> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.stakingrewards.com/staking-data/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.stakingrewards.com/staking-data/methodologies/bitcoin-srb.md).

# Bitcoin SRB

Learn how Bitcoin staking metrics are calculated. BTCSRB covers BTC staked for shared security via Babylon, halving-schedule inflation, and daily transaction fees.

BTCSRB is the benchmark covering Bitcoin's staking-related metrics: the amount of BTC actively staked for shared security via the Babylon protocol, Bitcoin's issuance-based inflation rate, and the network's daily transaction fees.

BTCSRB is calculated and published by Staking Rewards via the [Bitcoin Profile](https://www.stakingrewards.com/asset/bitcoin) and [Data API](https://www.stakingrewards.com/data-api).

> **TL;DR:** Bitcoin has no native staking — its Proof-of-Work consensus is secured by miners, not stakers. BTC earns staking-related yield by being locked in self-custodial Babylon staking scripts on the Bitcoin blockchain, providing economic security to Proof-of-Stake chains. Staking Rewards tracks the BTC actively staked via Babylon, Bitcoin's halving-driven inflation rate, and daily transaction fees. Because Babylon pays staking rewards in BABY rather than BTC, no BTC-denominated reward rate is published at the asset level.

***

### BTC Staked Tokens

$$
st = (tvl\_{p1} + tvl\_{p2}) / 10^8
$$

<table><thead><tr><th width="149">Formula key</th><th width="200">Metric name</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>st</td><td>Staked Tokens</td><td>The total amount of BTC actively staked for shared security via Babylon.</td></tr><tr><td>tvl_p1</td><td>Phase-1 Active TVL</td><td>BTC (in satoshis) still actively locked in Babylon phase-1 staking scripts on the Bitcoin blockchain.</td></tr><tr><td>tvl_p2</td><td>Phase-2 Active TVL</td><td>BTC (in satoshis) actively delegated to finality providers securing the Babylon Genesis chain.</td></tr><tr><td>10^8</td><td>Satoshi Constant</td><td>Satoshis per BTC.</td></tr></tbody></table>

Staked BTC never leaves the Bitcoin blockchain: stakers lock their BTC in self-custodial staking scripts and delegate the stake's voting power to a Babylon finality provider. A delegation counts toward Staked Tokens only while it is active — stake that has been unbonded, withdrawn, or slashed is excluded.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Single-source by design — no summing across venues**

Staked Tokens is deliberately scoped to *BTC actively staked for shared security via Babylon* (phase-1 + phase-2). Bitcoin liquid (re)staking tokens custody their backing BTC as Babylon delegations, so their TVL is already contained in this figure — adding them on top would double count. BTC earning yield through custodial earn programs, lending markets, or bridges is not staking for shared security and is excluded from the asset-level figure; where such venues are integrated, their totals are published on their individual reward options instead.
{% endhint %}

***

### Why BTCSRB Does Not Publish a Reward Rate

Babylon pays BTC stakers their rewards in **BABY**, the native token of the Babylon Genesis chain — not in BTC. Publishing that yield as Bitcoin's own reward rate would assert that staked BTC earns BTC, which it does not, and every derived metric (annualized rewards in BTC, real reward rate against BTC inflation) would inherit that category error.

For this reason, BTCSRB does not currently include an asset-level reward rate, and consequently no validator-level BTCSRB(v) and no real reward rate BTCSRB^R are published. Venue-level reward rates remain available on the individual Bitcoin reward options (Babylon finality providers, liquid staking tokens, and custodial programs) published on the [Bitcoin Profile](https://www.stakingrewards.com/asset/bitcoin).

