Original｜Odaily Planet Daily (@OdailyChina)
Author: CryptoLeo (@LeoAndCrypto)
Recently, Ethereum L2 network Corn announced the completion of US$6.7 million in financing. This round of financing was led by Polychain Capital, with participation from Binance Labs, Framework Ventures, OKX Ventures, HTX Ventures and Relayer Capital.
The most noteworthy reason why this protocol has attracted investments from many well-known VCs is that the Corn network uses a tokenized Bitcoin (BTCN) as the network's gas fee and economic incentives.
Concept: Digging out those BTC gems in DeFi
2024 BTC ETF approved, coupled with the rotation of BTC ecosystem L2, runes, and inscriptions, BTC ecosystem ushered in a rise, but in fact, BTC still has few use cases in DeFi. There are also many BTC wrap versions on the market, but at present, BTC in DeFi is like holding a mine but without matching technology and machines to mine and process it. Its corresponding cross-bridge, custody and other solutions are still not mature enough. An asset class whose market value once exceeded that of silver is still lacking in DeFi use cases. In order to explore the larger application scenarios of BTC, the founder proposed the concept of Corn.
Corn co-founder Spada₿oom once said that creating a more prosperous crypto ecosystem is inseparable from the participation of BTC, and the only place that can carry billions of dollars of liquidity is ETH L2, which is why Corn is the ETH L2 network that supports BTC. As a senior DeFi practitioner, Spada₿oom knows that the best way to attract other applications and retain them is Curve's veCRV framework. Unlike BTC L2, the combination of ETH L2 and veCRV framework can theoretically release BTC's application scenarios in DeFi.
Corn’s gas token is BTCN (a wrapped version of BTC). The reasons why BTCN has great potential are as follows:
Recently, Coinbase announced the launch of the cbBTC version of BTC and stated that it will build a large-scale BTC economy on Base. The wrap version of BTC will usher in more use cases.
The emergence of many permissionless cross-bridge protocols;
The custody protocol offers more services to customers, such as assets such as wBTC.
Framework: BTC-backed circular revenue cycle
Below, Odaily Planet Daily will briefly introduce the Corn protocol:
According to its official website, Corn Protocol bills itself as a “super yield network” whose yields consist of two types of tokens:
BTCN (generated through network transaction fees) - Corn Network's Gas payment method, also a hybrid tokenized version of BTC, similar to WBTC, pegged to native BTC 1: 1, and its characteristics are that it can be minted in a variety of ways, such as custodians, smart contracts (trading platforms) and cross-bridge protocols. Users can choose how to store their native BTC.
CORN (Native Network Issued Token) - the native governance token of the Corn network. Corn's founders and builders are veteran DeFi practitioners who are well aware of the importance of applications, liquidity and LP returns in DeFi. Inspired by Curve's veToke model, users can stake their tokens as veTokens, increase APR and decide the release of governance tokens through voting.
Users can lock and pledge specified assets through the App to obtain popCORN, CORN and BTCN. Each popCORN represents one vote, and its holders can vote to release CORN and BTCN tokens to specific applications, or increase returns by bribing the market. In addition, users can also choose to entrust CORN to revenue to obtain additional returns.
In short, assets such as BTC support the circulation and profit application of tokens such as veCORN and BTCN, which not only brings benefits to users, but also better liquidity promotes the application of its gas coin BTCN.
Luxurious team and partners
In addition to receiving investment from many VCs, Corn also has a very luxurious team and supporters. As mentioned above, the founders of Corn are DeFi practitioners for many years, including former Badger co-founder Spada₿oom (ChrisSpadafora) and EIP-6968 author zak.eth (Zachary Cole). The two have participated in projects such as Badger, Code 4 rena, Slingshot and 0x Bow.
In addition, the birth of Corn is inseparable from the support of some industry OGs, including Udi | BIP-420, founder of Quantum Cat, Sandeep, co-founder of Polygon, Smokey The Bera, co-founder of Berachain, Bryan Pellegrino, co-founder of L0, and others.
Airdrop gameplay
Today, Corn officials also updated their website interface. Users who meet the airdrop qualifications can obtain Kernels (points). Kernel represents the proportional share of the CORN airdrop (Kernel is not a token, but just a type of point. Corn officials also stated that they will not launch KERNEL tokens, and users need to be wary of scams).
