Bi-Weekly Babylon Genesis Report No.1

April 1–24, 2025

Hey Babylon community 👋, welcome to the first edition of our bi-weekly project update, your inside look at everything happening across the Babylon ecosystem. Whether you're staking, building, collaborating, or just following along, here’s a full rundown of what’s been moving across protocol, partnerships, governance, and more.

🛠️ Tech in Motion: Protocol Updates

We’ve been building fast, and it shows. From network launches to staking upgrades, here’s what’s gone live so far this month:

• Babylon Genesis mainnet launched
  Babylon Genesis’ mainnet went live on April 10, 2025, marking the first blockchain secured by native Bitcoin staking.

• Bitcoin timestamping enabled and live
  Bitcoin timestamping is now live for improved long-range security and faster   unbonding times.
  https://babylonlabs.io/blog/the-three-facets-of-babylon-genesis
  
  
• Validator and Finality Provider network live
  Genesis launched with 100 CometBFT validators and 60 Bitcoin-staked Finality Providers.
  https://babylonlabs.io/blog/the-three-facets-of-babylon-genesis‍

• Cap-1 staking restriction to be lifted
  Babylon Genesis will begin to accept both new BTC stakes and remaining Phase-1 stakes as the Cap-1 staking restriction is lifted.

https://www.theblock.co/post/350427/bitcoin-staking-protocol-babylon-rolls-out-genesis-mainnet-in-second-stage-of-its-phased-launch

https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2025/04/10/babylon-which-has-over-usd4b-btc-locked-launches-layer-1-genesis-to-advance-its-btc-yield-platform

 🤝 On the Ground: Partnerships & IRL Moments

We’ve had a packed month, both online and off. From Tokyo keynotes to new institutional partners, here are a few of the moments we’re proud to spotlight:

• 📍 IRL in Tokyo
  On April 8, Babylon co-founder Prof. David Tse took the stage in Tokyo, joined by BitGo, DSRV, and Hinode Technologies. The room was filled with builders and believers, all focused on unlocking Bitcoin’s potential.

• 🤝 BitGo collaboration
  BitGo now supports BTC staking and BABY custody, giving 1,500+ institutional clients secure access to Babylon infrastructure.
  https://www.bitgo.uk/resources/blog/babylon-bitcoin-staking/
  https://thedefiant.io/news/blockchains/bitgo-s-1-75b-integration-boosts-1500-clients-bitcoin-lightning-babylon-genesis-2ba5cf99
  
  
• 🛡️ Anchorage joins in
  Anchorage is bringing regulated, bank-grade custody to BTC staking and BABY, helping onboard institutional players securely.
  https://x.com/Anchorage/status/1910317920497860636‍

• 🔗 Sui becomes a BSN
  Sui is officially a Bitcoin Secured Network (BSN), gaining access to Babylon-powered BTC staking and liquidity.

https://x.com/SuiNetwork/status/1913024888513892843
https://thedefiant.io/news/blockchains/sui-network-partners-babylon-labs-to-bitcoin-secured-network-utilizing-btc-sui-9eecc5d7

📢 Community Highlights

A big month for the Babylon community - from airdrops to on-chain governance.

• 🎁 BABY airdrop completed
  600 million BABY (6% of total supply) was distributed across:
  30M to Phase-1 stakers
  335M as base staking rewards
  200M as bonus rewards for Phase-2 transition
  30M to Pioneer Pass NFT holders
  5M to open-source contributors
  No claim process — eligible users received tokens directly in their wallets.
  https://babylon.foundation/blogs/babylon-early-adopters-airdrop‍

• 📜 Governance proposal by Domo (BRC-20 creator)
  Babylon’s community passed a proposal to reduce unbonding fees for new Phase-2 stakes.

https://x.com/babylonlabs_io/status/1913603011974496266

🎙️ Babylon on Air: AMAs & X Spaces

We’ve been keeping the conversation going across the ecosystem - from staking deep dives to protocol updates and partner spotlights. Here’s where you may have heard from the team this month:

• April 1: X Space with Zeus Network - A cross-ecosystem discussion on unlocking Bitcoin utility and building foundational infrastructure with Zeus.
  
  
• April 3: Livestream with SatLayer - Babylon and SatLayer explored the vision for BTC staking and how it supports a more secure Web3.
  
  
• April 8: X Space with Escher Finance - A breakdown of the new frontier in BTCFi and how Escher plans to integrate Babylon-secured primitives.
  
  
• April 10: Livestream with Lombard, SatLayer, Tower, Union - Babylon’s earliest institutional supporters shared their migration path to mainnet and the future of Bitcoin staking.
  
  
• April 15: Livestream with Osmosis, Cosmos, Kepler, Cosmos Spaces - A panel on Osmosis becoming a BSN, Cosmos' role in Bitcoin adoption, and how Babylon connects the dots.
  
  
• April 17: X Space with BitGo, Corn, BOB - Industry leaders discussed BTC custody, liquidity, and the new frontier of institutional BTCFi.
  
  
• April 17: Livestream with David & Sandeep - A deep dive between Babylon’s David Tse and Polygon’s Sandeep Nailwal on the future of shared security.
  
  
• April 18: Live AMA on Binance Square - Babylon went live on Binance Square to talk Genesis launch, staking mechanics, and what’s next.

• April 23: X Space AMA with BinanceZH - Babylon’s Chinese-language AMA with BinanceZH, expanding the conversation to new regions and communities.

🔭 Looking Ahead

Genesis is live. The first BSNs are integrating. Institutional support is real. We’re just getting started.Thanks for being part of this journey. As always, we’re building in public — and we’d love your feedback. Join us in Discord or reach out on X with thoughts, questions, or ideas. See you in two weeks. 👋