Lombard Launches BARD Token Community Sale

Lombard, the innovative Bitcoin DeFi protocol behind the liquid staking token LBTC, is launching its native BARD token. This event coincides with the formation of an independent governance entity called the Liquid Bitcoin Foundation and includes a community sale on Buidlpad. The upcoming community sale intends to raise $6.75 million by distributing 1.5% of BARD’s total supply, resulting in a fully diluted valuation of $450 million, according to co-founder Jacob Phillips. The exact total supply of the token remains undisclosed. From August 26 at 12:00 p.m. UTC to August 29 at 11:59 a.m. UTC, participants can register for KYC and subscribe to the sale. Eligible contributors can then invest between September 1 and September 2, with settlement and refunds planned for September 4 at 2:00 p.m. UTC. Users can participate using stablecoin USD1, BNB, or LBTC on Buidlpad. LBTC holders, current Lombard users, and those who engage in promotional content about Lombard and Buidlpad before KYC will have priority access. “10% of the sale is dedicated to creators and educators who highlight Lombard's influence in Bitcoin's future,” Phillips stated. While Phillips did not specify the date for the token generation event, he mentioned that further details will be shared in the near future. Lombard has also initiated the Liquid Bitcoin Foundation, a governance body overseeing protocol advancements, partnerships, and research funding. The foundation will support commercial initiatives as well as public projects that aim to enhance the ecosystem. The BARD sale will take place on Buidlpad, an ICO platform created by Erick Zhang, who is also affiliated with Nomad Capital, one of Lombard’s investors. Its main competitors include Echo, founded by Jordan "Cobie" Fish, and the Delphi Labs-supported Legion. Lombard’s primary offering, LBTC, is a yield-generating Bitcoin token valued at approximately $1.5 billion in total locked assets. LBTC integrates with Aave, Etherfi, and Pendle, and is backed by a consortium that includes Galaxy, Wintermute, and OKX. Lombard has developed a comprehensive infrastructure, including a dedicated security layer, middleware utilized by platforms like Bybit and Binance, and cross-chain wrappers like BTCK on Katana, alongside vaults and aggregation tools for efficient Bitcoin yield generation. “Lombard is creating a complete infrastructure suite to enhance Bitcoin capital markets on-chain,” Phillips asserted. Founded in 2024, Lombard successfully raised $17 million in seed funding, led by Polychain Capital, with contributions from notable investors like Franklin Templeton and Bybit.