Call for Action: Expanding Core’s Active Validator Set

[rumeel]

As the Core ecosystem continues to evolve and grow, there is a continuous need for efforts to ensure that the network remains decentralized, secure, and robust. As part of this need, Core Foundation is glad to announce the passing of the Core DAO community-approved CIP-2 proposal, which will expand the Core blockchain active validator set from 21 to 31 by Q2 of 2025.

Following the first phase of successful expansion of the Core blockchain’s active validator set from 21 to 23, as per the community approved CIP-2, there were multiple applicants for Core Validator seats. Building on the community’s enthusiasm, Core Foundation is pleased to announce on behalf of the DAO the next phase of the Core blockchain validator set expansion. In accordance with the CIP-2, the active validator set will gradually increase from 23 to 31 by Q2 2025, further strengthening decentralization and reinforcing the security and resilience of the Core ecosystem.

Background

Validators are the backbone of the Core blockchain, responsible for securing the network, validating transactions, and producing blocks. As the Core ecosystem continues to expand, it is essential to increase the diversity and number of validators to maintain network resilience and meet the growing demands while ensuring a decentralized structure. Based on this requirement, CIP-2 was proposed to the community which outlined the need for validator set expansion from 21 to 31 over a period of 12 months, resulting in approval by the community with overwhelming support.

Strengthening Core Through Validator Growth

This step of validator expansion from 23 to 31 marks the next phase of the Core’s community-approved CIP-2 proposal highlighting the efforts to foster a more decentralized and secure network. This is to invite interested community members to apply for this opportunity to become a part of Core’s active validator set. By increasing the number of validators, Core contributors continue to distribute the responsibility of block production across a broader base, further solidifying the network’s integrity.

Benefits of Validator Expansion

• Enhanced Decentralization: A larger validator set means greater distribution of power, reducing the influence of any single entity and enhancing the network’s security.
• Strengthened Network: More validators contribute to the overall resilience and stability of the Core blockchain, ensuring its continued robustness as the ecosystem grows.
• Institutional Participation: This expansion opens the door for more reputable institutions to join the Core network as validators, further enhancing the credibility and reliability of the network.

Call to Action

Core Foundation encourages all community members to participate in this expansion. Interested candidates can express their interest by directly participating in the discussion on this post by dropping their comments below for better community visibility. This is a unique opportunity to contribute to the future of BTCfi and be part of a rapidly growing ecosystem.

Conclusion

Expanding the active validator set from 23 to 31 is a crucial step in the ongoing efforts for enhancing the decentralization and security of the Core blockchain. Looking forward to welcoming new validators into the Core ecosystem with confidence that this initiative will contribute to the long-term success and stability of the Core ecosystem.

Thank you for your continued support and participation.

[Nour]

Can’t wait to join Core DAO On-Chain Governance

[SolvProtocol]

Dear Core DAO Community,

Solv Protocol is excited to express our interest in becoming a validator as part of the Core blockchain’s expansion.

With our experience in the Bitcoin DeFi space, particularly through the development of SolvBTC, the token representation of Bitcoin kept in Solv’s Reserves, we are well-positioned to contribute to Core’s network security and decentralization. Our team has been at the forefront of enhancing Bitcoin’s utility across decentralized financial networks, and we are eager to bring this expertise to the Core ecosystem.

As a validator, Solv Protocol will:

• Support Network Decentralization: By adding to the diversity of validators, we aim to enhance the security and resilience of the Core blockchain.

• Leverage Our Experience: Our work in Bitcoin staking and DeFi has equipped us to operate efficiently and reliably within the validator set.

We believe our participation will help strengthen Core’s infrastructure and further the growth of the BTCFi ecosystem.
Thank you for considering Solv Protocol as a candidate for the validator expansion.

Achievements: 20,000+ BTC Staked, $1.2B TVL, 400,000+ Users

[weijun]

Great and exciting news about the expansion of the validator set to strengthen the network!. Excited to continue to support Core Chain

[zeroday]

We fully support this initiative at Valour. Expanding the number of validators will significantly enhance the CORE network’s decentralization, thereby increasing its resilience!

[baloch]

Totally support this and already voted Yes on proposal.

[Ambukar]

Will be fully supporting you, and welcome to the most Bitcoin-aligned chain

[kookaburra]

With the Core DAO foundation’s latest governance decision to increase the validator number from 21 to 31 by Q2 2025, the Ditizen DAO is submitting this proposal to implement a tiered, and open validator mechanism on the Core Chain. This proposal attempts to drive the Core Chain network growth, security, user participation, and token value appreciation through a structured, incentivized, and decentralized approach.

1. Team Background

Ditizen DAO stands for decentralized citizens. We believe that the voice of onchain citizens does have weight in all serious Layer One in the world of blockchains. To this end, the Ditizen DAO is initiated by Satori Research, Glyph Exchange, and other Core community members. The Satori Research team is a notable crypto VC and market maker in the APAC region, while Glyph Exchange is the flagship DEX on Core Chain bringing innovative, and decentralized trading innovations to the BTC-fi narrative. The DAO’s mission is to enthrone Core Chain as the No.1 BTC chain in the blockchain economy, thus benefiting its believers and participants.

