New Ethereum Network L2 Corn Launches with $6.7M Funding by Binance & More, to Tackle Bitcoin's Utility Gap in DeFi

Corn's Retroactive Airdrop Starts 23 August

Corn, also known as "The Super Yield Network," has laid the groundwork for a significant surge in new and innovative opportunities to utilise Bitcoin, fulfiling the desires of both Bitcoin holders and decentralised finance (DeFi) enthusiasts.

Corn is rewarding users who have engaged with select partner products and protocols through a retroactive airdrop of its native points, known as Kernels.

Eligible recipients will have the chance to become the first depositors on the Corn network, allowing them to farm Kernels ahead of others.

Since Kernels represent a share in the upcoming $CORN token allocation (post-Corn Mainnet launch), this airdrop campaign offers DeFi users a unique opportunity to access the yield potential on the horizon for Corn.

The Retroactive $CORN Airdrop is structured in two phases:

Phase 1: Early Access (Currently Open)

Qualifying users receive a "Signing Bonus" based on their past interactions with select DeFi products on both Bitcoin and Ethereum.

If your wallet address qualifies, you will receive Kernels commensurate with your activities on the listed protocols.

The more actions you have completed, the more Kernels you will receive.

After joining Early Access, you can also earn additional Kernels by depositing eligible assets at usecorn.com, completing Galxe quests, and inviting friends to Corn.

The window to collect Kernels before the $CORN Airdrop is limited, so users are encouraged to act promptly.

Phase 2: $CORN Airdrop (Date to be Announced)

The retroactive airdrop $CORN allocation will be distributed to users proportionally based on their Kernels balance.

Once the Corn Mainnet is operational, $CORN can be staked to direct yield to various apps and protocols across the network.

To check eligibility for the Kernels airdrop, users can insert their Ethereum or Bitcoin address in the eligibility checker.

Users who are not eligible can join the Discord community and inquire about an invite code.

Corn Launches with $6.7M Funding to Tackle Bitcoin's Utility Gap in DeFi

Chris Spadafora, the developer and founder of badgerDAO, has recently launched Corn, a layer-2 solution for Ethereum that utilises a tokenised version of Bitcoin (BTCN) as its gas token.

This unique network aims to align users and DeFi protocols by offering various yield incentives through its hybrid native tokens, BTCN, and CORN.

Alongside the launch of Corn, the successful closure of a $6.7 million seed round led by Polychain Capital was announced.

The seed round attracted a diverse group of investors, including Binance Labs, Framework Ventures, ABCDE, Symbolic Capital, HTX Ventures, and Relayer Capital.

Yi He, Co-Founder of Binance and Head of Binance Labs said:

“Binance Labs is committed to championing early-stage innovation that delivers meaningful and sustainable impact. We look forward to supporting Corn as they develop a utility-driven ecosystem centered around Bitcoin, enabling it to be more effectively and efficiently utilized in DeFi.”

Additionally, a roster of prominent founders and builders in the space, such as Sandeep Nailwal (Polygon), Smokey and Papa Bear (Berachain), Primo (Layer Zero), 0xSami (Dinero), Udi Wertheimer (Taproot Wizards), Andrew Huang (Conduit), Sam MacPherson (Spark), Brian Kang (Factblock and Korea Blockchain Week), and Georgios Vlachos (Axelar), among others, have backed the initiative.

This broad support reflects a strong interest in Corn from across the Web3 ecosystem.

This investment marks Corn's first fundraising round.

With the new capital, the team plans to expand its ecosystem by onboarding builders and projects, including establishing a dedicated incubator and hosting developer competitions.

They are also working towards the launch of their mainnet.

Chris Spadafora, Founder of Corn said:

“We're excited to have an industry leader like Binance Labs join our initial fundraising round and support our mission of making it easy for people to finally use their corn. Their investment further validates that the time is now to start unlocking Bitcoin and introduce a vibrant ecosystem with a ton of utility for BTC.”

What is Corn?

