“Funding will be used to build and scale Babylon Trustless BTCVaults, enabling native bitcoin to be used as onchain collateral without custodians or wrapping.”, — write: www.coindesk.com
The platform’s BABY token was higher by 13% after the a16z investment.
The investment will be used to advance the core technology behind BTCVaults and support integration with external applications that require verifiable, non-custodial bitcoin collateral, the company said.
a16z crypto will also provide strategic input based on its experience investing in blockchain infrastructure.
BTCVaults are designed to allow bitcoin to be locked on the Bitcoin base layer while remaining verifiable to external systems. The system is intended to allow applications to confirm that BTC collateral remains in place and to enforce conditions such as unlocking or liquidation through cryptographic mechanisms, rather than custodial control or wrapped representations of the cryptocurrency.
Most existing on-chain Bitcoin collateral solutions rely on custodians or wrapped BTC, which require users to relinquish control of their assets or convert the cryptocurrency into a different representation.
Babylon’s approach is designed to enable BTC to remain native to the Bitcoin network while still being used in financial applications.
The development of BTCVaults comes amid growing institutional use of bitcoin as collateral. Regulators, banks, asset managers, and trading firms have increasingly recognized BTC in lending, derivatives, and investment products, while the majority of the crypto’s supply remains unused in onchain financial systems.
BTCVaults are designed to support a range of financial use cases, including borrowing, lending, and other collateralized products, without requiring custodians or asset wrapping, Babylon said. The infrastructure is intended to be compatible with both decentralized and traditional financial systems.
The funding will support Babylon’s goal of enabling BTC to function as productive collateral while preserving self-custody and operation on the Bitcoin base layer.
Read more: Ostium Raises $20M Series A Led by General Catalyst, Jump Crypto to Put TradFi Perps Onchain
KuCoin captured a record share of centralized exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the broader crypto market.
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per monthmarking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralized exchange volumeas KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumeswhich slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly spliteach exceeding $500 billion for the year, signaling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activityreinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activityindicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
View Full Report
The Wall Street giant is widening its crypto push, following bitcoin and solana ETF filings with a potential ether trust.
- Morgan Stanley has filed a registration statement with the SEC for an Ethereum Trust.
- The filing comes days after the bank submitted paperwork for spot bitcoin and solana ETFs, as crypto ETFs have rapidly expanded in the US over the past two years.
- Morgan Stanley began offering crypto access to clients in October through its wealth management arm, reflecting growing institutional adoption of digital assets.
Read full story