Competition within the Bitcoin staking sector is quickly growing. On Aug. 5, pSTAKE Finance launched its Babylon-based Bitcoin liquid staking token, yBTC, on BNB Chain, Binance’s Layer 1 network. The project will also support deposits in the form of BTCB, Binance’s custodial wrapped Bitcoin token, allowing BTCB holders to access staking yield. “This move will bring further Bitcoin liquidity to BNB Chain and propel its existing DeFi Ecosystem,” pSTAKE said. “Due to its yield-generating nature, DeFi protocols can leverage yBTC as a pristine collateral asset and offer additional yields to users.” The yBTC token was launched on July 28, and quickly filled its 50 BTC deposit limit. The project seeks to offer exposure to third-party Bitcoin staking protocols. pStake launched a points program to incentivize adoption, with depositors earning “pSats.” The project then deposited a portion of its BTC into Babylon, the highly-anticipated Cosmos-based Bitcoin staking protocol, following the project’s mainnet launch last month — allowing yBTC holders to earn Babylon Points as well. Once Babylon’s rollout is complete, the protocol will allow users staking BTC to secure Proof of Stake networks and earn validator rewards. “By turning BTC into a slashable asset, Babylon can utilize BTC to add economic security to PoS chains and earn rewards for BTC holders,” pSTAKE said.“ BNB Chain is currently the fourth largest smart contract network with a total value locked (TVL) of $4.79 billion, according to DeFi Llama. The price of BNB is up 0.8% over the past 24 hours, according to The Defiant’s crypto price feeds. Core unveils LstBTC On the same day, Core Foundation, the team behind the booming Bitcoin Layer 2 network, Core, launched its own Bitcoin liquid staking token, LstBTC. The ERC-20 token allows hodlers to earn staking rewards while remaining liquid, meaning the token can be used in DeFi protocols or freely traded. “LstBTC allows holders to retain full liquidity, meaning their Bitcoin can still be used for lending, transferring, and swapping like any other ERC-20 token,” Core Foundation said. “LstBTC will further expand Core’s already comprehensive BTCfi ecosystem, which includes lending, borrowing, restaking, DEXs, perpetual futures, and NFT platforms.” LstBTC is issued on the Core blockchain and secured by a multi-sig wallet managed by “reputable entities.” Bitcoin staking emerges An increasing number of projects are eying the burgeoning Bitcoin sector. Core quickly emerged as the largest Bitcoin Layer 2 network or sidechain following the launch of Pell Network, a Bitcoin restaking protocol, on the chain in mid-August. Pell accounts for 44.5% of Core’s $317.5 TVL with $141.4 million. Pell hosts $283.6 million in TVL across 12 chains in total. BounceBit, a Bitcoin middleware protocol, has attracted a TVL of $57.8 million after launching on mainnet in May. BounceBit uses a dual-token Proof of Stake mechanism deriving security from validators staking both BTC and its native BB token. Babylon maxed out its initial deposit limit of 1,000 BTC within four hours of launching, despite limiting individual deposits to 0.05 BTC per transaction, to currently boast a $56.7 million TVL. Babylon is also quickly inking partnerships with third-party protocols, including Mind Network, Lorenzo, and Bedrock. Read More: Web3 Teams Compete To Bring Restaking To $1.2T Bitcoin Ecosystem