On December 15, 2024, during the third cap of the Babylon Bitcoin staking protocol’s mainnet, an anonymous staker staked 10,000 BTC in three transactions.
That was worth over $1 billion.
$1 billion.
Up to that point, the largest stakes came from entities (like LST protocols and custodians) looking to stake for their users.
But such a large stake from a single person signifies something particularly meaningful to Babylon and its protocol.
Whoever this person is, they decided to stake directly to Babylon rather than through the LSTs, shifting the concept of trustless staking from the abstract to the concrete.
Someone is willing to stake $1B on it.
Overview of trustless staking
“Trustless” describes a specific attribute of decentralized blockchains, where participants can use the network securely without needing to rely on a third party. In a trustless system, consensus is achieved through built-in mechanisms that ensure all participants can reach consensus.
This is what differentiates networks like Bitcoin from traditional financial institutions that rely on third-parties to be the trusted party.
Trustless staking, similarly, allows individuals to secure decentralized networks without relying on intermediaries or third parties. Most blockchain systems today are secured by Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus.
However, Babylon introduced staking as a native use case for Bitcoin, the first of its kind for a Proof of Work blockchain.
The Babylon Bitcoin staking protocol leverages cryptography and Bitcoin's scripting language to turn bitcoin into a staking asset that doesn’t rely on intermediaries. This means anyone can stake their Bitcoin trustlessly.
The $1 Billion vote of confidence
On December 15, one BTC was worth $106,526.
This means that 10,000 BTC was worth $1,065,260,000.
The anonymous staker did start with a test transaction—1 BTC. That’s a $100,000 test, folks.
The reason they were willing to stake 10,000 BTC was only because of the trustless nature of the staking protocol.
This person didn’t trust any entity to stake their bitcoin. Instead, they directly engaged with the Bitcoin chain.
Further, they might not even have gone through the Babylon dashboard—they might have developed their own software to interact with the blockchain to retain control and autonomy over their own staking process.
10,000 BTC staked on the protocol shifts the once-abstract concept of trustlessness into something more tangible.
It’s proof that Bitcoiners recognize and trust Bitcoin staking as a native use case.
.png)