Quick take:

  • The fundraising also attracted participation from BabylonChain, Inc., dao5, Franklin Templeton, Foresight Ventures, Mirana, Mantle EcoFund and Nomad Capital.

  • The company offers a liquid and yield-bearing representation of staked Bitcoin powered by the LBTC token.

  • The company also plans to integrate LBTC across Ethereum DeFi protocols by the end of the year.

Lombard, a Bitcoin restaking protocol on the Bitcoin ecosystem has raised $16 million in a Series A round led by Polychain Capital. The fundraising also attracted participation from Babylon Chain, Inc., dao5, Franklin Templeton, Foresight Ventures, Mirana Ventures, Mantle EcoFund and Nomad Capital.

The company plans to use the fresh capital to expand its Bitcoin restaking ecosystem by leveraging Babylon Chain’s Bitcoin staking protocol. In May, Babylon Chain raised $70 million in a round led by Paradigm. Polychain Capital was also among other Web3 VCs that joined the round.

“Lombard’s cross-chain LBTC product taps into the vast pool of parked Bitcoin liquidity, enhancing the supply-side into Babylon’s Bitcoin staking protocol. We are pleased that Lombard has received significant funding so we can continue our close collaboration, fill a critical void in the market, and drive substantial growth,” said David Tse, Co-Founder of Babylon.

Lombard’s fundraising comes at a time when Bitcoin is emerging as a major dApp ecosystem driven by the rapid rise of crypto staking and restaking protocols, most of which are powered by Babylon Chain.

According to the announcement, Lombard will use the BTC staked via Babylon to secure more protocols in the Bitcoin ecosystem by issuing the liquid and yield-bearing representation of staked Bitcoin powered by the LBTC token. According to the company’s website, LBTC is freely minted across chains and backed 1:1 with BTC, allowing users to stay liquid and carry their tokens wherever they go.

Lombard’s goal is to expand its service beyond the Bitcoin ecosystem with plans underway to integrate LBTC across Ethereum DeFi protocols by the end of the year.

Commenting on his firm’s leading role in the fundraising, Polychain Capital founder Olaf Carlson-Wee in a statement: “Our investment in Lombard demonstrates our belief in its potential to add immense value to the Web3 ecosystem by unlocking Bitcoin’s latent potential. Our commitment to Lombard represents a deeper belief in the leverage Bitcoin can have in catalyzing growth across the whole Blockchain space.”

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The post Lombard Ramps Up the Development of Its BTC-Restaking Protocol with $16M Seed Round appeared first on NFTgators .