Core Foundation, Bitcoin Layer 1 With Over $500M Staked BTC, Adds BitGo and KODA as Validators

It's raining institutional activity across all corners of the digital asset ecosystem.

Core Foundation, which leverages Bitcoin's security and infrastructure to create a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) layer and a DeFi ecosystem, announced BitGo and KODA as validator sets for the Core network, marking a significant step forward in institutional adoption of Bitcoin-native DeFi.

The onboarding of BitGo, a U.S.-qualified institutional-grade custodian and financial services company, brings a legacy of regulatory credibility and security-first principles to the validator set, now comprising 29 members, the press release shared exclusively with CoinDesk stated.

Integrating with KODA, the South Korean institutional custodian powered by Nodeinfra, will expands Core's footprints in Asia.

In Korea, over 20% of the population owns crypto, and KODA's presence on Core is expected to accelerate the latter's growth in staking and institutional yield in the region.

"Adding BitGo and KODA as validators on Core marks a significant expansion of the validator set. These two leading custodians will further support Core's efforts to scale Bitcoin utility and drive institutional adoption of scalable Bitcoin yield products," Brendon Sedo, Core's initial contributor, said.

Nodeinfra's CEO, John Youngseok Yang, stated that the strategic partnership will lay the groundwork for institutional BTC staking in Korea.

The Core blockchain (CORE) is a scaling and programmability solution for Bitcoin powered by its Satoshi Plus consensus, a hybrid mechanism that allows BTC miners, BTC holders and CORE stakers to participate in consensus. It combines elements of Proof of Work and Proof of Stake to ensure security while maintaining scalability without compromising decentralization.

As of writing, more than $500 million in BTC is staked with the network, supposedly secured by approximately 75% of the Bitcoin hashrate, making it the most Bitcoin-aligned Layer 1, according to the press release.

Core powers institutional-grade products such as lstBTC, a liquid and yield-bearing representation of BTC that can be used as collateral across major exchanges, and Valour’s Yield-Bearing BTC ETP, which provides regulated exposure to Bitcoin yield.

Core is among the leading projects addressing the Bitcoin blockchain's limited programmability and lack of native yield to accelerate BTC DeFi.