Bitcoin Remote Stake: Babylon provides secure support for PoS chains

The Babylon project aims to leverage the economic security of Bitcoin and cross-chain communication technology, allowing BTC holders to provide additional security for other PoS blockchains and earn rewards without leaving the Bitcoin network. This approach utilizes the advantages of proof of work to complement the security of proof of stake.

The core mechanisms include:

1. Remote staking: BTC is reserved for staking on the Bitcoin mainnet.

2. Customized staking contracts: Achieve staking lock-up by creating special transaction types through Bitcoin scripts.

3. Cross-chain communication: Using the IBC protocol to transmit messages and data between Bitcoin and other blockchains.

4. Additional security layer: Regularly record the hash of key data from the PoS chain onto the Bitcoin blockchain to form "checkpoints".

The architecture of Babylon includes the Bitcoin mainnet, aggregation layer, communication protocol, and target PoS chain. BTC holders can choose the network they want to stake on, lock assets on Bitcoin, and the Babylon aggregation layer processes the data and sends it to the Bitcoin network via IBC to establish checkpoints, allowing users to ultimately earn rewards from the target PoS network.

In terms of security and penalty mechanisms, Babylon adopts Schnorr signatures and EOTS to prevent malicious behaviors such as double spending. If a violation is detected, the staker's private key will be made public, and their staked BTC will be destroyed.

Babylon has solved several key issues:

1. Implement native BTC stake on the Bitcoin network to provide higher returns.
2. Reduce the security budget of the PoS chain.
3. Provide PoW security supplements for PoS chains to mitigate long-range attacks.
4. Improve the ability of PoS chains to resist active attacks.

Compared to Eigenlayer, Babylon's main advantage lies in targeting a large market of idle BTC. However, due to the lack of smart contracts, its functionality is relatively limited. Both provide economic security support for small-scale PoS chains, but they differ in their target audience and specific goals.