Corn is the first Bitcoin-centric layer-2 chain supported by the security of Ethereum, utilising a tokenised BTC hybrid as gas and offering various yield incentives to users.

It aims to breathe new life into Bitcoin, often referred to as a "pet rock," by using it for gas fees and integrating it into DeFi ecosystems.

Spadafora explained:

“Our goal is really to make it easy for people to use [Bitcoin], because as much as there's a lot of great innovation happening on Bitcoin—which we have a lot of excitement around—there just really isn't anything to do with Bitcoin today. It's still a pet rock, it's in this cage, and we need to get it out of there.”

Inspired by the veTokenomics of Curve, Corn issues a double native token from its own infrastructure, with the objective of aligning apps, users, and investors within a unified and mutually beneficial ecosystem.

By leveraging Bitcoin as the central gas currency, Corn develops a Bitcoin-centric chain that fully utilises the features of the first cryptocurrency in the crypto market within DeFi.

Regarding the vision of the chain, Spadafora:

“Putting power back in the hands of applications creates a reason for developers to build on Corn and, more importantly, to stay on Corn. The success of any network relies on the success of its applications, and this requires the ability to drive demand to their protocol sustainably.”

The project introduces BTCN, a hybrid tokenised Bitcoin backed 1:1 by native BTC, which does not rely on centralised deposits or multisig solutions.

Instead, it extends minting rights to multiple entities, including smart contracts and bridging protocols.

Corn also manages the currency CORN, with yield on the layer-2 composed of two resources: BTCN generated through network transaction fees and CORN as native issuance at each block.

While BTCN serves as the gas token, CORN is a yield token that offers voting rights to stakers, allowing them to decide where the yield should flow, thus providing extra incentives.

Stakers, known as popCORN, can vote to allocate CORN incentives to certain dapps or delegate their vote to the farmers' markets for additional gains.

This hybrid approach helps protect users and balances the multidimensional needs of the DeFi world between dapps and liquidity providers.

Users interacting with these apps receive incentives, while CORN stakers can decide the percentage of CORN incentives that go to each app.

Spadafora emphasized that BTCN differs from other wrapped Bitcoin versions, providing Bitcoin holders with choices regarding how their assets are custodied and used in various applications.

He noted:

“By having to move into Ethereum or other assets, you have to give up the exposure to Bitcoin. I think there's an inherent interest in keeping exposure to Bitcoin, but playing in the DeFi ecosystem—and not only being able to put it to work but experiment with new, fun things.”

Corn's flourishing ecosystem creates numerous opportunities to yield Bitcoin in DeFi, prioritising scalability and solvency.

The network, combining the popularity of Bitcoin as a gas token with DeFi yield opportunities, guarantees a sustainable return for users to maintain distributed liquidity.

It offers a continuously growing demand driver for apps and incentivizes token holders through the vast utility of its own ecosystem, ensuring greater security, transparency, and capital efficiency.

Founded by Veterans of DeFi Projects

Founded by a team of experienced DeFi builders who have launched projects such as Badger, Code4rena, Slingshot, and 0xBow, the Corn team possesses a deep understanding of what it takes to thrive in the industry.

Corn's vision is to establish a unique network-wide flywheel, the "Crop Circle," which aligns users, applications, and token holders within a unified and mutually beneficial ecosystem.

This innovative approach aims to make it easier than ever to utilize digital gold through the power of their new tokenised Bitcoin, BTCN.

Spadafora stated:

“Empowering applications is our focus, which is why developers will choose to build on Corn and more importantly, stay on Corn. The success of any network relies on the success of its applications — and that requires the ability to drive demand to protocols in a sustainable way. By aligning network participants with the power of Super Yield Farming, delivering real token utility, and positioning Bitcoin at the center, Corn's not just catching the eye of hodlers — it’s setting the stage for a thriving ecosystem where developers, users, and token holders can flourish together.”

Chris Spadafora, Founder

Spadafora is a multifaceted entrepreneur with a strong background in finance and entrepreneurship, having graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce from Ryerson University in 2011.

