How to Earn Yield on Bitcoin (Without Moving It) | Hong Sun

On today’s Talking Tokens episode, Jacquelyn sat down with Hong Sun, head of institutions at Core. Core is a bitcoin-secured, EVM-compatible L1 powering a new wave of BTCFi apps, stablecoin adoption, and yield primitives without requiring bitcoin to leave holders’ wallets.
Hong walks through how Core uses bitcoin time locks to enable staking and yield generation, what "dual staking" means for institutional safety and returns, and how Core partners with firms like Maple Finance, Copper, and DeFi Technologies to operationalize BTCFi. He breaks down the rise of liquid staking for bitcoin, how spot ETFs paved the way for the next wave of bitcoin adoption, and what new builders can expect from Core’s Rev+ model.
They also discuss how BTCFi is changing institutional strategies, bitcoin-as-treasury dynamics, and the future of composable bitcoin collateral in both DeFi and traditional finance.

Timestamps
0:00 – Who is Hong Sun & what is Core?
0:54 – From Paxos to BTCFi: Hong's journey
2:01 – Why bitcoin yield matters for adoption
2:34 – Yield without custody risk: Time locks explained
4:03 – lstBTC and tokenizing yield
5:44 – ETF buyers vs. yield seekers: the next wave
6:51 – How institutions are thinking about BTC yield
8:12 – Why time locks minimize risk
10:25 – Tax efficiency & regulatory clarity
11:08 – From gold to fixed income: Bitcoin's new narrative
13:14 – Allocating bitcoin in portfolios
15:01 – Is bitcoin the new real estate?
17:14 – Growth of BTCFi across L1s
19:28 – Core as infra for Bitcoin utility
21:30 – New products: Rev+ and more
23:29 – Sharing gas fees with builders
24:37 – The stablecoin connection to BTCFi
26:28 – Monetizing distribution for issuers
27:27 – Incentives for builders & devs on Core
29:33 – Educating institutions on safe BTC yield
32:24 – BTCFi: treasuries, ETFs & traders
34:08 – Positive carry for market makers
35:25 – What dual staking unlocks
38:13 – BTCFi TAM & billion-dollar upside
40:23 – Composable Bitcoin in traditional finance
42:15 – Liquidity, volatility & macro impacts
44:14 – Hong’s advice: think big, build aligned systems

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