The emergence of Bitcoin staking represents a fundamental shift in how institutional holders can earn yield on their BTC—without bridging to another chain. As Babylon Labs leads the development of this capability, we at zonaris are committed to helping our clients participate confidently, securely, and strategically.

Babylon’s recently published Phase 2 Participation Guide provides a walkthrough for onboarding into Phase 2 of the BTC staking testnet. This resource is essential reading for anyone preparing to delegate BTC or run their own finality provider node.

At zonaris, we go a step further. Our platform and services are designed to:

Simplify onboarding and reduce operational complexity, whether you’re delegating BTC or operating your own infrastructure.
Provide managed validator and finality provider operations with institutional-grade security, uptime, and support.
Offer automated reward conversion and re-staking capabilities, helping you optimize BTC yield strategies over time.
Act as your dedicated partner in navigating technical changes, economic upgrades, and protocol-level participation.

Note: If you're participating in Phase 2 BTC staking via the Babylon web interface, zonaris recommends selecting 0zonaris as your Finality Provider.

We’ve reproduced Babylon’s full participation guide below for your convenience, with permission and full credit to the original publisher. You can always access the original post here:🔗 Phase 2 BTC Staking Participation Guide – Babylon Labs

Have questions or need support?

The zonaris team is here to guide you through BTC staking—from validator selection to ongoing operations. Contact Us to learn how we can simplify your participation and help you stake with confidence.

Reproduced with permission from Babylon Labs

The following content is sourced directly from Babylon Labs’ original publication on BTC staking. All credit belongs to the Babylon team for developing and sharing these instructions.

April 22, 2025

Phase-2 BTC Staking Participation Guide

1. For Phase-1 Stakers

1.1 How to register your Phase 1 stake to Phase-2

According to Babylon Foundation, to start earning BABY staking rewards and become eligible for the bonus airdrop, you must transition your Phase-1 stake to Phase-2.

Dashboard instructions:

Visit btcstaking.babylonlabs.io.
Connect your wallet.
Submit the Registration Transaction

Phase 1 stakers need to submit a registration transaction to Babylon Genesis chain. As shown below using the btcstaking.babylonlabs.io Babylon Staking dashboard.

This registration transaction will need a small amount of BABY as gas fee.

The transaction needs to include the binding of BTC and BABY address to activate the stake, as well as the staker's signature as consent to provide slashable security.

Wait for verification

After submitting the registration transaction, wait for it to be verified by the Babylon Genesis.

Registration Submitted Successfully

Your staking transaction has been successfully registered to the Babylon Genesis.

More information on Stake Transition is here.

Note that from this point on, your stake becomes slashable at a slashing ratio of 0.1%.

Using CLI instead? Refer to the Stakers CLI Guide.

1.2 How to unbond and withdraw a Phase 1 stake

Dashboard instructions:

Before registering to Phase 2:

For stakes that are in the Pending Registration list (i.e., before the transition), locate the stake you wish to unbond. Click on the three - dot icon next to the stake entry, and then select the Unbond option from the dropdown menu. This will initiate the unbonding process for the selected stake.

After successful unbonding, the user will need to wait 1008 (7 days) Bitcoin blocks and come back to the dashboard to withdraw the staked BTC.

After transition to Phase 2:
- Find your stake under the Babylon Genesis Stakes list.
- Click Unbond next to the appropriate stake.

Once your unbonding transaction is successfully included in the blockchain, you need to wait for 1,008 Bitcoin blocks (~7 days) to pass for the unbonding period to complete.

After the waiting period:

Return to the staking history list in the dashboard.
Locate your unbonded stake.
On the Withdraw modal click Proceed and confirm the transaction via your wallet.

Prefer CLI? See the CLI unbonding guide.

2. For New Stakers

2.1 How to register a BTC stake in Phase 2

BTC staking is supported through the following wallets, which can be accessed via the Babylon Staking Dashboard, or mobile and hardware wallet apps, depending on the specific integration.

BTC staking is also supported through several centralized exchanges and third-party platforms. As each platform may offer a different staking flow, please refer to their official documentation or contact their support teams for further guidance.

Binance Earn (coming soon)
OKX (coming soon)
Gate (coming soon)
Bitget (coming soon)
CoinEX (coming soon)
Bitrue
Staking Reward
Colossus Digital

Liquid Staking Token projects that stakes on behalf of the staker are also available. Details are available on their documentation sites.