1. Opportunity

In principle, the more decentralized the blockchain, the more resilient its security, and the more vibrant its economy with more incentivized participants to its ecosystem, and yield opportunities. More mature Layer One blockchains, like Ethereum and Solana, have grown to thousands of validators to secure their networks. There are obvious advantages to limit the number of validators at the initial stages of a young chain to ensure validators are dear supporters of the chain, who leverage the validator yield to scale the ecosystem instead of simply taking the users’ rent without proactive contribution. Such a consideration limits ardent users to participate in having more stake in the foundational layer of the chain’s business activities. As such, Ditizen DAO drafts this proposal to put forward a novel idea in sub-smart-contracting the stake of running a validator to the broader Core community.

1. Tiering and Redistributing the Validator

The Ditizen DAO adopts a methodology inspired by the fractionalized NFT doctrine. In essence, the Ditizen DAO team presents their candidacy to bid for the rights to run a validator. We then introduce a three-tiered structure up to 15,000 seats in the redistribution using NFTs to register and track the buyers/holders. More importantly, a potential transfer of ownership of these NFTs is embedded in such a design, providing more flexibility to the participants.

The DAO will issue a platform token to sow the seeds for NFT holders’ incentives as it scales. The tokenomics engineering will focus on generating additional yields, and introducing a buy back mechanism based on the validator’s yield.

Please support our initiative and we look forward to proceeding to the next stage.

[Nanami]

Great news! i really wait it

[matt_infstones]

InfStones fully supports the Core DAO’s CIP-2 proposal to expand the active validator set from 23 to 31. As a long-time validator for the Core blockchain, we recognize the importance of this initiative in enhancing decentralization and strengthening network security. Expanding the validator set is a crucial step in fostering greater community involvement and ensuring the robustness of the network as the ecosystem grows. We’re excited to continue contributing to Core’s journey toward a more decentralized and secure future.

[Ann_Everstake]

Hey, Core team and validators!

I’m Ann from the Everstake team, and on behalf of the company, I would like to show our support for this proposal.

I agree that increasing the diversity and number of validators is essential to keeping the network resilient and robust. This will also ensure a decentralized structure.

Apart from that, it would be nice to see the candidates introduce themselves in the comments and learn a bit more about them.

@SolvProtocol thank you for your introduction and welcome.

[stc_bahrain]

We fully support the expansion of new validators on the Core blockchain! This is an important next step toward achieving a more decentralized and resilient network.

We are excited to welcome validators from all over the globe, each contributing to the robustness and security of the Core ecosystem. Every new region represented adds significant value and diversity, enhancing the Core community as a whole. This global participation strengthens not only the network but also the collaborative spirit that drives the success of decentralized ecosystems like Core.

As validators play a crucial role in securing the network and producing blocks, this expansion marks a pivotal moment in further distributing responsibility across a wider base, ensuring the long-term sustainability and security of the blockchain.

We look forward to seeing the positive impact that these new validators will have on decentralization, security, and the continued growth of the Core community.

[alikfromp2p]

At P2P.org, we are delighted by the recent announcement regarding the expansion of Core’s active validator set.

We express our keen interest in serving as a validator for CoreDAO.

Leveraging our extensive experience in validating blockchains since 2018, operating over $6 billion in staked assets, and providing support for approximately 30 networks, we can bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to CoreDAO. Our partnership can enhance the security and reliability of the Core chain, as well as contribute to the growth of the network. We are confident that our experience and resources can be a valuable addition to the CoreDAO ecosystem.

We are committed to actively participating in assisting the Core team in increasing their stake. We eagerly anticipate further engagement and are enthusiastic about participating in the onboarding process.

[rumeel]

Dear Solv Protocol Team,

Thank you for expressing interest in becoming a validator on Core. Your experience in Bitcoin DeFi and SolvBTC is impressive, and we value your commitment to enhancing network decentralization. We look forward to your contribution to Core’s growth and security.

[rumeel]

Dear Ditizen DAO Team,

We appreciate your thoughtful proposal to enhance validator participation through a tiered and decentralized model. We look forward to further exploring this initiative.

[rumeel]

Dear InfStones Team,

Thank you for your support of CIP-2 and your continued contributions as a long-time validator. Your commitment to fostering network growth and community involvement is greatly appreciated.

[Huzmond_Enigma]

GM to the entire CoreDAO Team and Community, greetings from Enigma!

Allow us to introduce ourselves and express our interest in validating and contributing as a new validator for the Core Chain.

