Leading crypto asset manager joins Bitcoin Smart Accounts ecosystem, creating new utility for Bitcoin held within regulated custody.

Lombard is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with Bitwise Asset Management, bringing the Bitcoin Smart Accounts ecosystem to institutional ranks for the first time. The partnership unlocks yield and liquidity access for an estimated $500 billion Bitcoin in institutional custody — without requiring asset or title transfer, custody modification, or the introduction of bridge protocols.

Scheduled for Q2 2026 launch, Bitcoin Smart Accounts will provide high-net-worth individuals, institutional asset managers, and corporate treasuries access to two core functions: earning and borrowing with Bitcoin. Bitwise Asset Management will serve as the primary strategic partner for yield products within the Bitcoin Smart Accounts ecosystem, while Morpho will provide a liquidity venue for clients to borrow stablecoins against Bitcoin.

Bitwise Asset Management is developing new strategies to generate yield on Bitcoin by combining DeFi lending with a curated portfolio of real-world assets (RWAs). With deep experience across both crypto and traditional finance, Bitwise is positioned to deliver scalable BTC yields for diverse institutional client segments.

Through Bitcoin Smart Accounts, stablecoin liquidity will be provided by Morpho, a protocol that previously demonstrated institutional Bitcoin market access through its successful Coinbase integration. The infrastructure provides complete visibility into capital deployment, counterparty relationships, and pricing terms, eliminating the information asymmetries characteristic of traditional over-the-counter arrangements.

Together, the partnerships establish the foundations of an integrated ecosystem connecting institutional Bitcoin holders in qualified custody with yield products and liquidity access, addressing capital inefficiency in institutional Bitcoin holdings to date.

Lombard plans systematic expansion of both custodian partnerships and whitelisted yield and protocol integrations throughout 2026, targeting the mobilization of hundreds of billions of dollars in institutionally custodied Bitcoin into productive onchain capital.

"Following the February introduction of Bitcoin Smart Accounts, we have observed substantial institutional demand for solutions enabling productive Bitcoin deployment while preserving existing custody," said Jacob Phillips, Co-Founder of Lombard. "Bitwise brings institutional credibility and product capabilities required to serve this market at a meaningful scale.">

An estimated $500 billion in Bitcoin assets held in qualified custody has remained economically inactive due to the operational and risk constraints of existing market solutions. The breakthrough infrastructure developed by Lombard recognizes BTC held in institutional custody — qualified custody, MPC, or self-custody wallet — as collateral, enabling the world's largest institutions and individuals to use their Bitcoin productively, without transferring custody or control of the underlying asset to any third party. Bitcoin holders access this new utility through a Bitcoin Smart Account within their existing custody setup.

“This collaboration reflects the next phase of Bitcoin’s transformation as an institutional asset,” said Hunter Horsley, Co-founder and CEO of Bitwise Asset Management, “As innovation continues to evolve, we’re seeing growing demand for strategies that generate returns while preserving the core properties of Bitcoin. We’re excited to help shape an ecosystem where Bitcoin can serve as productive, yield-generating capital while still maintaining the highest standards of security and compliance.”

It’s clear that Bitcoin is going institutional, but infrastructure hasn’t kept pace. For over a decade, Bitcoin has existed in two worlds that have never been properly connected.

If you held BTC at a qualified custodian and sought liquidity against it, you had three unattractive options: 1. Exit custody — losing institutional insurance and introducing bridge and smart contract risk. 2. Use an OTC lender— less competitive borrowing rates, accepting opaque terms, hidden spreads, and settlement measured in days. 3. Sell Bitcoin — triggering a tax event and losing upside potential.

True institutional access to DeFi has been hindered by bespoke and non-repeatable legal, operational, and risk processes. BSA solves this by packaging access into a single, governed product that can be approved once and reused at scale.

Throughout all processes, Bitcoin assets remain within the institution's qualified custody arrangement. Security protocols, insurance coverage, and regulatory compliance frameworks applicable to the custodied position remain fully intact.

The architecture utilizes established and battle-tested Bitcoin protocol primitives, including Partially Signed Bitcoin Transactions (PSBTs) and native timelock mechanisms, to enable collateral recognition without physical asset transfer. Bitcoin positions are programmatically recognized through custodian-integrated Smart Account designations that issue cryptographic receipt instruments (BTC.b) representing verified collateral status. Bitcoin Smart Accounts launch with Bitwise Asset Management and Morpho, establishing the foundational ecosystem.

The architecture is designed to generate network effects as additional participants integrate: each custodian connection increases utility for all protocol participants, while each protocol integration enhances custodian value propositions.

This dynamic mirrors the network effects that established ACH and SWIFT as critical financial market infrastructure over multi-decade periods.

About Lombard Lombard is an onchain Bitcoin company, issuing institutional-grade Bitcoin assets, onchain financial solutions and core infrastructure. Founded in 2024, the company's products—including LBTC, the leading yield-bearing Bitcoin, BTC.b, the Lombard SDK, and Bitcoin Smart Accounts—enable Bitcoin to become productive capital across decentralized finance.

About Bitwise Bitwise Asset Management is a global crypto asset manager with more than $15 billion in client assets and a suite of over 40 investment products spanning ETFs, separately managed accounts, private funds, hedge fund strategies, and staking. The firm has an eight-year track record and today serves more than 5,000 private wealth teams, RIAs, family offices and institutional investors as well as 21 banks and broker-dealers. The Bitwise team of nearly 200 technology and investment professionals is backed by leading institutional investors and has offices in San Francisco, New York, and London.

About Morpho Morpho is an onchain lending network with $10B+ in deposits connecting lenders and borrowers to the optimal opportunities worldwide. Businesses can utilize Morpho's open infrastructure to power any lending or borrowing use case at scale, including embedded crypto-backed loans, custom yield solutions, and vault curation. Morpho serves as the backend powering innovative financial institutions and enabling leaders like Coinbase, Bitwise Asset Management, and Société Generale to deploy secure, scalable, and custom onchain strategies. For more information, please visit Morpho.org