巴比伦的比特币质押：协议中已有40,573枚BTC，现在入场还值得吗？

Bitcoin Pledge through Babylon: Mechanism, Risk and Tax Analysis

When you pledge Bitcoin through the Babylon protocol, you get not the Bitcoin itself, but the token of the protocol, BABY. It is crucial to understand this fact before committing a pledge, as it will completely change your expectations of the benefits of holding Bitcoin.

According to DefiLlama, the current value of bitcoins held by the agreement is approximately US$3.34 billion (a total of 40,573 coins). A year ago, this figure was as high as $7.14 billion. On Wednesday night, Bitcoin traded at US$81,394 (approximately 72,636 euros), down about 2% from the previous trading day. This article will provide an in-depth analysis of the technical principles, sources of income, lock-in period, and how rewards are handled in German tax law. This article does not include price forecasts for BABY tokens.

Bitcoin pledge does not generate Bitcoin interest

The so-called "Bitcoin pledge" refers to locking Bitcoin as collateral in an external network in exchange for rewards paid by the network in its own tokens. Bitcoin itself will not increase in value. There is no allocation mechanism for holders in the Bitcoin protocol; new bitcoins are generated only through mining.

This makes the process fundamentally different from a savings account, although the terms sound similar. You provide collateral and the other network pays you in its own currency. Whether this is cost-effective depends entirely on the value of the token and its ability to preserve value.

Babylon is the agreement that opens the door to this path. It consists of a locking mechanism on the Bitcoin chain and an independent proof-of-stake (PoS) chain called "Babylon Genesis." The latter benefited from locked Bitcoin collateral and distributed BABY tokens in return. For an overview of other providers and their terms, please refer to our Comparison of Pledge Platforms .

How Babylon locks Bitcoin without removing it

The core of the technology lies in the "time lock" of the Bitcoin chain itself. Your Bitcoin goes to an output address and, according to Bitcoin script rules, can only be moved again after the deadline or through the path you signed. Babylon calls this a "self-managed" architecture and writes on its website: "There is no packaging, no bridging to other networks," and the whole process takes place within your own wallet.

"Packaging" means that the custodian keeps the real Bitcoin and issues alternative tokens on another chain. "Bridging" transfers value between the two chains and becomes a target in the process. Under Babylon's model, neither exists, eliminating custodian solvency concerns.

What remains is a different risk that many people underestimate: You have the private key and therefore assume responsibility for custody. If access rights are lost, no one can help you. For the selection of suitable devices, please refer to our Hardware Wallet Comparison .

40,573 bitcoins in the agreement: capital more than halved in one year

On October 7, 2025, Babylon's bitcoin holdings reached an all-time high of $7.14 billion. Today, that figure has fallen to $3.34 billion, a drop of more than 53%. Both data are derived from DefiLama time series, which update locked positions daily.

Part of the decline can be attributed to the fall in bitcoin prices over the same period, while the rest is the withdrawal of capital. The lowest point occurred in mid-July 2026 at US$2.63 billion; positions have increased since then, but are far from returning to the level of a year ago.

This flow of funds is more convincing than any yield figure for evaluating agreements. If an agreement's security capital shrinks by more than half in a year, it means that it has failed to win the trust of users. Entering now means entering a smaller network rather than an expanding network.

It takes about seven days to retrieve Bitcoin from the agreement.

The proceeds are issued in the form of BABY, and the trading price of BABY is down 92% from its peak. BABY is a token for the Babylon Genesis chain and the only payment method for Bitcoin principals to receive rewards. Babylon clearly stated in its Phase 2 agreement guide that after the transition, the principal will receive a "BABY pledge reward" and no Bitcoin payout.

Currently, the token is trading at US$0.0125 (approximately EUR 0.0112). Its peak occurred on April 12, 2025, when it was US$0.1661, a gap of approximately 92%. The total market value of all BABY in circulation is US$61.2 million, ranking 402nd by market value. The data comes from CoinGecko.

In addition to price, there are two key figures. The circulation volume is 4.89 billion BABY, and the total supply is 11.01 billion. This means that the amount circulating in the market is less than half of the paper supply, and the rewards for Bitcoin collateral are paid out of this amount. The gains generated in a token whose supply increases and price falls are very different from the gains denominated in euros.

We deliberately do not list specific percentages here. The actual payouts depend on the circulation on the chain, the number of competitors competing for the same circulation, and the commissions of the provider you entrust. Any fixed number is just a snapshot and may expire as you read it.

Slashing is capped at 0.1%: The risk of punishment is small, but non-zero

Slashing is the confiscation of some collateral as a punishment for improper conduct on the Internet. In the case of a Bitcoin pledge made through Babylon, this penalty is not directed against you personally, but against the providers who distribute the collateral and reaches you through them.

According to Babylon's own Phase 2 agreement guidelines, collateral faces a "maximum slash rate of 0.1%." For a locked bitcoin, this means one thousandth, which is about 73 euros at today's prices.

This order of magnitude helps visualize risk, but does not eliminate it. Slash is usually triggered by "double signatures", where the same provider issues conflicting signatures on the same block. This is an operator's operating error and you cannot control it. Your only leverage lies in choice.

Waiting for 1,008 Bitcoin blocks: Unbinding period locks your positions for seven days

Unbinding is the process by which you release locked collateral, but it will not run immediately. In the same guide, Babylon noted that "1,008 Bitcoin blocks, approximately 7 days" are needed after triggering before positions can be withdrawn.

In the cryptocurrency market, seven days is a long time. If the price falls by 10% during this period, you will not be able to respond because Bitcoin is in an immovable state. This waiting period is the true cost of Bitcoin pledges and does not appear in any revenue commitments. For comparison of lock-up periods on other networks, please refer to our Overview of Pledge Lock-Up Period .

