- Lombard has been invested in by Binance Labs.
- In terms of total value locked, Lombard is the largest Bitcoin liquid staking platform, holding almost $640 million.
Lombard Finance is a platform for Bitcoin liquid staking that has received funding from Binance Labs, the $10 billion venture financing and incubator division of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance.
According to Jacob Phillips, co-founder and head of strategy at Lombard, talks between the company and Binance Labs started a few months ago. While stating that the Binance Labs investment round’s structure was fairly typical, Phillips declined to provide specifics.
Although he did not reveal Lombard’s latest round valuation, he did point out that the startup’s overall funding currently hovers around $17 million. This is an increase from its $16 million seed round, which occurred roughly four months ago, and suggests that Binance Labs invested roughly $1 million.
Lombard: What is it?
Based on Babylon, another business in Binance Labs’ portfolio that specializes on Bitcoin staking, Lombard is a platform for liquid Bitcoin staking.
Having supported a number of platforms like Puffer Finance, Renzo, Solayer, and Infrared, Binance Labs is an active investor in the staking and restaking field across many blockchain ecosystems, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and Berachain.
Bitcoin staked into Babylon is represented by LBTC. It enables consumers to take part in DeFi and receive a native yield while preserving the value of the original asset by giving networks economic protection via Babylon.
Lombard’s LBTC, which was introduced roughly two months ago, is already being utilized as collateral for trade, yield farming, lending, and borrowing through DeFi protocols including ZeroLend, Pendle, Maple Finance, and Morpho, according to Phillips. Based on data from its website, Lombard’s current total value locked (TVL) is more than $640 million.
Lombard is motivated by the possibility that the TVL in the ecosystem might more than double if just 10% of the $1.5 trillion market capitalization of Bitcoin went into DeFi. This would enable sustained market dynamics and spur hitherto unheard-of growth.
Lombard’s goals for growth
With the additional investment from Binance Labs, Lombard intends to enable users to mint LBTC and stake BTC on several blockchains, hence expanding access to LBTC.
According to Phillips, LBTC will initially be expanded to BNB Chain, which will enable holders of Binance bitcoin (BTCB) to obtain LBTC. Users that move from BTCB, a Bitcoin derivative that doesn’t yield, to LBTC will eventually profit from Babylon staking yields.
According to Phillips, LBTC will eventually be accessible to blockchains with a high level of DeFi activity, such as the Ethereum Layer 2 networks Base, Arbitrum, Scroll, and Solana. All of the blue-chip DeFi protocols, every chain/Layer 2, and shortly CEXs will be compatible with Lombard.
Currently, Lombard employs about fifteen individuals, most of whom work in engineering and product roles. Phillips added that he is looking to hire a few people in functions related to growth, marketing, product design, and engineering.
Disclaimer : This article was created for informational purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice. An asset’s past performance does not predict its future returns. Before making an investment, please conduct your own research, as digital assets like cryptocurrencies are highly risky and volatile financial instruments.
