Bitcoin Is No Longer Just Digital Gold — Native Staking, Yield Are Redefining Its Role, Says Core DAO

Bitcoin's BTC/USD function as a passive store of value is rapidly giving way to a more dynamic role as a yield-generating financial asset, according to Brendon Sedo, an initial contributor to Core Chain and head of its investment arm, Core Ventures.

"Institutions won't settle for simple holding," Sedo told Benzinga in an interview. "They're built on generating yield. ETFs are just the first step."

He emphasized that the real frontier lies in turning Bitcoin into a productive asset, one that offers income without relying on custodians or compromising decentralization.

Central to this transformation is Core's Timelock Plus mechanism, which enables BTC holders to earn roughly 4–6% yield natively, without wrapping their coins.

"This eliminates the trust assumptions of custodians or bridges," said Sedo. "It transforms Bitcoin from a ‘hodl-only' asset into an income-generating primitive on its own terms."

This represents a broader shift in how the industry defines "Bitcoin DeFi."

Historically, decentralized finance for Bitcoin required wrapping BTC to interact with Ethereum ETH/USD-compatible protocols, an approach that introduced significant counterparty risks.

But innovations like Core's native staking infrastructure are enabling DeFi to exist on Bitcoin itself.

"Bitcoin DeFi is no longer defined by its dependence on external blockchains," Sedo said. "It's now about building directly on Bitcoin's own ecosystem, using its native security."

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That momentum is now being backed by venture capital.

Core Ventures, the ecosystem fund affiliated with Core Foundation, has deployed over $1 million into 15 Bitcoin-native projects since early 2024, according to a released issued Thursday.

The portfolio spans a broad range of innovations: BTC-backed stablecoins, yield protocols, decentralized bridges and even miner-aligned security systems.

Projects such as Solv Protocol, Colend, BitFlux, BIMA Labs and Sats Terminal make up a fast-growing share of the Bitcoin utility market. Several of these are also backed by major players like Coinbase Ventures COIN and OKX Ventures.

"We're not here to debate opcodes," Sedo added. "We're here to fund the people actually shipping."

With more than 6,000 BTC staked, $500 million in total value locked, and 100,000+ daily active users, Core has quickly become the anchor of Bitcoin's programmable ecosystem.

Its goal, Sedo said, is to bridge the gap between HODLing and active capital deployment.

"For too long, those two worlds existed apart," he said. "Now, we're transforming Bitcoin into infrastructure, capital that can be used, not just held."

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