#### Babylon Finality Provider Reward Rate

The reward rate published on each Bitcoin Babylon finality-provider reward option is the BTC-only staking rate of Babylon Genesis, net of the finality provider's commission:

$$
rr\_{fp} = apr\_{btc} \* (1 - c\_{fp})
$$

$$
apr\_{btc} = (ap \* p\_{btc} \* P\_{BABY}) / (st\_{active} \* P\_{BTC})
$$

<table><thead><tr><th width="149">Formula key</th><th width="200">Metric name</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>rr_fp</td><td>Reward Rate</td><td>Annual BABY rewards a BTC delegator receives, valued in USD, as a share of the USD value of the delegated BTC.</td></tr><tr><td>apr_btc</td><td>BTC Staking APR</td><td>The gross BTC-only staking rate of Babylon Genesis, as published by the Babylon staking API.</td></tr><tr><td>c_fp</td><td>Commission</td><td>The finality provider's commission.</td></tr><tr><td>ap</td><td>Annual Provisions</td><td>Annual BABY issuance of the Babylon Genesis chain.</td></tr><tr><td>p_btc</td><td>BTC Staking Portion</td><td>The share of provisions allocated to BTC stakers (currently ~18.18%).</td></tr><tr><td>st_active</td><td>Active Staked BTC</td><td>BTC actively delegated to finality providers.</td></tr><tr><td>P_BABY, P_BTC</td><td>Prices</td><td>USD prices of BABY and BTC.</td></tr></tbody></table>

* Rewards are paid in **BABY**, not BTC. The rate expresses BABY rewards in USD against staked BTC in USD, so it moves with the BABY/BTC price ratio as well as with issuance and the amount of BTC staked.
* The rate covers only the **BTC-only tier**. Babylon Genesis also runs a **co-staking tier**: stakers who stake BABY alongside their BTC (currently 20,000 BABY per BTC for the full boost) share a separate, larger reward pool. Co-staking requires a second input asset and is **not included** in the published rate. Babylon's advertised maximum rate includes it and is therefore substantially higher.
* Commission is deducted once, at the finality-provider level. Where several finality providers belong to one provider, the reward option shows their stake-weighted average.
* Only finality providers in the Babylon Genesis active set earn BTC staking rewards. A published rate does not guarantee that a given finality provider is currently earning.

***

### Slashing

BTCSRB metrics do not factor in the possibility of slashing occurrences. Bitcoin's own Proof-of-Work consensus has no slashing mechanism; BTC delegated via Babylon can, however, be slashed if the finality provider it is delegated to commits an equivocation offense, at which point the slashed stake drops out of Staked Tokens.

***

### BTC Inflation Rate

Bitcoin's inflation rate is derived from its fixed issuance schedule — newly minted BTC enters circulation exclusively through the block subsidy paid to miners.

$$
ir = bs \* (t\_d \* t\_y / bt) / cs
$$

$$
bs = 50 / 2^{\lfloor h / 210000 \rfloor}
$$

<table><thead><tr><th width="149">Formula key</th><th width="200">Metric name</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>ir</td><td>Inflation Rate</td><td>New BTC entering the circulating supply per year, as a share of the current circulating supply.</td></tr><tr><td>bs</td><td>Block Subsidy</td><td>Newly issued BTC per block. Started at 50 BTC and halves every 210,000 blocks (~4 years).</td></tr><tr><td>h</td><td>Block Height</td><td>The current height of the Bitcoin blockchain.</td></tr><tr><td>bt</td><td>Block Time</td><td>The observed average block time in seconds over the trailing 52,560 blocks (~1 year).</td></tr><tr><td>cs</td><td>Circulating Supply</td><td>The current amount of BTC in circulation.</td></tr><tr><td><span class="math">t_d</span></td><td>Day Constant</td><td>86400s</td></tr><tr><td><span class="math">t_y</span></td><td>Year Constant</td><td>365d</td></tr></tbody></table>

* The inflation rate counts **newly issued tokens only**. Transaction fees are a transfer of existing BTC from spenders to miners, not new issuance, and are therefore excluded — they are tracked separately as Daily Fees below.
* Using the observed block time rather than the 10-minute target means the annualized issuance reflects actual network conditions (hashrate growth temporarily accelerates issuance until the next difficulty adjustment).

