In this cycle, Bitcoin has become the main growth engine in the blockchain field. In the eyes of many practitioners, BTC DeFi (Bitcoin decentralized finance) will become the next huge growth space.

As an emerging public chain project, Core Chain has quickly attracted widespread attention in the industry with its unique technological innovation and strategic vision. Core Chain not only continues the security and decentralization concept of Bitcoin, but also integrates Bitcoin's PoW (Proof of Work) and DPoS (Delegated Proof of Stake) through the innovative "Satoshi Plus" consensus mechanism, creating a new development path for decentralized finance (DeFi).

As the first public chain that is highly aligned with Bitcoin and EVM-compatible, the Core chain also provides developers with a broad platform for building large-scale decentralized applications (dApps), further unlocking the potential value of Bitcoin in the DeFi field. Since its launch in February 2023, the Core chain's ecosystem has expanded rapidly, attracting many developers and users to join, marking the arrival of the Bitcoin 2.0 era.

On July 25, the Core Foundation announced the launch of a dual staking model (Bitcoin and CORE). This new model is built on the first non-custodial Bitcoin staking implemented by Core, which acts as a Bitcoin bond layer and establishes a risk-free interest rate for Bitcoin. It further advances the compatibility of Bitcoin and the Core blockchain.

Core at Nashville Bitcoin Conference

Against this backdrop, BlockBeats interviewed Rich Rines, an early contributor to Core, to discuss in depth the core technology of the Core chain, the dual staking model launched by Core, its market positioning and future development direction, and to understand how Core drives innovation and change in the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Bitcoin DeFi believers who left Coinbase

Rich Rines is one of the early contributors to the Core chain and has extensive experience in the blockchain industry. Prior to joining Core, he worked at Coinbase as the lead engineer in the fund flow department, responsible for managing more than $1 trillion in cryptocurrency transactions. This experience not only allowed him to accumulate deep technical knowledge in the cryptocurrency field, but also gave him a comprehensive understanding of the operating mechanism of the industry.

As an important member of the Core team, Rich's role is not only a technical contributor, but he also plays a key role in strategic planning, community building, and ecological development. With his rich experience accumulated at Coinbase, Rich helped Core stand out in the competition of public chains and promoted the further expansion of the Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem.

Rich Rines

BlockBeats: Before we start telling you about the latest developments in Core, we would like to know more about your background. As an early contributor to Core, you have many highlights in your career worth sharing. For example, you are a former senior engineer at Coinbase, a self-taught engineer and a successful entrepreneur, dedicated to Bitcoin and decentralization. Helped Core grow its community to more than 3 million and attracted more than 50 developers. So the first question, please tell us more about your experience joining Core.

Rich Rines: My cryptocurrency journey began in 2013 when I was attracted by the potential of Bitcoin as a non-sovereign store of value, or digital gold. The cryptocurrency boom in 2017 further sparked my interest, especially the programmability of Ethereum, which complemented the decentralized system of Bitcoin, which made me go deeper.

A few years later, I joined Coinbase, where I led the money flow engineering team for three and a half years. During this time, I witnessed tremendous growth in the cryptocurrency space, but it was constantly verified that Bitcoin remained at the center of the industry.

My fundamental belief in Bitcoin and excitement about other blockchain applications led me to join Core. I have been a contributor to Core since 2022. In the early days of the project, I worked with the Core community to launch the mainnet and helped grow the Core ecosystem. Today, I continue to drive the development of the Core ecosystem and contribute to protocol improvements.

BlockBeats: What did you know about the project before joining Core? What was Core like at that time? What attracted you to join Core?

Rich Rines: Scaling Bitcoin has proven to be the most challenging, but also the most important task in the crypto space. I divide this process into three phases. The first phase is to try to transform Bitcoin into another form. Those early Bitcoin scalers tried to transform Bitcoin from "digital gold" to a global settlement network, but ultimately led to a fork of the protocol.

In the second phase, Bitcoin extenders realized that the base protocol could not be changed, but they encountered difficulties in building scalable solutions on top of the base protocol. Although these second-layer solutions are suitable for experimentation, they are still lagging behind other more programmable blockchain networks. They rely on Bitcoin's limited scripting language and slow on-chain performance, which conflicts with the essence of Bitcoin.

At this point, someone needs to build a true Ethereum-like experience, backed by the security of Bitcoin. This was the original vision when I started contributing to Core: what would it look like if Bitcoin and Ethereum were combined? This is Phase 3, Bitcoin Alignment. Core is the first scaling solution that is highly aligned with Bitcoin, inheriting Bitcoin's strengths while avoiding its limitations. Bitcoin miners can contribute to the security of EVM-compatible smart contracts in a way that benefits both Core and the Bitcoin network.

