Core Foundation launches building initiative with 10-team cohort, expanding Bitcoin on Core
Core Blockchain Overview - January 16, 2025
Welcome to the Core Blockchain Overview. A one-stop-shop for the Core community to get up to speed on the network’s latest updates, metrics, releases, insights, ecosystem developments and more. All in one place.
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The Core blockchain by the numbers
Network’s daily transactions: 387.9K (-28.1%)
Total unique addresses: 35.9M (+3.16%)
ERC-20 daily tokens transferred: 74.1K (+56.66%)
Total CORE delegated: 173.3M (+8.45%)
Total BTC staked: 5,810 (-3%)
Top 3 Core validators by hybrid score:
The metrics are accurate at the time of publication. The percentage change is over a 14-day period.
Inside the network
🔸 What We’re Watching: The Core Foundation announced the first 10-team cohort for its Core Commit Program, a three-month building initiative.
🔸 Why It Matters: The Core Commit Program is designed to help empower early-stage teams building in the Bitcoin and Core ecosystem. Through access to mentorship, tools, and resources, the program aims to accelerate the development of impactful projects that enhance Bitcoin utility while expanding Core’s ecosystem.
These teams were chosen from a pool of 144 applicants and represent a range of projects across BTCfi, infrastructure, and more.
This is the skinny on the inaugural cohort:
B14g, which aims to lower capital barriers for bitcoin staking through a merge marketplace leveraging Core’s non-custodial BTC Staking
VaultLayer, focused on creating liquid staking vaults for bitcoin, unlocking scalable yield opportunities
SatsTerminal, a Bitcoin DeFi aggregation protocol driving seamless participation across BTCfi
0xBridge, enabling decentralized BTC minting across blockchains
Coffer Network, a non-custodial multi-sig wallet
Ordinistan, providing optimistic bridging for Ordinals transfers between Core and Bitcoin
Celriz, a stablecoin orchestration API for international payments
BQLabs, offering bitcoin insurance infrastructure
Bitcoin Derby, an AI-powered derby game
Degen Markets, creating prediction markets as a service
By supporting such a diverse array of projects, the Core Commit Program is expanding what’s possible on its network. As more novel ideas arise on Core, it could become the go-to platform for developers innovating at the intersection of Bitcoin and DeFi.
🔸 The Bigger Picture: The Core Commit Program highlights Core’s central role in driving innovation and adoption in the Bitcoin DeFi space. With the program’s Demo Day scheduled for April 2025, the evolution of Bitcoin from a store of value to an asset actively driving builder innovation in DeFi, infrastructure, and other sectors is becoming more clear.
The program also positions Core as a competitive platform for developers, offering tools and resources to simplify innovation and build momentum across BTCfi, which historically has been hard to access and build upon.
As these teams progress, their work could also ignite further interest in the Core ecosystem and position Bitcoin as a cornerstone for a new wave of DeFi applications.
Scaling the ecosystem
The Core Foundation announced that the Core network will upgrade its testnet and integrate it into Bitcoin testnet4
Core released its Ignition Drop Activity Leaderboard aimed at rewarding users for onchain engagement
Listen to these interviews featuring Initial Core Contributors:
Rich Rines spoke with CoinDesk about how bitcoin could hit $200K and Core’s role in growing Bitcoin’s DeFi presence
Brendon Sedo went on Coinage to talk about how Core is turning bitcoin into more than just a store of value
BitFLUX hit $117M in TVL, an all-time high for the yield generation and liquidity platform
Core network leads in total transactions compared to other Bitcoin-powered chains in the last 30 days (shown below)
Source: Bitcoin Ecosystem on X
Check out the Core blog for more updates.
Into the Core community
Co-founder of b14g spoke about how it's providing bitcoin restaking for the Core network
Sumer launched its asset lending, borrowing and liquid staking platform to the Core blockchain
Core hosted an X space with Core-powered protocols Satoshi Perps, Pell Network, Solv Protocol and Colend
Join in the fun
Want to dive deeper into the Core blockchain?
Hear from the Toss.fun and Akka Finance teams about their experiencing building on Core and contributing toward BTCfi
Earn 5x multiplier rewards by trading SolvBTC.CORE on Satoshi Perps during Core’s latest Ignition campaign
New to the Core ecosystem or want a refresher? Read this 101 guide
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This information is for entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial advice, nor should it be used to make investment decisions. Cryptocurrencies are high risk and you should consult a financial professional before making any financial decisions. Make sure you do your own research.