Lombard raises $94.7m for Bard token, targets Bitcoin DeFi

Lombard has completed a 1,400% oversubscribed token sale, which it will use to build in the Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem.

Summary

• Lombard raised $94.7M in its Bard token public sale past the $6.75M goal
• The project builds DeFi functionality on top of the Bitcoin network
• The New Liquid Bitcoin Foundation will use the funds for development and ecosystem growth

Bitcoin’s (BTC) DeFi ecosystem is increasingly attracting interest. On Wednesday, September 3, Lombard Finance concluded its Bard token public sale, raising $94.7 million. The fundraising surpassed the goal of $6.75 million by 1,400%, showing a growing interest in Bitcoin DeFi applications.

BARD will serve as the governance token for Lombard’s Bitcoin DeFi protocol. Lombard has stated that it will use the additional funds to develop its products and grow its ecosystem. It also says that it hopes adding Bitcoin DeFi capabilities will help bring more users into its ecosystem.

How Lombard’s Bitcoin DeFi works

Lombard is the issuer of the LBTC token, a yield-bearing token backed by Bitcoin. The token generates 1% APY through Bitcoin staking via Babylon Labs. Moreover, the protocol uses a decentralized validator network to avoid the major pitfalls with cross-chain bridges and wrapped tokens.

In particular, traders lost more than $2.8 billion in various blockchain bridge hacks. Moreover, some of these hacks were likely insider rug pulls. For this reason, traders who swap their Bitcoin for any wrapped token should be aware of the potential counterparty risk that comes with it.