Babylon has introduced the BABE protocol, a new Groth16 zero-knowledge proof verification system for Bitcoin, promising to cut verification costs by over 1,000 times. Announced by Stanford professor and Babylon co-founder David Tse, BABE leverages witness encryption based on linear pairings and Argo MAC obfuscation to streamline complex operations into efficient computations. The protocol is set to launch in February 2026, alongside the alpha testnet of the Babylon Trustless Bitcoin Vault, enhancing scalability and cost-effectiveness in Bitcoin's zero-knowledge proof verification.