BlockBeats: Your experience at Coinbase has undoubtedly laid the foundation for your career development. Can you share some of the impact your experience at Coinbase has had on your work at Core? Did you bring your connections at Coinbase to Core?

Rich Rines: My time at Coinbase was an incredibly valuable learning experience. I've watched the entire ecosystem grow in different directions. However, I also noticed that Bitcoin, the foundation of the industry, has seen little significant growth or development. Although much of the innovation and excitement is focused on other blockchain technologies, Bitcoin remains king. This stability once again proves that if cryptocurrency is to succeed as an industry, it must be based on Bitcoin.

Coinbase also provided me with many of the necessary network, management, and technical tools to enable me to take on this mission. It was a very important three and a half years in my career, but I realized that I was better suited to working on protocol development from 0 to 1.

How Core acts as a Bitcoin bond layer

Core launched the first-of-its-kind non-custodial Bitcoin staking in April 2024, enabling Bitcoin holders to earn a yield for the first time without giving up ownership of their tokens. 5,000 Bitcoins (~$310 million at the time of writing) are now staked in Core, earning a risk-free interest rate.

Recently, the Core Foundation announced the launch of a dual staking model (Bitcoin and CORE). This new model is based on the first non-custodial Bitcoin staking implemented by Core, acting as a Bitcoin bond layer and establishing a risk-free interest rate for Bitcoin. It further promotes the compatibility of Bitcoin and the Core blockchain.

With this upgrade, Bitcoin stakers will have the opportunity to stake their Bitcoin and their CORE tokens to earn higher interest rates. Bitcoin holders can continue to stake their Bitcoin to earn a base risk-free rate, while holders who stake CORE tokens can earn a "double staking rate." Double staking is expected to further solidify Core's transformation of Bitcoin from a mere store of value to a secure, interest-earning asset.

BlockBeats: For some of our readers who don’t know much about Core yet, could you briefly introduce what Core is doing? What are Core’s main goals and missions?

Rich Rines: Core is a Bitcoin-powered layer-1 blockchain focused on EVM-compatible smart contracts. Core's mission is to unlock over $1.5 trillion in locked value in Bitcoin. To this end, Core serves different types of Bitcoin participants. Bitcoin miners are rewarded by ensuring the security of Core; Bitcoin holders can stake Bitcoin to earn yield without giving up custody; and all users can participate in Bitcoin DeFi (BTCfi) on Core's blockchain. Our long-term vision is for financial activities centered on Bitcoin assets, and ultimately for all financial activities to be conducted on the Core blockchain.

BlockBeats: The development and innovation of Core has always been a topic of great concern to everyone, and it is also one of the sources of community consensus and confidence. For example, the previous "Satoshi Plus" consensus mechanism is something that everyone likes very much. So can you tell us what the current development focus of Core is?

Rich Rines: First, it’s important to note that Core is a permissionless and open blockchain, so anyone can work and build on it. As an emerging ecosystem, you never know what will happen next.

I'm particularly excited that the Satoshi Plus story is still going on. First, Satoshi Plus started by providing additional rewards to Bitcoin miners in exchange for their security support. Now, about 55% of Bitcoin mining power is contributing to the security of Core. Then, this mechanism was extended to Bitcoin holders, who can earn rewards by staking Bitcoin. Currently, about 5,000 Bitcoins are staked on Core.

Core’s non-custodial Bitcoin staking has been particularly popular — with over $330 million in Bitcoin currently staked on Core, yielding a yield of around 5%. Next up, Satoshi Plus will get a new feature that not only increases the reward rate, but also enhances the additional utility of the CORE tokens earned by miners and stakers. The upcoming dual staking feature will unlock higher Bitcoin staking rates and increase the utility of the CORE token.

BlockBeats: Core has been making breakthroughs in technological innovation, and the recently announced dual staking model has attracted widespread attention. So can you tell us what the dual staking model announced by the Core Foundation is specifically? What new progress does this mechanism bring to the Bitcoin staking ecosystem?

Rich Rines: Non-custodial Bitcoin staking is part of Satoshi Plus, which unlocks native yield on Bitcoin for the first time.

Bitcoin holders can stake their Bitcoin on Core in exchange for CORE rewards. Core gets security from this, while Bitcoin holders get a yield that was previously unavailable. Now, they have the opportunity to earn higher returns through double staking. Double staking enables Bitcoin stakers to stake both Bitcoin and CORE tokens at the same time to earn higher Bitcoin staking yields. Stakers can choose to stake Bitcoin alone to earn a base yield, or stake Bitcoin and CORE at the same time to earn higher returns.

