DeFi Technologies is set to launch a validator node on Core Chain and stake nearly $100 million in Bitcoin (BTC). Based in Toronto, DeFi Technologies will earn rewards for validating transactions and staking rewards through its subsidiary Valour.
Staking is made possible by Core’s Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible consensus mechanism on its layer-1, BTC-powered blockchain. CEO Olivier Roussy Newton explained that stakers will maintain custody of their BTC during the lockup period and receive rewards in CORE tokens, which are then reinvested in the product. Staked CORE tokens provide a reward of 11.66%.
To ensure security, 50% of BTC mining hash power is distributed to the blockchain itself. Excluding the new stake from DeFi Technologies, Core currently has over 2,800 BTC staked.
DeFi Technologies and Core have a pre-existing partnership. This latest move marks the second phase of their collaboration. In a previous initiative on May 10, they introduced the Valour Bitcoin Staking exchange-traded product on the Nordic Growth Market exchange with the Swedish krona as the base currency.
Valour, a subsidiary of DeFi Technologies, has exceeded $274 million in assets under management (AUM). Their Valour ETP, claiming to be the first yield-bearing BTC ETP, offers BTC exposure with a 5.65% yield and a 1.9% management fee. The partners also have plans to launch a Core ETP that will provide yield through BTC staking. Valour offers ETPs backed by 12 other coins, including Uniswap and Polkadot, as well as a 10-coin basket, Bitcoin Carbon Neutral (BTCN), and the STOXX Bitcoin Suisse Digital Asset Blue Chip X Index, some of which have no management fee.
DeFi Technologies recently made a strategic decision to focus more on BTC. On June 10, the company announced that it had adopted BTC as its primary treasury reserve asset and purchased 110 BTC as part of this strategy. This move resulted in a 23% increase in the share price of DeFi Technologies.
As of May 31, DeFi Technologies had a cash balance of $51 million, while Valour had $607 million in assets under management. In mid-March 2022, Valour’s AUM was at $274 million.
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