Enigma is a professional validator, operational since 2021. We currently manage validators for over 40 chains, including Cosmos Hub, Sei, Saga, Celestia, and dYdX, among others. We also serve as IBC and Hyperlane relayers and provide both public and private RPC services for various entities. More information is available on our website: https://enigma-validator.com/

In the BTC ecosystem, we are expanding our presence as validators. We are currently integrated as validators and finality providers on Babylon, and we serve as validators for Mezo, Arch Network and plan to integrate more network in the future

Our Team
Our team consists of four DevOps and data engineers, each with over six years of experience. We’ve been actively involved in the blockchain space for more than three years.

Our Infrastructure
We operate servers located across Europe, North America, and Asia. Our infrastructure is a mix of bare metal and cloud-based servers from providers in Europe, the US, and Asia.

As a validator, we provide various services, including:

• RPC
• REST
• gRPC
• Snapshots
• Genesis
• Addrbook
• Binary
• Guides
  We also offer archive, full, and light nodes depending on your needs.

In addition, Enigma can provide data analytics and indexing services. For instance, our latest contribution to Celestia includes:

• Node Mapping: View light nodes, full nodes, and bridge nodes across both mainnet and testnet.
• Geolocation of nodes on the network.
• Filtering by node types and version.
• Search functionality by peer ID.
• Insights on providers and versions.
• Last check time for each node.

For more information, you can explore our Celestia node mapper: Celestia Mapper.

If we integrate with Core, we will provide all of our services and contribute according to the chain’s specific needs. Our involvement will also strengthen decentralization by adding an active and engaged community validator dedicated to supporting the chains it validates.

We’re excited to see that Core is expanding its validator set, and we look forward to contributing in the future.

[Node.Monster]

Hello CoreDAO Community!

As the Core ecosystem progresses, decentralization and security are key to ensuring network resilience and Node.Monster is eager to contribute to this effort.

Who We Are
Node.Monster is a team of experienced professionals specializing in high-performance, scalable node solutions. In 2012, our co-founders were the co-authors of Colored Coins, an early blockchain protocol that pioneered the concept of representing real-world assets on the Bitcoin blockchain. . After co-authoring Colored Coins, our team continued to build Colu, a B2B payment app based on this protocol, which enabled local currencies and digital payments for businesses, solidifying our reputation as early builders in the bitcoin space.

Node.Monster was initially incubated by Node Capital, a VC dedicated to advancing decentralized solutions. Since its inception, Node.Monster has played a key role in supporting a diverse range of leading protocols and networks, including ether.fi, Axelar, NEAR, forta, Eigen Layer, SSV, Squid, Lava, Stride and more, contributing to their growth and security.

Value Proposition for Core

Expertise: With a background in managing validators across top networks, Node.Monster offers unmatched technical knowledge and operational excellence.

Institutional Grade Infra: Our partnerships with key institutional players, reflect our credibility in operating high-performance nodes.We run bare metal servers from a top-tier facility, leveraging cloud infrastructure for scalable operations with multiple levels of redundancy, and they’ve distributed operations across multiple providers and continents.

Bitcoin Enthusiasts: As co-authors of Colored Coins and founders of Colu, our leadership has consistently been at the forefront of Bitcoin innovation. We also currently support numerous Bitcoin-related networks such as Go Native, Mezo, Zenrok and more.

Community Focus: We are committed to actively participating in governance and fostering strong community engagement to ensure that Core continues to evolve in a decentralized and secure manner.

We invite the Core Foundation to consider Node.Monster for the upcoming validator set expansion. With our proven track record of managing +$300M, decentralized ethos, and technical expertise, we are well-equipped to contribute to the network’s security, decentralization, and long-term growth.

[telmagbri]

Core DAO Community,

On behalf of Meridian Labs, I am writing to express our strong interest in joining Core’s expanded validator set as outlined in your recent call to action. As a product studio with deep expertise in blockchain infrastructure, we have successfully designed, built, and operated production-grade systems for institutional clients, including validator infrastructure and staking orchestration layers.

Our extensive experience running secure, scalable infrastructure for large, well-established firms positions us to add significant value to Core’s network. We specialize in developing blockchain solutions that integrate seamlessly with institutional requirements, focusing on both technical architecture and strategic alignment. Our team’s expertise in managing high-performant, distributed systems ensures that we can contribute to Core’s mission of enhancing decentralization and network security.

We are particularly excited about the strategic alignment opportunities with Core’s mission, given our ongoing work with Bitcoin staking yield products and validator services. With Core’s role as a Bitcoin scaling layer, Meridian Labs is eager to bring our deep understanding of institutional-grade infrastructure to add to Core’s validator set.

Thank you for your consideration.

Best regards,

Taha El-Magbri
Co-Founder, Meridian Labs

[rumeel]

Hi Ann and the Everstake Team,

Thank you for your support of the proposal and your valuable feedback. We completely agree that increasing validator diversity is key to strengthening the network’s resilience and decentralization. We’re also excited to hear from potential candidates and learn more about their contributions to the Core ecosystem.