Bitcoin Protocol Babylon Hours Away From Opening 'Duration-Based' Staking Round
2024-10-08

Babylon, a Bitcoin protocol which completed a staking round capped at 1,000 BTC ($62.4 million) in August, will open for business again on Tuesday with a new "duration-based" round.
The round, known as "Cap-2," will kick off at some time around 18:30 UTC (2:30 p.m. ET).
Users will be able to stake up to 500 BTC per transaction over 10 Bitcoin blocks, commencing when the network reaches block 864,790 and closing at 864,799. That would take about one hour and 40 minutes thereafter, assuming an average block time of 10 minutes.
The first staking round in August hit its cap of 1,000 BTC within six blocks and lasted a mere hour and 14 minutes, offering a demonstration of the demand for bitcoin staking and the interest that Cap-2 could draw.
Babylon's aim is to allow proof-of-stake chains to acquire capital from the deep reserves stored in BTC.
It is one of a large number of initiatives aimed at introducing utility to Bitcoin – commonplace on networks such as Ethereum but historically largely absent from the world's first blockchain.
The project turned heads in May this year when it completed a $70 million funding round, following an $18 million round the previous December.