BitVM3 and BABE — the “dual engines” of TBV’s underlying cryptography
TBV enables Bitcoin to participate in DeFi without relying on bridging or custody, supported by two key technologies behind it: BitVM3 and BABE.
BitVM3 is a protocol for verifying SNARK proofs on Bitcoin. By using garbled circuits, it shifts the verification workload off-chain, significantly reducing on-chain usage. It allows complex smart-contract logic to be executed off-chain, while the chain only retains the bare minimum fraud proofs, enabling UTXOs to be recognized by external protocols without modifying Bitcoin scripts. TBV leverages BitVM3 and zero-knowledge proofs to verify whether conditions on external chains are satisfied, bringing the cost of routine vault operations down to about $2.66.
BABE, meanwhile, is the cornerstone of the verification layer—published by Stanford professor David Tse in January 2026. It compresses the multi-pairing computations of Groth16 zero-knowledge proofs into a single elliptic-curve scalar multiplication, reducing verification cost by over three orders of magnitude. BABE establishes a challenge framework between the Claimer and Challenger for each vault creation, using a cut-and-choose protocol and multiple candidate garbled-circuit instances for dispute resolution.
BitVM3 handles “how to verify on Bitcoin,” while BABE handles “how to make verification cheap enough.” Together, they allow TBV to achieve “assets stay put, proofs go first”—Bitcoin does not leave the main chain, and cross-chain state verification can be completed using cryptographic evidence alone. This is the fundamental technical barrier that distinguishes TBV from all encapsulation and bridge-based solutions. @BabylonLabs_io #baby $BABY
TBV enables Bitcoin to participate in DeFi without relying on bridging or custody, supported by two key technologies behind it: BitVM3 and BABE.
BitVM3 is a protocol for verifying SNARK proofs on Bitcoin. By using garbled circuits, it shifts the verification workload off-chain, significantly reducing on-chain usage. It allows complex smart-contract logic to be executed off-chain, while the chain only retains the bare minimum fraud proofs, enabling UTXOs to be recognized by external protocols without modifying Bitcoin scripts. TBV leverages BitVM3 and zero-knowledge proofs to verify whether conditions on external chains are satisfied, bringing the cost of routine vault operations down to about $2.66.
BABE, meanwhile, is the cornerstone of the verification layer—published by Stanford professor David Tse in January 2026. It compresses the multi-pairing computations of Groth16 zero-knowledge proofs into a single elliptic-curve scalar multiplication, reducing verification cost by over three orders of magnitude. BABE establishes a challenge framework between the Claimer and Challenger for each vault creation, using a cut-and-choose protocol and multiple candidate garbled-circuit instances for dispute resolution.
BitVM3 handles “how to verify on Bitcoin,” while BABE handles “how to make verification cheap enough.” Together, they allow TBV to achieve “assets stay put, proofs go first”—Bitcoin does not leave the main chain, and cross-chain state verification can be completed using cryptographic evidence alone. This is the fundamental technical barrier that distinguishes TBV from all encapsulation and bridge-based solutions. @BabylonLabs_io #baby $BABY