Babylon (BABY): how it works, supply and reviews
In short
- Type
- BTC staking protocol plus Babylon Genesis, a Cosmos SDK Layer 1 that coordinates staking
- Initial distribution
- 10,000,000,000 BABY initial supply (6 decimals, base unit ubbn)
- Risks and caveats
- Staked BTC can be partially slashed if the finality provider it is delegated to double-signs or otherwise breaks protocol rules.
- Checked
- 31 October 2026
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Key facts
- Ticker
- BABY
- Official site
- babylonlabs.io
Key facts checked on 31 October 2026 against official sources.
What is Babylon
Babylon is a Bitcoin staking protocol: BTC holders lock bitcoin in time-locked scripts on Bitcoin itself and delegate it to finality providers to secure proof-of-stake networks, earning rewards, without wrapping or bridging. Babylon Genesis is its Cosmos SDK Layer 1 chain, and BABY is that chain's native token.
Network and consensus
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Type | BTC staking protocol plus Babylon Genesis, a Cosmos SDK Layer 1 that coordinates staking |
| Consensus | CometBFT with BABY-staked validators, plus BTC-staked finality providers voting on finality |
| Block time | About 10 seconds |
| Smart contracts | CosmWasm (Rust) |
| Launched | Babylon Genesis mainnet launched in April 2025 |
| BTC unbonding | About 21 days for BTC; partial unbonding is not supported |
Supply and issuance
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Initial distribution | 10,000,000,000 BABY initial supply (6 decimals, base unit ubbn) |
| Inflation | 5.5% a year, reduced from 8% |
| Allocation | Community incentives 15%, ecosystem 18%, R&D and operations 18%, early investors 3.05 billion, team 1.5 billion, advisors 350 million BABY |
| Unlocks | Investor, team and advisor tokens unlock in 36 monthly steps from 10 May 2026 to April 2029 |
| Staking rewards | Both BTC stakers and BABY stakers receive BABY rewards |
What BABY is used for
- Gas for transactions and smart contracts on Babylon Genesis
- Staking with validators (dual staking alongside BTC)
- On-chain governance votes; BTC stakers do not vote
Who develops and governs Babylon
- Developer
- Babylon Labs builds the protocol and products
- Foundation
- Babylon Foundation stewards governance and manages community and R&D token allocations
- Governance
- Cosmos SDK on-chain governance by BABY holders and their delegates
- Open source
- Core chain in Go on GitHub (babylonlabs-io/babylon)
History
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| — | Phase 1: BTC holders stake bitcoin in self-custodial scripts on Bitcoin; over 57,000 BTC were staked. |
| April 2025 | Babylon Genesis mainnet launches. |
| 10 May 2026 | First monthly unlock of investor, team and advisor BABY under the amended schedule. |
Security and audits
- Phase 1 staking was audited by three firms; Babylon Genesis by Coinspect, Zellic and Sherlock; later upgrades by Oak Security, Informal Systems, Coinspect and Halborn.
- Partial slashing: a share of staked BTC can be slashed if the chosen finality provider acts maliciously.
- A bug bounty runs on Sherlock.
Security incidents
| Date | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 4 January 2025 | Key compromise: Babylon's official X account was briefly taken over and used to post phishing links; the team removed the posts and regained control. Funds returned: not stated | x.com |
Risks and caveats
- Staked BTC can be partially slashed if the finality provider it is delegated to double-signs or otherwise breaks protocol rules.
- Unbonding BTC takes about 21 days and must be done for the whole stake.
- BABY is inflationary (5.5% a year), and large investor and team allocations unlock monthly until April 2029.
- Staking is unavailable in listed restricted territories, and users in the United States cannot connect wallets to stake.
Official links
- Website: babylonlabs.io
- Docs: docs.babylonlabs.io
- Source code: github.com/babylonlabs-io
- Blog: babylonlabs.io/blog
- Governance forum: forum.babylon.foundation
- Audits: docs.babylonlabs.io/guides/overview/bitcoin_staking/security/audit_reports
Questions and answers
What is Babylon?
Babylon is a protocol that lets BTC holders stake bitcoin in self-custodial scripts on Bitcoin to secure proof-of-stake networks, coordinated by its own chain, Babylon Genesis.
Who holds the bitcoin staked with Babylon?
The staker keeps it in a time-locked script on Bitcoin; a covenant committee of 9 keys (6 needed) co-signs unbonding and slashing transactions.
What is the supply of BABY?
The initial supply is 10 billion BABY, with inflation of 5.5% a year (reduced from 8%).
Can staked BTC be lost?
Yes, partly: if the finality provider you delegate to acts maliciously, a portion of the stake can be slashed.
When did Babylon Genesis launch?
The Babylon Genesis mainnet launched in April 2025.
Sources
- Babylon — Home
- Babylon Docs — llms.txt
- Babylon Docs — Bitcoin staking overview
- Babylon Docs — Babylon Genesis
- Babylon Docs — BABY tokenomics
- Babylon Docs — Governance
- Babylon Docs — Audit reports
- Babylon Docs — FAQs
- Babylon Docs — Covenant committee
- Babylon Docs — Geo blocking
- Babylon networks repo — mainnet global parameters
- Babylon Blog — 2025 roadmap
- Babylon Blog — 2025, a defining year
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