This period is calculated in Bitcoin blocks rather than calendar days. If the network burst speed is slower than average, the time will be longer. Therefore, please consider seven days as a guideline rather than a commitment.

Ultimate Provider: How to check commissions and minimum amounts before commissioning

A Finality Provider is the operator to whom you allocate Bitcoin collateral, and they use these collateral to confirm the finality of blocks on the Babylon Genesis chain. They will deduct a portion of the commission before issuing the remaining rewards to you. Babylon outlines this relationship in its guide: Lower commissions mean more rewards for the principal.

在进行首次委托前，有三点值得注意。首先是佣金，因为它永久性地从每次 payout 中扣除。其次是运营历史，因为双重签名往往发生于此。最后是最低金额，因为在小额头寸中，锁定和后续提取的比特币交易费会吃掉可观比例的回报。

最后一点在小金额决定一切。无论您锁定的金额多少，都会产生两笔比特币交易。对于不足一枚比特币的部分，手续费可能超过数月的奖励。

通过LBTC进行流动性质押增加了第二层风险

流动性质押是指为您提供可交易的替代代币，以便锁定的比特币不闲置。Babylon上最著名的产品是Lombard发行的LBTC，根据DefiLlama数据，其当前持有量为6.439亿美元。

吸引力显而易见：您保持了一个可以出售或在其他地方使用的头寸，并避开了七天的等待期。代价是增加了一层风险。除了Babylon协议的风险外，还增加了发行和赎回LBTC的智能合约风险，以及当大量用户同时退出时LBTC在市场交易中低于比特币价值的风险。

如果您选择Babylon的主要论点是自我托管，那么此类替代代币在一定程度上削弱了这一优势。这两种路线都有其合理性，但它们不是同一条路线，也不承担相同的风险。

德国税务：根据所得税法第22条第3款，质押奖励属于其他收入

Under German tax law, BABY rewards are not considered capital gains, but income. Tax authorities usually classify passive commissions as "other income" as stipulated in Article 22, paragraph 3, of the Income Tax Law. The basis is the "Cryptographic Assets Circular" issued by the Federal Ministry of Finance on March 6, 2025, which replaces the 2022 guidelines.

Each award is valued based on the market value in euros at the time it is incurred. There is a tax exemption of EUR 256 per year for such income, which covers all other service income. Note that the tax allowance is not a deduction: if the income is 255 euros, it is completely exempt; if it is 256 euros, it is fully taxed, not just the excess.

The estimate at the time of production also becomes the basis for your cost of acquiring these BABYs. If you sell them later, a separate one-year holding period under Article 23 of the Income Tax Act will apply. This means that each reward involves two transactions, both of which need to be recorded. For specific operations, please refer to our article Pledge and Taxation in Germany .

For tokens in the tenth-of-Europe range, this will soon become an accounting task. Thousands of small accumulations, each with a different price and date, will be very difficult to manage manually.

2027 Tax Reform: Cabinet Dates and Year-End Deadline

A legal change that has not yet been passed is crucial for whether to enter the market now. We pointed out in our report on October 1 that October 14, 2026 It will be the date for the Cabinet to review the draft, which proposes to move gains derived from exchange crypto assets from Section 23 to Section 20 of the Income Tax Act and impose a 25% withholding tax starting in 2027. The deadline for existing positions is December 31, 2026.

There are three restrictions on this. First of all, this is not law yet, because the Bundestag and the Bundesrat will follow after the cabinet, and changes can occur at every step. Secondly, for the current year, the one-year holding period remains unchanged. Finally, under the current draft, people who buy before the end of the year will still be subject to the old rules.

Pledge rewards are only indirectly affected because they are recorded as revenue rather than disposal gains. What is affected is the sale of subsequently received tokens. Before the draft became law, this was just a planning number, not a legal position.

MiCA and BaFin: Authorization as a crypto service provider does not automatically cover pledges

MiCA is an EU crypto asset market regulation that takes effect from 2024 and requires service providers to obtain authorization. It covers multiple services such as custody, exchange, and transactions, but does not include a separate "pledge services" license category.

A common misunderstanding stems from this vulnerability: providers may be authorized in Germany but still operate pledged services that are not covered by the authorization. The key is whether the other party holds your key during the process, because hosting requires permission. Under Babylon's self-custody form, no one holds assets for you, so it is not regulated here due to the lack of a custodian.

这一立场令人不安，因为它在不发布禁令的情况下撤回了保护。如果最终性提供商失败或行为不当，德国没有监管机构可求助，也没有存款担保。哪些提供商在德国拥有授权，请参阅我们的MiCA下的质押概览。

总结：比特币质押的风险与收益

通过Babylon进行比特币质押，技术上比标签暗示的更干净，但经济上比头条新闻承诺的更薄弱。自我托管得以保留，惩罚风险极小（千分之一），但奖励是以一种交易价格较峰值下跌92%且供应量持续增长的代币形式发放。

以下三个步骤有助于决策：

• 先算隐性成本，再看收益。无论金额大小，都会产生两笔比特币交易费和运营商佣金。使用工具记录带有日期和价格的积累收益；常见程序请参阅税务和投资组合工具对比。
• 委托前比较多种路线。次要代币中的奖励并非唯一的质押形式，成熟网络以其自身、流动性更强的货币支付奖励。条款请参阅质押平台对比。
• 锁定前先确保密钥安全。没有托管人就没有恢复途径。保持密钥离线的设备是前提条件，而非额外选项；选择请参阅硬件钱包对比。

（截至2026年10月8日。本文不构成投资建议。价格和费用结构会发生变化；购买前请与提供商核实条款。）