The Bitcoin BTC +0.98% staking protocol Babylon has launched phase one of its self-custodial mainnet. 

Now, Babylon users can stake BTC via smart contracts. The platform has already amassed 12,710 stakers performing over 20,600 staking delegations, according to Babylon's website. 

"The Babylon Bitcoin Staking Mainnet launch leads to the third native use case for Bitcoin, the asset, alongside value storage and simple payments: staking to secure PoS networks and earn rewards," the protocol wrote on the social media platform X Thursday. 

Babylon teased the self-custodial mainnet launch on Aug. 21 amid its phased rollout timeline. 

Babylon has seen notable interest from crypto venture capitalists. In December 2023, the firm raised $18 million in Series A funding led by Polychain Capital and Hack VC, along with an undisclosed sum from Binance Labs two months later. 

Babylon then raised $70 million in funding led by Paradigm, with further support from Bullish Capital, Polychain Capital, Hashkey Capital, Mantle, Galaxy, Hack VC, in late May of this year.  

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