In the latest episode of the SlateCast, CryptoSlate welcomed David Tse, CEO and co-founder of Babylon Chain, to discuss the groundbreaking concept of Bitcoin staking and its potential to secure Web3.
Joining David was Senior Editor Liam “Akiba” Wright and CryptoSlate CEO Nate Whitehill, who delved into the intricacies of this innovative protocol and its far-reaching implications.
Bitcoin’s Underrated Properties
The conversation started with David highlighting Bitcoin’s often-overlooked properties, particularly its function as a global timestamping server. “Bitcoin is a global timestamping server, a global timestamping server. And that’s an underrated property,” he said, emphasizing the significance of this aspect in the context of Babylon Chain’s mission.
Introducing Babylon Chain and Bitcoin Staking
Akiba then inquired about Babylon Chain’s unique approach to enabling Bitcoin holders to earn yield by staking their assets securely without bridging or wrapping. David explained the shared security model that underpins their protocol:
“We start thinking that these proof of stake chains, they all have a native use case. So no matter whether the chain is useful, the economy is supposed to be useful, the application is supposed to be useful or not. At least it has one sort of a native use case, which is staking, and that’s by the nature of the proof of stake chain. Bitcoin doesn’t have this, because Bitcoin is proof of work.
And so we start thinking, well, there is this new and growing market of staking, but there’s Bitcoin, which is like the largest asset. Wouldn’t it be nice if we can also endow it with the staking use case?”
The Cosmos Ecosystem and Beyond
Discussing Babylon Chain’s focus on the Cosmos ecosystem, David highlighted the maturity of the Tendermint and Cosmos SDK technologies, as well as the App Chain Thesis, which aligns with their vision of securing multiple chains through Bitcoin staking.
However, he revealed an exciting development, noting that a new ecosystem is emerging around Bitcoin, driven by the learnings from proof-of-stake systems. “There’s a new ecosystem emerging, which is around Bitcoin itself,” David shared. He continued:
“This is not what we expected two years ago. We’re thinking this proof of stake ecosystem is really booming Bitcoin, sitting there by itself very lonely. We take the Bitcoin security that will help these proof of stake ecosystem. But now something happened is that people are taking the learnings from these proof of stake ecosystems.”
The Future of Blockchain Education and Research
Toward the end of the discussion, Akiba probed David’s thoughts on the current state of blockchain education and research at universities and whether enough is being done to train the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs in the space.
David acknowledged the growing interest among students, particularly undergraduates, but noted a lack of engagement from professors, citing the conservative nature of academics and the somewhat tarnished reputation of crypto due to high-profile incidents.
“There are very few professors doing research in blockchain. So these students are kind of doing it on their own. And I think we should do more as an institution to provide more education and to broaden this interest of blockchain.”
The SlateCast episode with David Tse explored Babylon Chain’s ambitious mission to enable Bitcoin staking and leverage the world’s largest cryptocurrency to secure Web3. As the industry continues to evolve, innovative solutions like Babylon Chain could play a pivotal role in shaping the future of decentralized ecosystems while also highlighting the need for greater emphasis on blockchain education and research in academic institutions.
NEW SLATECAST 🎙️ How Babylon will unlock 21 million Bitcoin to secure the decentralized economy
“Bitcoin is a global timestamping server, and that’s an underrated property.”
🎤 Guest: @dntse of @babylon_chain
🗣️ Hosts: @NateWhitehill & @akibablade pic.twitter.com/JVNlJX3rfq
— CryptoSlate (@CryptoSlate) April 27, 2024
