Core DAO's DeFi total value locked (TVL) has shrunk to a few million dollars, with almost all of the remainder concentrated in a single protocol, @b14g_network. The Bitcoin dual-staking layer accounts for most of the DeFi activity on $CORE, leaving the @CoreDao_Org ecosystem highly exposed to problems at one project.

One Protocol Holds Most of Core's Remaining TVL

DefiLlama data as of 1 November put Core's total DeFi TVL at about $3.28 million, according to a cryptonews.net report. Of that, b14g represented $2.81 million, the bulk of value locked on the chain. DefiLlama's chain page lists b14g first among Core protocols, followed by Core Earn, a liquid staking product with about $107,500 in TVL.

The figure is far below levels seen in earlier periods. A Reflexivity Research overview of the Core DAO ecosystem cited total TVL of $353.61 million at the time of its snapshot, with the lending protocol Colend alone holding $158.86 million. DefiLlama's chain page now shows bridged TVL of about $2.51 million, and daily DEX volume of just $5,676.

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Network activity metrics tell a similar story. The same DefiLlama page recorded chain fees paid of $1,586 over 24 hours, pointing to very little economic activity even where transactions continue to be processed.

The b14g Exploit and the Concentration Risk

The concentration became visible after an incident on 31 October. Cryptonews.net reported that about 97 million CORE staked through b14g was withdrawn without authorisation. b14g paused the affected contracts, and said $BTC staked through the protocol was unaffected.

Core DAO said the network itself was not compromised. In a statement on X, it said consensus, validators and staking contracts operated normally, and that CORE staked directly with validators or through other protocols was unaffected. Core also said it was working with b14g and exchange partners to trace and freeze the funds.

Hokanews reported that the withdrawal request specified zero CORE tokens, which the staking code reportedly interpreted as a request to withdraw the entire amount held in each order. The outlet valued the stolen tokens at roughly $1.47 million and said CORE fell 12% to an all-time low following the incident.

Recovery remains incomplete. Cryptonews.net said recovered tokens had not been distributed to users and no claims process was open at the time of reporting. Exchange partners froze around 9 million CORE, and The Defiant estimated about 19.9 million CORE sat outside both the fork recovery and the reported freezes, while stressing that this is a provisional reconciliation rather than a confirmed loss.

The episode illustrates the trade-off in concentrated ecosystems. Because a single protocol supplies most of Core's DeFi TVL and a large share of its dual-staking flow, a flaw in that protocol affects the wider chain, not only its own users.

b14g's wider footprint is much larger than its presence on Core. DefiLlama shows total TVL of about $312 million across chains, with most of it on Bitcoin and about $21 million on CORE.

Sources

DefiLlama: Core chain DeFi TVL, fees and protocol rankings

Cryptonews.net: b14g accounts for $2.81 million of Core's DeFi TVL after 97 million CORE exploit

Hokanews: CORE token hits all-time low after exploit on Bitcoin staking protocol