{% hint style="info" %}

#### Inflation Rate Behaviour

Bitcoin's issuance is fully deterministic: the block subsidy halves every 210,000 blocks until it reaches zero around the year 2140, capping total supply at 21 million BTC. Each halving cuts the inflation rate roughly in half overnight, making Bitcoin progressively more disinflationary. Between halvings, the rate declines slowly as the circulating supply (the denominator) grows while issuance per block stays constant.
{% endhint %}

***

### BTC Daily Fees

$$
df = \sum\_{b \in B} f\_b / 10^8
$$

<table><thead><tr><th width="149">Formula key</th><th width="200">Metric name</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>df</td><td>Daily Fees</td><td>Total transaction fees paid on the Bitcoin network over the last ~24 hours, in BTC.</td></tr><tr><td>f_b</td><td>Block Fees</td><td>The total transaction fees (in satoshis) included in block b — the sum over all transactions of inputs minus outputs, collected by the miner on top of the block subsidy.</td></tr><tr><td>B</td><td>Observation Window</td><td>The latest 144 blocks (~24 hours at the 10-minute block target).</td></tr></tbody></table>

***

#### Observation Period:

1. Staked Tokens reflects the active Babylon delegations at the point of evaluation.
2. The Inflation Rate is determined from the block subsidy at the current height and the observed block time over the trailing 52,560 blocks, annualized for a comprehensive year-long projection.
3. Daily Fees are determined based on the latest 144 blocks (\~24 hours) at the point of evaluation.

#### Calculation

The calculation happens every 2 hours and is immediately published via [Data API](https://www.stakingrewards.com/data-api).

{% hint style="info" %}

#### Limitations

* BTCSRB uses a 365-day year convention; no leap year adjustment is made.
* Staked Tokens is scoped to BTC staked for shared security via Babylon. It is not a measure of all BTC earning yield anywhere — custodial, lending, and bridged venues are excluded by design.
* No asset-level reward rate or real reward rate is published, as Babylon staking rewards are denominated in BABY rather than BTC. Reward rates on individual reward options do not guarantee the rate any individual staker will receive.
* Reward rates on Bitcoin Babylon finality-provider reward options exclude the Babylon co-staking (BTC + BABY) tier.
* Daily Fees vary strongly with network congestion; the trailing 144-block window is a snapshot, not a long-term average.
  {% endhint %}

***

### Other Metrics

<table><thead><tr><th width="220">Metric</th><th>Description</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Staking Ratio</td><td>The share of the eligible supply actively staked via Babylon (Staked Tokens / Eligible Supply).</td></tr><tr><td>Eligible Supply</td><td>Equal to the circulating supply — any circulating BTC can be delegated to a Babylon finality provider, with no protocol-level restriction.</td></tr><tr><td>Block Height</td><td>The current height of the Bitcoin blockchain.</td></tr><tr><td>Block Time</td><td>The observed average time between blocks over the trailing 52,560 blocks.</td></tr><tr><td>Circulating Supply</td><td>The current amount of BTC in circulation.</td></tr><tr><td>Total Supply</td><td>The total amount of BTC issued to date (capped at 21 million).</td></tr></tbody></table>

***

#### Data Sources:

* [Staking Rewards](https://www.stakingrewards.com/) from indexed Bitcoin Blockchain RPC and explorer endpoints
* Babylon staking API — active delegation totals across phase-1 and phase-2, and the BTC-only staking rate
* CoinGecko — price and supply data

***

#### References:

* [Bitcoin Controlled Supply](https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Controlled_supply)
* [Babylon BTC Staking Documentation](https://docs.babylonlabs.io/)

***

:books: [Learn more about BTC Staking](https://www.stakingrewards.com/asset/bitcoin)

:bar\_chart: [Calculate your BTC Staking Rewards](https://www.stakingrewards.com/calculator?asset=bitcoin)

:gear: [Access historic Bitcoin Staking Data via API](https://www.stakingrewards.com/data-api)

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Last updated on 10/06/2026
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