Lombard Launches LBTC: Bitcoin-Backed Token Pays Interest on Staking
Lombard, a startup led by former Polychain, Coinbase, and Ripple employees, has launched LBTC, a cross-chain token that pays interest on staked Bitcoin. This innovative token, backed 1:1 by Bitcoin, is minted using Babylon's Bitcoin Staking Protocol, a service provided by Babylon Financial Services.
LBTC enables users to earn interest on their Bitcoin by staking it on other blockchains or providing liquidity to decentralized exchanges. This is achieved by leveraging Babylon's 'eigenlayer' for Bitcoin, which stakes Bitcoins to create services like PoS chains or sidechains, similar to how Eigenlayer uses Ethereum's economic stakes.
Lombard, however, is not truly decentralized as users hand over control of their Bitcoins to others. To address this, Lombard is trying to decentralize control through a 'consortium' and securing Bitcoins with CubeSigner. The consortium includes institutions like OKX, Galaxy, DCG, Wintermute, Amber Group, Figment, and P2P, ensuring institutional-grade security.
Babylon, Lombard's partner, has received $18 million funding from Polychain. LBTC is also receiving funding of $16 million, led by Polychain Capital. Babylon is currently in testnet and may take time before it starts paying interest with an actual economic basis. Once operational, LBTC could become an interesting, simple, and liquid access to Babylon's services.
LBTC, a cross-chain token backed 1:1 by Bitcoin, offers users the opportunity to earn interest on their staked cryptocurrency. With significant funding and partnerships, including Polychain, Binance, Bybit, Chainlink, and Symbiotic, Lombard and Babylon are working towards decentralizing Bitcoin staking and providing users with a secure, yield-bearing liquid Bitcoin token.
Read also:
- Automotive Updates: Wolfspeed, NVIDIA, ABB, and Veritone in Spotlight
- Senate Tillis under spotlight in North Carolina as IRA tax incentives remain uncertain
- Demonstrating Carbon Storage in Agricultural Forestry through Digital Monitoring and Verification
- Interview Questions for Erica Tandori, an Artist, Intellectual, and Educator at Monash University
