Core DAO.

Core DAO is an EVM-compatible layer-1 blockchain that ties a share of its security to Bitcoin's hash power instead of relying on an isolated validator set alone. The network is Bitcoin-aligned by design: it borrows Bitcoin's existing mining infrastructure for part of its security budget while running a familiar Ethereum Virtual Machine environment on top, so existing Solidity contracts, wallets and developer tooling work with little to no change. That combination is documented in the Core docs, and the underlying proof-of-work network it draws security from is the same one described on Wikipedia's Bitcoin entry. Core DAO's native asset, CORE, pays gas, secures the delegated proof-of-stake side of consensus, and is used across governance votes that steer protocol parameters such as reward splits and validator set size.

Core DAO's consensus mechanism, called Satoshi Plus, blends two inputs that are normally kept separate on other chains: Bitcoin miners delegate a declared share of their existing hash power to a Core validator instead of mining a second chain, and CORE holders delegate stake the way they would on any delegated proof-of-stake network. Validators are ranked by a hybrid score built from both inputs together, so no single group — miners or stakers alone — controls block production on its own.

Bitcoin Hash Power Delegation

Miners who already point hardware at Bitcoin can redirect a declared share of that hash power toward a Core validator without changing anything they send to Bitcoin itself. The delegation is recorded on Bitcoin through a small, auditable transaction pattern, and the resulting hash-power ranking can be checked against the raw chain data on a public Bitcoin block explorer.

Delegated Proof-of-Stake Voting

Alongside hash power, CORE token holders delegate their stake to the validators they trust, and that delegated stake forms the second half of the ranking score. Because the two inputs are weighted together, a validator needs support from both constituencies to stay competitive, which spreads influence across more participants than a single-mechanism chain typically allows.

CORE is the network's native asset: it pays transaction fees, backs validator bonding, and carries on-chain governance votes over parameters such as reward splits and the size of the validator set. Dual staking lets a holder combine staked CORE with delegated Bitcoin inside a single position, and the protocol applies a reward multiplier when both are present rather than treating them as two unrelated pools. The ratio between the two assets determines the multiplier tier, so reaching the top rate takes a proportionate amount of each rather than an unlimited amount of just one. This design is meant to give both constituencies — Bitcoin holders and CORE holders — a direct reason to participate in the same security budget instead of competing for it.

Non-custodial Bitcoin staking is the feature that most clearly separates this network from chains that only wrap or bridge Bitcoin to get exposure to it. A holder locks native BTC through a timelock script on the Bitcoin chain itself, delegates the resulting stake to a Core validator, and keeps the ability to reclaim the coin once the lock expires, with no custodian ever holding the keys in between.

Timelocked BTC, Not Wrapped BTC

Because the lock lives on Bitcoin rather than inside a bridge contract, the staked coin never turns into a synthetic token that depends on a third party's solvency. Any staking transaction can be confirmed directly against Bitcoin's own ledger on the Core explorer alongside the delegation record it points back to.

Rewards Without Giving Up the Coin

The staked BTC earns CORE rewards for the delegation while remaining, at the protocol level, the holder's own coin under a timelock they control. When the term ends, the lock releases and the BTC is spendable on Bitcoin exactly as before, with no unwrap step and no dependency on the chain's own uptime to recover it.

Plenty of EVM-compatible chains compete for the same developers and the same liquidity. What separates Core DAO is the source of its security budget and its native tie to Bitcoin rather than to a validator token alone. The table below lines up the basics against two common reference points.

Chain	Security model	Native gas asset
Core DAO	Satoshi Plus: Bitcoin hash power + delegated PoS	CORE
Ethereum	Proof-of-stake validators	ETH
Typical PoS layer-1	Delegated proof-of-stake only	Native token

Because Core DAO runs standard EVM bytecode, the tooling an Ethereum developer already knows carries over directly, and the applications that have launched on the network cover the usual categories plus a few that lean specifically on native Bitcoin staking. Total value locked across these applications is tracked independently on DefiLlama, which is a useful outside check before trusting any single project's own numbers.

• Lending and borrowing markets that accept staked CORE and BTC-backed positions as collateral
• Decentralized exchanges for swapping CORE, bridged assets and stablecoins
• Liquid staking tokens that represent a delegated BTC or CORE position so it can be reused elsewhere
• Standard Solidity deployment through the same wallets, IDEs and RPC tooling used on Ethereum
• Governance tooling for CORE holders to vote on validator and reward parameters

This chain's central security claim — a link to Bitcoin's hash power — is also the detail most worth checking yourself rather than taking on faith. The hash-power delegation, the validator set and every transaction are public, so the claims above are verifiable rather than promotional.

Verify Validators Yourself

Before delegating stake or BTC, look up a validator's current hash-power ranking and uptime rather than relying on a third-party ranking site, and review the validator documentation at Core docs first. A validator with a short track record or a sudden jump in delegated hash power deserves closer attention before you commit funds to it.

Smart Contract and Bridge Risk Stay Separate

Native BTC staking carries Bitcoin-timelock risk rather than bridge risk, but any bridged asset brought onto the chain to use in DeFi still carries that bridge's own risk profile. Treat each contract you interact with — lending markets, decentralized exchanges, liquid staking wrappers — as its own risk surface rather than assuming the chain's Bitcoin-linked security extends to every application built on top of it.