Lombard: LBTC
Solv: xSolvBTC.BBN
PumpBTC
Bedrock: UniBTC
Lorenzo: stBTC
Acorn (Amber): aBTC
Babypie: mBTC
pSTAKE: yBTC
Kinza: kBTC.

A full list of other platforms that support Bitcoin staking can be found here

2.1.1 Web Users

Web users can follow the guides here:

Step 1: Connect BTC and BABY Wallets

Visit the staking dashboard and connect your BTC and BABY wallet to the site.

Select your Finality Provider to stake on, enter your staking amount and click Preview. Note that different Finality Providers will take different amounts of commission. Lower commission rate means more staking reward for you.

On the next page, all of the staking related information including fees, terms, unbonding time and fees are explained here. Note that it will take a certain number of Bitcoin blocks to finalise.

Step 2: Agree to Slashing and Wallets Binding

Next, you will need to agree to slashing conditions and wallet binding. Then the transaction is sent to the Bitcoin network.

After your staking transaction is included in the Bitcoin blockchain, you will need to wait for 30 blocks to finalize your staking. Note that while waiting the covenant committee will pre-sign the transactions which is a part of the slashing mechanism design. Then you can click “Stake BTC” and sign the transaction via your BTC wallet.

Step 3: Send Staking Transaction

Once you see the following page, your staking transaction is complete and your stake is active in Phase 2.

Note that from this point on Of note, your stake becomes slashable at a maximum slashing ratio of 0.1%.

2.1.2 CLI Users

Prefer to use CLI? See the CLI staking guide.

2.2 How to Unbond and Withdraw a BTC Stake

Babylon Bitcoin Staking Protocol offers 7 days unbonding. Follow the guides below to unbond and withdraw your staked BTC.

2.2.1 Web Users

Dashboard quick instructions :

Locate your active BTC stake in the dashboard.
Click Unbond to begin the unbonding process.
Wait 7 days (1,008 blocks) for the unbonding to complete.
After the waiting period, return to the dashboard on the Withdraw modal, click Proceed to retrieve your BTC.

A detailed guide is available here.

2.2.3 CLI Users

CLI Instructions: Follow the unbonding CLI guide.

3. Frequently Asked Questions

3.1 How do I qualify for the bonus airdrop?

According to the Babylon Foundation:

You must transition your Phase 1 stake to Phase 2.
You must remain staked for at least 100 days before October 10, 2025.
Other eligibility requirements may apply. Visit the Babylon Foundation website for full details.

3.2 My Finality Provider hasn’t registered yet. What should I do?

Your Finality Provider (FP) must register on the Babylon Genesis chain before your stake can transition and be delegated.

If your FP hasn’t registered:

Unbond and withdraw your Phase 1 stake (see Section 1.2).
Stake your BTC with another FP using the flow outlined in Section 2.

According to the Babylon Foundation, if you complete this process within 10 days (from initiating unbonding to successfully staking again), and you stay staked for 100 days before October 10, 2025, you will still be eligible for the bonus airdrop. Other conditions may apply.

3.3 I want to switch Finality Providers

Follow the same process:

Unbond and withdraw your stake.
Restake using your new preferred Finality Provider.

According to the Babylon Foundation, the eligibility for the bonus airdrop is retained if the switch is completed within 10 days and the 100-day staking period is fulfilled before the deadline.

3.4 I missed the early adopter airdrop. Can I still qualify?

Yes. Transition your Phase 1 stake to Phase 2 and meet the staking requirements for the bonus airdrop. More information will be provided by the Babylon Foundation.

3.5 I registered for the early adopter airdrop but forgot to sign the Terms of Service

Wait for further updates and guidance from the Babylon Foundation. Monitor official channels such as the Babylon Discord for announcements.

Access the original post here: 🔗 Phase 2 BTC Staking Participation Guide – Babylon Labs

Reminder: When staking through the Babylon web interface, choose 0zonaris as your Finality Provider to benefit from secure, reliable, and professionally managed staking infrastructure backed by zonaris.

Ready to get started or want to learn more?

Whether you’re exploring delegated staking or spinning up your own finality provider, our team is here to help. Contact us to discuss your staking strategy and how zonaris can support your institutional needs.

How to Participate in Phase 2 of BTC Staking on Babylon