DeFiChain (DFI): how it works, supply and reviews
In short
- Type
- Layer-1 blockchain built on a fork of Bitcoin Core 0.18.1, dedicated to DeFi
- Supply cap (whitepaper)
- The whitepaper caps DFI at 1.3 billion, divisible to 8 decimals; the home page (31 October 2026) shows just over 1 billion DFI minted as '100.00% of max supply', and no DeFiChain source for a changed cap was found
- Risks and caveats
- The whitepaper cap of 1.3 billion DFI can be changed by a DAO governance vote, and the home page now reports 100% of max supply minted.
- Checked
- 31 October 2026
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Key facts
- Ticker
- DFI
- Official site
- defichain.com
Key facts checked on 31 October 2026 against official sources.
What is DeFiChain
DeFiChain is a proof-of-stake blockchain built from a fork of Bitcoin Core and dedicated to decentralised finance: a built-in exchange, tokenised assets, loans and masternode staking. It anchors its chain state to the Bitcoin blockchain, and DFI is its native token.
Network and consensus
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Type | Layer-1 blockchain built on a fork of Bitcoin Core 0.18.1, dedicated to DeFi |
| Consensus | Mostly proof of stake: masternodes create blocks by hashing their node ID |
| Block time | 30 seconds (whitepaper target) |
| Bitcoin anchoring | Every 60 blocks (about 30 minutes) a staker may write a Merkle root to the Bitcoin blockchain for an extra reward |
| Smart contracts | Native chain is intentionally non-Turing-complete; the MetaChain upgrade adds an EVM-compatible layer |
| Masternodes | 7,912 masternodes reported by the official Ocean API (as of 31 October 2026) |
Supply and issuance
| Parameter | Details |
|---|---|
| Supply cap (whitepaper) | The whitepaper caps DFI at 1.3 billion, divisible to 8 decimals; the home page (31 October 2026) shows just over 1 billion DFI minted as '100.00% of max supply', and no DeFiChain source for a changed cap was found |
| Initial distribution | 49% issued to the DeFiChain Foundation at the start; the rest issued to masternode holders over time |
| Issuance | Launched with a 200 DFI block reward, 10% to the community fund; later rewards set by governance vote |
| Minted so far | Home page shows more than 1 billion DFI minted, 100.00% of max supply (as of 31 October 2026) |
What DFI is used for
- Pays the fees for DeFi applications on the chain.
- Masternode collateral: 20,000 DFI runs a staking node.
- Collateral for borrowing decentralised assets (dTokens).
- Community fund governance: 10 DFI submits a non-refundable proposal.
Who develops and governs DeFiChain
- Foundation
- Whitepaper: the DeFiChain Foundation develops DeFiChain and issues DFI; it is a company limited by guarantee
- Governance
- Masternodes vote on the Foundation board and on community fund proposals (up to 10% of block rewards)
- Community activity
- Community fund proposals (CFPs) are still put to community votes (June 2026 blog post)
- Open source
- Node software (defid) published on GitHub in the DeFiCh/ain repository
History
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 17 July 2020 | Node v1.0.0, the first non-release-candidate version, is published together with the desktop DeFi App. |
| 29 September 2020 | Node v1.2.0 is published for the AMK hard fork. |
| 20 October 2020 | Node v1.3.0 is published for the Bayfront hard fork. |
| 2 November 2021 | Node v2.0.0 is published for the Fort Canning upgrade, adding native protocol support for decentralised loans. |
| 3 November 2023 | Node v4.0.0 is published as a mandatory update for the MetaChain upgrade. |
| 31 December 2024 | Node v4.2.5 is published. |
Security and audits
- The native chain is intentionally non-Turing-complete to limit the attack surface; the MetaChain EVM layer is a separate environment.
- Masternodes that double-sign lose 10 times the block reward from their collateral.
- The chain state is periodically anchored to the Bitcoin blockchain.
Security incidents
| Date | What happened | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 3 January 2022 | Outage: Node v2.5.0 fixed a case where unsupported ICX transactions from older nodes made valid nodes roll back excessively, which caused stalls in the blockchain. | github.com |
Further incidents are reported by third parties (press, incident databases) but are not confirmed in the company’s own channels, so they are not listed here.
Risks and caveats
- The whitepaper cap of 1.3 billion DFI can be changed by a DAO governance vote, and the home page now reports 100% of max supply minted.
- Governance and the community fund are controlled by masternode votes; the Foundation's board is elected by masternodes.
Official links
- Website: defichain.com
- Whitepaper: defichain.com/white-paper
- Source code: github.com/DeFiCh/ain
- Block explorer: defiscan.live
- Blog: blog.defichain.com
Questions and answers
What is DeFiChain?
A proof-of-stake blockchain forked from Bitcoin Core and dedicated to decentralised finance, with its state anchored to Bitcoin; DFI is its native token.
What is the maximum supply of DFI?
The whitepaper caps DFI at 1.3 billion, changeable only by a DAO vote; the home page shows 100% of max supply minted as of 31 October 2026.
How do I run a DeFiChain masternode?
A masternode needs 20,000 DFI as collateral; masternodes validate transactions, create blocks and vote on governance.
Does DeFiChain support smart contracts?
The native chain is non-Turing-complete by design; the MetaChain upgrade added an EVM-compatible environment running alongside it.
Sources
- DeFiChain — home page
- DeFiChain — DFI page
- DeFiChain — whitepaper
- DeFiChain — node release notes (GitHub DeFiCh/ain)
- DeFiChain Ocean API — mainnet stats
- DeFiChain Blog — News (Week 23), 2 June 2026
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