Key Points
- The Bitcoin Protocol locked nearly 24,000 BTC, totaling around $1.5 billion, following the removal of staking restrictions.
- Bitcoin ranks third in NFT sales volume, with nearly $15 million in sales over a week.
The Bitcoin Protocol, known as Babylon, has seen a significant rise in its Total Value Locked (TVL) recently. This increase is attributed to the removal of some staking restrictions, which allowed more BTC to be staked, setting a new record for the network.
This expansion of the staking function represents another step in its evolution, placing it among networks with the highest NFT sales volume.
Bitcoin Protocol Locks More BTC
Recent data reveals that Babylon currently has nearly 24,000 BTC locked, equivalent to almost $1.5 billion at the present market price. This milestone was achieved after the protocol removed its cap on new deposits on August 8th, enabling users to stake more BTC.
In just over an hour, thousands of BTC were staked, spanning about 10 Bitcoin blocks. The only limitation was a 500 BTC cap per transaction, a reduction from the initial 1,000 BTC cap when the protocol was launched earlier in August.
The removal of the staking cap led to swift growth in the TVL, demonstrating the growing interest in using the Bitcoin Protocol for staking.
Bitcoin Protocol vs Ethereum Staked Assets
Currently, around 24,000 BTC, or about 0.122% of the circulating supply, is staked in the Bitcoin Protocol. Bitcoin has a market capitalization exceeding $1.2 trillion and a circulating supply of over 19.7 million BTC.
Although this percentage is significant given the protocol’s new staking function, it is dwarfed by Ethereum (ETH). Dune Analytics data shows that nearly 35 million ETH is currently staked, accounting for over 28% of the total ETH supply.
With a market cap of approximately $294 billion and a circulating supply of about 120.4 million ETH, Ethereum’s staking participation significantly outpaces Bitcoin’s.
Bitcoin’s Growth in NFT Sales Volume
In addition to staking, the Bitcoin network has made significant progress in NFT. The network ranks among the top five networks in terms of NFT sales volume.
According to Crypto Slam, Bitcoin recorded nearly $15 million in NFT sales over the past week. This places it as the third-highest network for NFT sales, behind only Ethereum and Mythos.