The airdrop is divided into three parts: early DeFi user airdrop, Galxe points airdrop and deposit earning airdrop.
Early DeFi User Airdrop
Early user airdrop qualifications are airdrop rewards based on the user's past interactions with DeFi protocols on Bitcoin and Ethereum. The airdrop snapshot time for this category is: 4:20 on July 13, 2024 (Beijing time), covering a total of more than 1 million addresses. The following are eligible interaction protocols and asset categories:
EVM Wallet Eligibility
Maker or Spark Protocol — users who held at least 0.01 sDAI for at least three months in the year before the snapshot, or users who borrowed against WBTC on Spark;
Ethena — USDe holders who stake SUSDe;
ether.fi — users who held at least 0.01 eETH or weETH for at least two months in the six months prior to the snapshot;
Kelp — rsETH holders or top 500 LP providers on Ethereum Mainnet and Arbitrum;
Pendle - users who have traded in the Pendle protocol or provided Silo-related assets, or pledged PENDLE as vePENDLE within one year before the snapshot;
Galxe — users who have staked at least 300 GAL tokens since the launch of GAL tokens;
WBTC — users who held at least 1 WBTC in the year before the snapshot;
Arbitrum — users who used the official bridge to transfer assets from the mainnet to Arbitrum one year before the snapshot;
BTC Wallet Eligibility
Babylon - users who have participated in the Babylon staking testnet Testnet-3 and Testnet-4;
Thorchain — Users who swapped at least $100 USD of native BTC or provided LP on Thorchain in the year before the snapshot.
The official has not announced the specific details of the Kernel that will be available to early DeFi users.
Galxe Points Airdrop
The interaction rule of Corn on Galxe is, 1 Point = 1 Kernel.
At present, Corn officially launched 2 Galaxy tasks in Galxe. The first Galaxy task is specifically referred to as: Hand in hand with you to interact with Binance Labs' five major projects invested in August. This task has now ended. The second task is similar to the first task. Points are also obtained by sharing and completing some tasks. There is currently no deadline, and there is still a lot of time to complete the task.
Deposit to earn airdrops
After logging in to the Corn official website, click Deposit (if the wallet is not eligible, an invitation code is required). Currently, the application supports 7 token deposits, namely: WBTC, weETH, rsETH, DAI, sDAI, USDC, and USDe. Corn official website Docs shows that WETH is also supported, but there is currently no such option on the App. In addition, deposits of certain tokens can currently obtain Kernel multipliers, which are:
WBTC deposits are minted into BTCN, which can earn 2 times the points growth;
DAI, sDAI, and USDC will all be converted to sDAI after deposit, and you can get 1.25 times the points increase;
After depositing weETH, you can get 1.25 times the points increase.
The Kernel points rule is: users deposit 1 USD (every 210 minutes) to get 1 Kernel, and all deposited assets can be withdrawn at any time without any penalties or fees. If your wallet is not an early DeFi user, you need to use an invitation code to officially carry out the deposit task. The following is the recommended invitation link:
https://usecorn.com/app?code=3r8j-ebf3
https://usecorn.com/app?code=9epr-4rb4
https://usecorn.com/app?code=bh6h-y8b4
https://usecorn.com/app?code=5apb-f4c7
https://usecorn.com/app?code=j4em-ppce
https://usecorn.com/app?code=8gjn-rfy8
https://usecorn.com/app?code=k8ba-9yc8
https://usecorn.com/app?code=jg73-fhyt
https://usecorn.com/app?code=64b9-nr47
https://usecorn.com/app?code=ky8k-9y79
https://usecorn.com/app?code=x6b4-48j4
From the initial 3,000 followers on Corn social media to the current 110,000 followers in just three days, more and more people are beginning to look forward to more application scenarios for BTC.
Although Corn is somewhat different from its Docs’ vision at present, as Spada₿oom said: “We are different from projects committed to expanding BTC L2. As the technology matures, BTCN is designed to allow users to mint in any protocol, cross-bridge, smart contract or custody”. It is not impossible for Corn of “veToken+BTC” to unlock the largest application scenario of BTC in DeFi.
Odaily Planet Daily Tips: There are many fake invitation links on social media at present. Be careful to distinguish them to prevent asset loss.
