Enhancing Quicksilver’s Interchain Liquid Staking protocol with Babylon’s Bitcoin security solution
Liquid staking is a mechanism that allows users to liquidate delegations in PoS blockchains and leverage them to participate in decentralized finance. Quicksilver, a permissionless, sovereign Cosmos SDK zone liquid staking protocol, unlocks the immense potential to support the DeFi space by providing maximum security to the Interchain ecosystem while maintaining a liquid supply.
In this evolving landscape of interchain liquid staking, Babylon is thrilled to announce its testnet integration with Quicksilver to bolster network security and user sovereignty for the Cosmos ecosystem. The testnet integration combines the power of Babylon’s robust Bitcoin-level security mechanism and Quicksilver’s secure, scalable, and user-sovereign Interchain Liquid Staking.
Proof-of-stake Chains and Long Unbonding Periods
Several proof-of-stake consensus algorithms have an unbonding period, typically 14-28 days, during which network delegations used for providing efficient network security remain locked and illiquid.
These lengthy unbonding periods of PoS-based blockchains have long been the Achilles’ heel of Cosmos SDK zones such as Quicksilver. The prime focus of the testnet integration is to solve this by tapping into the power of fast stake bonding offered by Babylon to bolster the strength and security of Quicksilver. Let’s briefly understand how Babylon does this.
Fast Stake Unbonding with Babylon
PoS based blockchains such as Cosmos zones are known for faster transaction finality. However, they rely on underlying social consensus mechanisms to prevent long range attacks, resulting in slower stake unbonding. In the Cosmos ecosystem, the unbonding period is typically 21 days. This significantly impacts user experience and the liquidity of the tokens.
Babylon’s innovative security architecture derived from Bitcoin replaces social consensus with Bitcoin as a timestamping service and reduces stake unbonding periods of PoS chains from weeks to just a few hours. Hence, this testnet integration supports liquid staking protocols such as Quicksilver in their mission to provide security and smooth UX to their users.
The implementation of rapid unbonding periods for a chain that is onboarded to Quicksilver first requires that chain to run the Babylon module. For example, if Stargaze runs the Babylon module, then STARS stakers on Quicksilver will experience a greatly reduced unbonding period. This means the user experience becomes much smoother, as users can enter and exit a position quickly.
Learn more about Babylon’s fast stake unbonding here.
The blockchain industry is a fast-paced environment that demands state-of-the-art innovations that can onboard the next generation of users without compromising their privacy and agency. The strategic integration between Babylon and Quicksilver aims to enhance the security, scalability, and user experience of the liquid staking landscape, all the while preserving the governance rights of its users.
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