bitcoin’s liquidity and security, but almost all of them came with different caveats. Most notably, wrapped BTC (wBTC) depended on the wrapper contract security. However, the recent surge in research and development for native solutions has led to breakthroughs previously thought impossible. Babylon launched native BTC staking and plans to further expand this to secure other blockchains, in a model similar to that of mesh security. This would not only help secure other networks, but it would also unlock liquidity from the mother chain through liquid staking derivatives.

Topics covered in this episode:

• David’s background
• The evolution of Babylon
• The Bitcoin Renaissance
• Technical challenges of implementing Bitcoin staking
• The OP_CAT upgrade
• Babylon’s Bitcoin staking & Bitcoin-secured networks
• Bridging liquidity & LSTs
• Securing multiple chains and slashing
• Babylon chain - aggregating Bitcoin-secured networks
• Could Bitcoin become a POS chain?
• Babylon upgradeability

Episode links:

• David Tse on X
• Babylon on X

Sponsors:

• Gnosis: Gnosis builds decentralized infrastructure for the Ethereum ecosystem, since 2015. This year marks the launch of Gnosis Pay— the world's first Decentralized Payment Network. Get started today at - gnosis.io
• Chorus1: Chorus1 is one of the largest node operators worldwide, supporting more than 100,000 delegators, across 45 networks. The recently launched OPUS allows staking up to 8,000 ETH in a single transaction. Enjoy the highest yields and institutional grade security at - chorus.one

This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Sebastien Couture.