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Babylon Operators

Babylon Labs offers babylon cli, babylon node and a list of peripheral services to operators who would like to participate in the Babylon network.

Some example user stories:

  • I am an experienced PoS chain Validator and want to help secure the Babylon network and earn block rewards.
  • I want to run a Finality Provider node to receive BTC delegation and earn multi-staking rewards commission.
  • I am a serious institutional staker and want to enable scalable access to the Babylon network.
  • I am an infrastructure provider and want to build an explorer and RPC service for the Babylon network.
  • I am a Bitcoin Secured Network (BSN) builder and want to be able to achieve new real-time data availability with Babylon for my users.

Node Types​

Full Node​

A full node downloads the entire blockchain history and verifies all transactions. Full nodes:

  • Serve RPC/gRPC requests for blockchain data
  • Send transactions and sync blocks
  • Can be upgraded to Validator nodes or Finality Provider nodes

Babylon Genesis Validator Node​

Validator nodes are full nodes that participate in consensus by:

  • Proposing new blocks
  • Voting on blocks
  • Securing the network through BTC staking
  • Earning rewards and transaction fees

Finality Provider Node​

Finality Provider nodes are specialized nodes that participate in BSN finalization by:

  • Committing public randomness for BSN blocks
  • Signing blocks using EOTS (Extractable One-Time Signatures)
  • Submitting finality signatures to BSNs
  • Securing BSNs through BTC staking
  • Earning rewards from BSNs
note

The difference between a Validator and Finality Provider is that Validator nodes are responsible for proposing blocks and voting on Babylon Genesis, while Finality Provider nodes are responsible for committing public randomness and signing blocks for BSNs.

Archive Node​

Archive nodes maintain the complete state history and are useful for:

  • Data analytics
  • Block explorers
  • Historical queries
  • API services

Getting Started​

Networks​

Babylon network is currently running the following public facing networks:

  • Phase 1 Mainnet (Locking on Bitcoin Chain)
  • Phase 2 testnet (Staking on Babylon Genesis)
  • Phase 3 devnet (Multi-staking on BSNs)

CLI Reference​

Babylon binary is available for multiple platforms and can be downloaded from the releases page.

note

For Phase 2 testnet users, please use the v1.0.0-rc.3 tag for babylon binary.

API References​

Babylon nodes provides following RPC/gRPC APIs:

Key Management​

Types of keys important to node operators:

  • Bitcoin schnorr private key (critical for staking and EOTS signing)
  • BSN Validator account private key (critical for proposing blocks)
  • BSN Finality Provider account private keys (critical for signing finality of BSNs)

Operators should use hardware security modules (HSMs) when possible, maintain physical security for key storage, and keep backups in separate locations.

Monitoring & Backup Requirements​

Node operators should implement comprehensive monitoring and backup systems to ensure reliable operation.

Monitoring​

  • System: CPU, memory, disk usage, network metrics
  • Node: sync status, block height, peer connections
  • Validator: transaction monitoring, gas consumption monitoring, retries, consensus/voting participation
  • Finality Provider: EOTS status, signature submissions, slashing conditions
  • API/RPC endpoint health

Backups​

  • Daily state sync snapshots
  • Weekly data archives
  • Store all configuration files after changes
  • Secure key management backups
  • Regular recovery testing