Lombard Finance has acquired the on-chain infrastructure of BTC.b, a Bitcoin asset valued at $538 million on the Avalanche network. The company aims to extend its operations across Ethereum, Solana, and other prominent blockchains starting next year.
Summary
- Lombard Finance has taken over BTC.b, a $538M Bitcoin asset on Avalanche, along with its infrastructure and a user base exceeding 12,500 addresses.
- The firm plans to transition BTC.b to its own decentralized protocol by Q4 2025, secured by 15 institutional entities.
- BTC.b will expand from Avalanche to include Ethereum, Solana, and MegaEth, with integration into Lombard’s vault products used by Binance and Bybit.
On October 30, Bitcoin DeFi protocol Lombard Finance announced its acquisition of the operational infrastructure behind BTC.b, effectively taking control of the leading Bitcoin asset on the Avalanche network.
The agreement allows Lombard to assume control over the operational protocol, its user base of more than 12,500 addresses, and its established connections within Avalanche’s DeFi ecosystem, including significant platforms such as Aave and GMX.
Lombard’s strategy for Bitcoin capital markets on-chain
The acquisition of BTC.b by Lombard extends far beyond simply taking over a token; it involves migrating the core infrastructure of the bridged Bitcoin asset to Lombard’s protocol, which is safeguarded by a decentralized consortium of 15 institutional entities.
This transition, expected to be completed by Q4 2025, will integrate Chainlink’s Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol for bridging, as well as its Proof of Reserve feature for verifiable backing, significantly enhancing security and capability over its existing state.
“Acquiring BTC.b infrastructure is a natural extension of Lombard’s mission to enhance Bitcoin’s usability and accessibility on-chain. With BTC.b, we are enriching our product suite with a permissionless, non-custodial, institutionally supported asset that complements LBTC, providing on-chain users an alternative to centralized wrapped BTC assets,” said Lombard co-founder Jacob Phillips.
For developers, the value proposition stems from Lombard’s Software Development Kit. The intention is to natively integrate BTC.b into this toolkit, allowing DeFi applications to incorporate the asset with minimal mint and redeem fees.
Lombard has committed to ensuring a smooth transition for the existing BTC.b community and its integrations. The asset’s contract address, name, and current placements within protocols like Aave will remain unchanged, preventing any disruption for current holders.
Lombard also aims to expand BTC.b’s reach significantly beyond Avalanche. The protocol has confirmed plans to introduce the asset to Ethereum Mainnet, Solana, and MegaEth. This cross-chain expansion will be reinforced by incorporating BTC.b into Lombard’s vault products, which are already in use by major exchanges like Binance and Bybit, indicating a strong push for institutional and retail distribution.