This new incentive mechanism brings CORE and Bitcoin together, making their staking utility more sustainable and interconnected. In this win-win situation, the Bitcoin and Core communities also become closer. The Bitcoin community gains new utility, while the Core community gains the security, liquidity, and utility of Bitcoin.

Double Staking of Core

Where will BTCfi go?

BlockBeats: Many people believe that the Bitcoin Layer 2 solution is an important direction for the current development of blockchain technology. However, many community members do not understand and do not agree with the importance of Bitcoin Layer 2 in the Bitcoin ecosystem. What do you think of the current Bitcoin Layer 2? What is the real Layer 2?

Rich Rines: Bitcoin was never intended to handle all of the world’s financial transactions. Early contributors like Hal Finney made it clear that Bitcoin would eventually need a second-layer system to scale effectively. The primary purpose of the base Bitcoin blockchain is to guarantee the immutability of Bitcoin as “digital gold.” Second-layer solutions like sidechains are designed to make the use of this digital gold more convenient and productive. The simplest second layers, like the Lightning Network, provide faster and cheaper transaction options. More complex second layers introduce smart contract platforms that make it possible to conduct a full range of financial activities on a permissionless blockchain. This is exactly the goal of Core, to strengthen the underlying Bitcoin network by integrating Bitcoin miners and holders into its consensus process.

The key to "Bitcoin Layer 2" is whether it can enhance the alignment of the Bitcoin network and Bitcoin assets. Although many solutions claim to use Bitcoin's security, not all of them are strengthening the Bitcoin network or introducing new use cases for Bitcoin assets.

A true scaling solution aligned with Bitcoin:

1. Make Bitcoin a more useful and productive asset;

2. Security relies on Bitcoin miners and Bitcoin holders;

3. Reward Bitcoin miners and Bitcoin holders, thereby strengthening the Bitcoin network;

Core is purpose-built to achieve these goals.

BlockBeats: The future development and market expectations of the Bitcoin ecosystem are hot topics that everyone is paying attention to. For example, Ordinals and Runes, etc., many people think that no one pays attention to them anymore. Do you understand these, or are you optimistic about their future?

Rich Rines: Ordinals and Runes signal a growing demand for Bitcoin utility. Users want to be able to do more with their Bitcoin, even relatively simple applications like Bitcoin NFTs. This demand has reignited interest in building applications on Bitcoin. While Bitcoin has been the dominant crypto asset, much of the innovation and creativity in crypto has moved to other platforms over the years. As Bitcoin solidifies its position as "digital gold," it's time for others to experiment and bring more utility.

Projects like Ordinals and Runes may just be the beginning. While their future remains uncertain, they signal a shift toward using Bitcoin for more diverse applications.

BlockBeats: I see that many researchers in the industry believe that the market value of Bitcoin DeFi will reach at least $200 billion. The Core chain is also an important part of helping to achieve the prosperity of BTC DeFi, so when do you think Bitcoin DeFi will rise, and what role does the Core chain play in it?

Rich Rines: Ethereum has proven that DeFi is an economic opportunity worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Bitcoin DeFi has even greater potential. Ethereum's market cap is about $400 billion, while Bitcoin is currently valued at about $1.5 trillion. As Bitcoin continues to grow in value and enters the market for Ethereum-style smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps), BTCfi may soon surpass traditional DeFi. Currently, more than $150 million has been transferred, borrowed, stored, and more on Core's BTCfi track.

More importantly, BTCfi is the intersection of Bitcoin with other digital assets and on-chain real world assets (RWA), which means that the market potential of BTCfi even exceeds the market potential of Bitcoin itself. It's a combination of Bitcoin plus CORE's earnings, plus stablecoins, plus Core dApps, and more. Ultimately, the market potential of Core's BTCfi ecosystem may not be measurable in dollars because it represents the value of the Bitcoin-based financial system. If Bitcoin wins the competition, BTCfi will be how it wins, and Core will be where it wins.

CORE TVL grew nearly 40 times in a few months

BlockBeats: What kind of narrative do you think will lead the market in this round of bull market? Or what factors will influence and drive the bull market?

Rich Rines: Bitcoin has always been the most valuable asset in the crypto world, far ahead of other assets, and this has all been achieved with almost no DeFi functionality. Now, with projects like Core introducing BTCfi, Bitcoin is poised for a renaissance. New protocols, dApps, and native yield opportunities are making Bitcoin a more useful and important asset, evolving from a mere store of value to a ubiquitous financial foundation. Soon, with Bitcoin-powered dApps and a fully on-chain Bitcoin financial system, Bitcoin will replace Ethereum as the cornerstone of DeFi.