He began his career as the Director of Operations at the Ryerson Entrepreneur Institute and later served as a territory sales representative for the US East team at Softchoice, where he was recognised as the Top Sales Account Manager in North America.

In 2016, Spadafora ventured into the e-commerce space with Fitness Decor, a business specialising in motivational decor for the fitness industry.

His blockchain journey started with the founding of North Block, an investment and advisory firm that played a pivotal role in accelerating the launch of prominent blockchain projects.

In September 2020, Spadafora, along with his team of developers—Ameer Rosic, Albert Castellana, and Alberto Cevallos—established Badger DAO.

This open-source, decentralised autonomous organization (DAO) enables Bitcoin to be used as collateral across DeFi applications.

He said:

"The mission's for Badger DAO is to build products and infrastructure necessary to bring what I and many of the people in the community believe to be the best collateral ever invented into open finance and to really accelerate how it gets there and when it's there, give it utility."

He also serves as the Senior Community Manager at BadgerDAO, where he is responsible for fostering relationships within the community, providing support and guidance, and promoting engagement and enthusiasm for Badger and the broader DeFi ecosystem.

On 23 February 2023, Spadafora announced eBTC, a decentralised Bitcoin powered by Ethereum staking, via his Twitter page.

eBTC is a collateralised crypto asset soft-pegged to the price of Bitcoin, built on the Ethereum network, and backed by Liquid Staked ETH (LSD).

Additionally, Spadafora is the founder of Alwayshodl, a crypto merch website that allows users to shop for cryptocurrency merchandise and pay with over 55 cryptocurrencies.

He has also organised Crypto After Dark, a crypto COVID-19 Charity Poker Tournament, and is a partner at Angelrock, a boutique consulting firm that assists large digital asset holders in navigating the crypto space.

His socials: X and LinkedIn https://x.com/spadaboom1

Zak Cole, Co-Founder

Cole, a Web3 developer, protocol engineer, and software entrepreneur, is the co-founder of Corn and Managing Partner of Number Group, previously co-founder and CTO of Slingshot, and co-founder of Code4rena.

He is also the Co-Founder and Research Lead at 0xbow, where he focuses on providing privacy-oriented infrastructure for regulated DeFi.

With a background in founding and leading various tech companies, including Code4rena and Slingshot Finance, Cole has also served in technical advisory roles for companies such as DeFi Pulse and Syscoin Platform.

His diverse experience is complemented by educational degrees in Information Technology and Philosophy, as well as certifications in Wildland Fire Behaviour and Chainsaws.

His technical expertise was honed during his time in the United States Marine Corps, where he trained as a cyber network engineer.

In Iraq's Al Anbar province during Operation Iraqi Freedom 07-08, he and his unit were responsible for constructing mission-critical data infrastructure and managing the implementation and distribution of cryptographic assets.

After retiring from the Marine Corps, Cole worked in various roles such as web developer, network engineer, and applied cryptographer.

He also built several companies in the fields of ad tech, web hosting, and cybersecurity before transitioning to the Ethereum space with a focus on decentralised financial technology.

His socials: X and LinkedIn

Corn's Socials

Website

X

Telegram

Discord

Kernel of Success is Ready to Pop

Corn, an emerging L2 project, aims to transform the way Bitcoin is utilised in DeFi, offering unprecedented opportunities for users and a more robust, secure, and transparent tokenised Bitcoin solution.

The project has stated its intention to create an ecosystem that prioritises retaining liquidity, users, and builders.

It has garnered attention in the crypto world by becoming the first Ethereum-based chain to use BTC as its gas token.

Despite being in its early stages—with its first post on X dated 20 August—Corn has already unveiled its Early Access Airdrop campaign, along with a $6.7 million funding by major players in the Web3 sector like Polychain Capital, Binance Labs, HTX Ventures, and more.

Coinlive believes that, despite its nascent stage, Corn is a project to watch closely, especially with talks of a mainnet launch and Token Generation Event (TGE).

Only time will tell whether Corn can establish itself as a top Bitcoin DeFi project and become a kernel of success or if it will simply pop off the radar.