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Babylon Genesis Validators

Babylon Genesis follows the Cosmos SDK and CometBFT consensus protocol.

In Phase 2, Babylon accepts CometBFT Validators to join the network. The upper bound of active Validators is 100. However, there is no limit on the total number of Validators.

Prerequisites​

  • A synced Bitcoin full node
  • At least 1 tBABY in your wallet for Phase 2 Testnet and 1 BABY for Mainnet
  • A system that satisfies the system requirements for validator nodes

Anyone can join the Babylon Genesis network as a validator. However, you need to be in the top 60 in delegation to be actively participating in the consensus.

Foundation Delegation Program​

Babylon Foundation is running a delegation program to support high-quality and early infrastructure supporters of the Babylon Genesis chain.

For details of the program, please refer to the Foundation Delegation Program blog page.

note

To help cover transaction fees and meet the minimum self-delegation requirement, foundation delegated validator's account will receive a small amount of BABY tokens on 8 April 2025 to cover Initial gas fees.

For future foundation delegations, please keep watching the Babylon Foundation Website for announcements.

Quick Start Guide​

1. Install Babylon Genesis node​

Follow the installation guide to install Babylon Genesis node.

2. Create a Validator Key​

Initialize your validator key with babylond init will create the BABY key you need for consensus participation and a BLS key used in checkpointing and timestamping to Bitcoin blockchain.

See 3. Key Management for more details.

3. Create a Validator​

Instead of using staking module of Cosmos SDK, Babylon Genesis uses checkpointing module for validator registration and management.

To create a validator, use babylond tx checkpointing create-validator command.

See 4. Create a Validator for more details.

4. Verify Your Validator​

To verify your validator, first get your validator's operator address with babylond keys show <your-key-name> command. Then, use babylond query checkpointing validator-registration-request command to check if your validator registration request is in the queue.

Initially, your status will be 0 - BOND_STATUS_UNBONDED. When active, your status will change to 3 - BOND_STATUS_BONDED.

See 5. Verify Your Validator for more details and rules.

Communication​

Join the #finality-providers channel in the - tech-zone - section of our Discord server for all communications. Testnet announcements will also be made there.

CosmWasm Governance Proposals​

The Babylon Genesis chain will initially use permissioned CosmWasm. After public launch on 10 April 2025, dApp developers are expected to submit governance proposals for either (a) deploying CosmWasm smart contracts or (b) whitelisting addresses to deploy such contracts. These proposals can be expedited (24-hour voting) or standard (72-hour voting). It is important that all validators with voting power actively monitor on-chain proposals, review them (Governance guidelines)** , and participate in governance.**

Version Information​

Faucets​

There are two ways to get tBABY for Phase 2 Testnet:

  1. Babylon Labs Discord Faucet
  2. L2Scan Faucet (0.01 tBABY each request)

Documentation​