Ankr as the liquid staking layer for Bitcoin via Babylon
Thread696 words
Bullish call$ANKR−91%since this piece, moved against the callHow it played out ↓Thesis that Ankr will issue LSTs for BTC staked through Babylon, mirroring ether.fi and Kelp on EigenLayer, with BTC's $1.2T mostly idle market cap as the addressable base. Compares Ankr's FDV with EtherFi and Lido.
Key claims
BTC market cap above $1.2T, mostly idle
EtherFi $3B FDV and Lido $2.4B FDV, Ankr valued far lower
BTC LSTs to secure Archway, Osmosis, Injective, Sei, Stargaze
Liquid Bitcoin staking will be a major narrative this cycle.
Over USD 1.2 Trillion in idle BTC capital that can be put to productive use and allow PoS networks to bootstrap crypto-economic security.
Ready for the Lido of BTC, built on the EigenLayer of Bitcoin?
Alpha-🧵
Bitcoin season is upon us.
A key driver will be liquid staking.
Strengthening liquidity and improving security, liquid staking BTC to secure PoS chains will be huge and @ankr will be the king.
Especially as it is hard to build rollups on top of Bitcoin's blockchain architecture itself, BTC staking will be key.
They face programmability limitations and slow block times that have to be countered with off-chain work-arounds & client-side state verification mechanisms.
However, aside a chain with limited programmability, Bitcoin is also a > $1.2 Trillion mcap asset and most of it is idle capital.
So what if there was a way to stake idle BTC capital to leverage Bitcoin capital to secure PoS execution layers?
I'm talking about a liquid Bitcoin staking protocol that allows any Bitcoin holders to trustlessly stake their BTC.
Without bridging them to the PoS chain, the chain still provides fully slashable security guarantees.
How is that possible? Remote staking.
Lock staked BTC in a contract on the Bitcoin chain & slash the stake when there is a protocol violation on the consumer PoS chain.
This is the approach used in security sharing solutions such as @eigencloud’s Ethereum restaking protocol.
With @eigencloud, the idea is to take staked ETH on Ethereum & restake it to secure middleware (AVS) such as DA layers, bridges, oracles, etc. (see tweet 5)
Similarly, the Bitcoin-staked @babylon_chain acts as a control plane to synchronize between Bitcoin and the PoS chains.
You following me anon?
This is where it gets really interesting.
Meet the Lido of BTC staking.
@ankr.
@ankr will create liquid staking tokens (LSTs) for the BTC staked via Babylon.
These LSTs will then be issued on PoS chains secured by the BTC staking protocol. This brings both security and liquidity to the chains that are secured through @ankr's BTC staking.
How it works:
✦ BTC holders elect to stake their bitcoin via @ankr Liquid Staking.
✦ The users will earn staking rewards on their locked BTC via the @babylon_chain.
✦ Stakers can choose to unstake and unlock their BTC at any time.
All powered by the fast unbonding and scalable restaking features of the protocol, allowing Bitcoin stakers to also enjoy maximized liquidity and yields.
The collaboration will also include @ankr’s involvement in running validators on the @babylon_chain testnet and building advanced security infrastructure to support Babylon nodes and finality providers.
As one of the industry’s most experienced staking infrastructure providers, @ankr’s validation and LSTs will provide a solid foundation for Bitcoin staking to power yields for millions of global BTC holders while securing an array of PoS ecosystems.
Okay sounds cool, but why is this so big?
Well, @babylon_chain is literally the @eigencloud of Bitcoin.
However, the pool of crypto-economic collateral is even bigger.
In turn, @ankr is to @babylon_chain what @ether_fi or @KelpDAO are to @eigencloud.
Just the asset volume will probably be closer to Lidos stETH, simply due to the size of the addressable market here.
As a leading infrastructure provider, with powerful DePIN infrastructure around the globe, @ankr is uniquely positioned to be the prime liquid staking solution for Bitcoin on the market.
As a comparison:
✦ EtherFi: $3B FDV
✦ Lido: $2.4b FDV
✦ Ankr: $0.4 FDV
@Ankr will be the major LST issuer in the world of Bitcoin staking. BTC liquid staked with Ankr through Babylon will be securing chains like:
✦ @archwayHQ
✦ @osmosis
✦ @injective
✦ @SeiNetwork
✦ @StargazeZone
✦ and more!
That's just the beginning though.
@ankr is cooking hard and there is a lot more to come here in the next few weeks.
DYOR anon and don't fade this opportunity. Will definitely be one of my main bets this cycle.
That's a wrap for today! I hope you've found this thread helpful! 🫡
Make sure to follow me @zerokn0wledge_ and @ankr to stay up to date!
Like/Repost of the below post is also highly appreciated! 🙏👇
13 images on X
How the call played out · since 19 Mar 2024
Prices as of 23 Oct 2026This piece takes a view on $ANKR, so that move is read against the call. Other assets it covers are shown as context, not as calls.
−91%
Moved against the call · over 2.6 years
- At publication
- $0.0462
- Now
- $0.00422
- vs BTC
- −92%
- After 1 month
- −7.7%
- After 3 months
- −31%
- After 1 year
- −61%
- High since
- +46% 02 Apr 2024
- Low since
- −93% 30 Jul 2026
Mentioned for context
Since then
Zero has written 10 more pieces on Ankr and $ANKR since this one.
Daily closes in USD from DefiLlama and Yahoo Finance. Only a bullish or bearish thesis is read as a call; explainers, maps and mentions are context. Not financial advice.