KEY POINTS
- $BTC holders will soon be able to stake Bitcoin through Babylon’s staking protocol
- The teams are building a future where $BTC holders can participate in on-chain finance without compromising security or liquidity: Lombard co-founder
- Users from all blockchain ecosystems can now come to Sui to participate in an environment where $BTC plays a role: Cubist head of Ecosystem Development
- NAVI has signaled interest in working with Babylon to support $LBTC pools on the protocol
Bitcoin security project Babylon Labs and leading developer of secure Bitcoin infrastructure today jointly announced a strategic initiative to integrate BTC with Sui, the layer 1 blockchain and smart contract platform, which aims to onboard Bitcoin liquidity to the Sui ecosystem.
The partnership aims to grow the decentralized finance (DeF) ecosystem with LBTC as a collateral asset and is expected to attract BTC holders to do more with their Bitcoin via LBTC, the largest liquid staking provider on Babylon.
Unlocking a $1.8 Trillion Asset
Under the initiative, Bitcoin holders will be able to stake BTC through the Babylon staking protocol and receive LBTC natively minted on Sui by December. LBTC will become a core asset in Sui’s DeFi ecosystem pe, which will then enable lending, borrowing, and trading to unlock Bitcoin’s staggering $1.8 trillion worth of liquidity on Sui.
“Babylon builds native use cases for BTC to bring Bitcoin security and liquidity to decentralized systems. We are excited that Sui shares this vision and teams up with us and our collaborators to make this a reality on Sui,” said Fisher Yu, co-founder and CTO of Babylon Labs, as per a press release shared with International Business Times.
Lombard is entering the picture with extensive experience and proven efficiency. It demonstrated the power of BTC liquidity on Ethereum, where its flagship LBTC token has surpassed $1 billion in minted assets and over half of LBTC is active in DeFi applications. This proven model is coming to Sui.
“Bitcoin’s $1.8 trillion market capitalization represents immense untapped potential. Together, we are building a future where Bitcoin holders can fully participate in the next generation on on-chain finance without compromising security or liquidity,” said Jacob Phillips, co-founder of Lombard.
Cubist, on the other hand, is building the infrastructure that will bring BTC to Sui. It will provide key management with the highest levels of security and performance to allow for efficient deposits, minting, staking, and bridging.
“Bringing BTC into Sui is a match made in heaven. Thanks to this collaboration with Babylon, Lombard and Cubist, users from all blockchain ecosystems can come to Sui to participate in a thriving ecosystem of financial services in which Bitcoin will play a role,” said Jameel Khalfan, head of Ecosystem Development at Sui Foundation.
Bringing Value to Sui’s DeFi Space
There is already growing interest in embracing the power of BTC on Sui within the Sui DeFi ecosystem. NAVI, one of the leading borrow—lend protocols on Sui, has indicated plans to collaborate with Lombard to support LBTC pools on the protocol.
“Already the largest liquid staking issuer for Bitcoin, this latest collaboration between Lombard and Cubist shall cultivate a new revolutionary era for Sui and Bitcoin. NAVI is excited to be working with Babylon Labs, Lombard and Cubist teams to bring the value of staked Bitcoin to Sui DeFi users,” said Elliscope Fang, CEO of NAVI.
Sui’s strengths and effectiveness lies in its programmability and composability, positioning the blockchain as the premier foundational, universal coordination layer for all digital assets.
Sui’s programmability resolves the issue around Bitcoin’s limits in terms of on-chain programmability. Furthermore, Sui features horizontally scalable processing and storage that supports a vast array of applications with unrivaled speed to make digital asset ownership accessible for everyone at low cost.
