Core (Core DAO)

EVM sidechain built as "an evolution of the Geth codebase", borrowing BSC's throughput work but replacing the consensus engine. The engine is literally named satoshi in params/config.go and prints as Consensus: Satoshi (proof-of-staked--authority) — the double hyphen is verbatim upstream (params/config.go line 626, 15 September 2026), so grep for it accordingly.

Chain parameters, from coredao-org/core-chain params/config.go (fetched 15 September 2026):

Satoshi Plus consensus

Three inputs feed one hybrid validator score; the top-scoring candidates form the validator set for the next round:

• Delegated PoW — Bitcoin miners point hash power at Core by writing a delegation to an OP_RETURN in their Bitcoin coinbase transaction. Core verifies the coinbase and its Merkle proof.
• Delegated PoS — CORE holders delegate stake to validators.
• Non-custodial BTC staking — BTC holders lock coins on Bitcoin under a CLTV timelock and delegate the weight to a validator. The BTC never leaves Bitcoin and no third party can move it.

Validators are re-elected every round (86400s). Rewards are distributed per round to validators and to all three delegator classes.

Bitcoin light client

Cross-chain reads from Bitcoin are done on-chain, not by an oracle committee. Per the core-chain README the light client is two parts:

1. A stateless precompiled contract performing Bitcoin header verification, coinbase transaction verification and Merkle proof verification.
2. A stateful Solidity contract storing Bitcoin block hashes and headers.

This is what lets hash-power delegation and BTC-stake delegation be proven rather than attested.

Genesis system contracts

Staking logic lives in genesis-deployed system contracts (core/systemcontracts/const.go, master, 15 September 2026):

StakeHub is the router across the three stake types; the BTCLST* pair implements Core's own BTC liquid-staking token on top of timelocked BTC stake.

Fork history

From params/config.go (CoreChainConfig), fetched 15 September 2026. Block-height forks came first, time-based forks after:

CoreRewardFix shipped in client v1.0.26, published 2 September 2026; the release notes give the mainnet hard-fork time as 2026-09-03 13:00 UTC. Re-check the tag list before quoting a "latest version": https://github.com/coredao-org/core-chain/releases

Position

Core is a sidechain with its own validator set, not a rollup and not a Bitcoin-enforced L2 — Bitcoin does not validate Core state. What it genuinely gets from Bitcoin is (a) miner hash power committed via coinbase OP_RETURN and (b) BTC-denominated stake weight, both verified by the on-chain light client.

Chain DeFi TVL was ~$4.32M on 15 September 2026 (DefiLlama, chain "CORE"). Note that this is chain DeFi TVL and is a different, much smaller number than BTC delegated to Core validators — do not conflate them, and re-check both before quoting: https://defillama.com/chain/CORE

Use cases

• Non-custodial BTC yield — CLTV-locked BTC earns CORE emissions without bridging or wrapping.
• Hash-power monetisation for mining pools, via coinbase delegation with no extra mining work.
• EVM dApps wanting BTC-weighted security assumptions.

Limitations

• Sidechain trust — security is the validator set's, not Bitcoin's. Delegated hash power influences who validates; it does not make Core reorg-resistant via Bitcoin PoW.
• Bridged assets are still bridged — only the staking path is non-custodial. BTC used inside Core DeFi is wrapped like anywhere else.
• Timelock illiquidity — CLTV-staked BTC is unspendable until the locktime, with no early exit. Core's own BTC LST exists precisely to paper over this, and reintroduces contract risk.
• Thin chain-level DeFi relative to the BTC-staking headline.

See also

• babylon/SKILL.md
• bitlayer/SKILL.md
• rootstock-rsk/SKILL.md
• lombard/SKILL.md