Lombard today announces a pioneering three-way collaboration with Chainlink and Symbiotic that reinforces the cryptoeconomic guarantee architecture of cross-chain LBTC transfers. This partnership represents the first deployment of an economically secured cross-chain bridging solution, combining Chainlink's industry-leading Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) with Symbiotic's universal staking framework to create additional cryptoeconomic guarantees for Lombard’s LBTC transfers.

Defining a New Cryptoeconomic Guarantee Paradigm

This collaboration establishes a new standard for how premier BTC derivatives can achieve both maximum interoperability and maximum cryptoeconomic guarantees. By integrating Symbiotic's permissionless restaking architecture with CCIP's modular security framework, Lombard has created an additional cryptoeconomic layer that directly aligns protocol cryptoeconomic guarantees with BARD token utility, delivering tangible value to token holders from day one.

This collaboration showcases how CCIP’s modular security architecture empowers token issuers like Lombard to meet their unique security needs. By using features like Token Developer Attestation and integrating with external cryptoeconomic systems such as Symbiotic for cross-chain LBTC transfers—without requiring any changes to CCIP itself—Lombard demonstrates how asset issuers can layer on custom protections around cross-chain transfers. Whether through additional validation logic or external monitoring networks, CCIP provides the flexibility to support a wide range of risk frameworks to meet any use case requirement.

“We’re excited to be collaborating with Symbiotic and Lombard on enhancing the cryptoeconomic guarantees of cross-chain LBTC transfers, highlighting how CCIP’s modular security architecture is flexible enough to meet any use case requirement.” — Johann Eid, Chief Business Officer, Chainlink Labs

Strategic Impact for LBTC

As a chain-agnostic Bitcoin derivative designed to flow freely across DeFi ecosystems, LBTC requires infrastructure that matches its ambition. This collaboration reinforces LBTC's positioning as the leading yield-bearing Bitcoin derivative by ensuring that cross-chain movements benefit from best-in-class security infrastructure.

Each cross-chain transfer now benefits from dual-layer protection: Chainlink's time-tested CCIP infrastructure combined with Symbiotic's cryptoeconomic guarantee model. This approach doesn't just secure individual transactions—it creates systemic resilience that strengthens with network growth, establishing LBTC as the institutional-grade solution for transferring Bitcoin cross-chain.

“LBTC is a chain-agnostic asset, meeting demand across networks rather than being confined to one. LBTC holders want the freedom to move their Bitcoin wherever the best opportunities are, but they also expect uncompromising security. Pairing CCIP’s modular architecture with Symbiotic’s restaked collateral gives our community stronger economic guarantees through staking. Each BARD staked reinforces the robustness of LBTC, aligning incentives and strengthening the integrity of our interoperability stack.” — Jacob Phillips, Co-founder, Lombard

Unlocking BARD Token Utility Through Staking

The integration introduces immediate utility for BARD token holders through a transparent staking mechanism that directly contributes to protocol cryptoeconomic guarantees. By staking BARD tokens, holders actively participate in securing Lombard's interoperability infrastructure while earning rewards that compound their position in the protocol's activities.

This creates a powerful alignment mechanism: BARD stakers enhance protocol cryptoeconomic guarantees, which increases trust and adoption of LBTC, which drives demand for additional cryptoeconomic guarantees, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of growth. The primary incentive structure is denominated in BARD, with additional incentives offered by partners.

How it works

The staking feature will be accessible on the Lombard App, and claims page. Users with BARD can stake into the vault to earn a 240% APY at launch denominated in BARD (APY tapers to 30% overtime), with additional partner incentives also available. The vault is provided by Mellow. When users stake BARD through the Lombard App, their tokens are deposited into a Mellow Multivault that connects directly to Symbiotic. Behind the scenes, the vault handles all the complexity—delegating liquidity, compounding rewards, and managing exits, while users simply hold vault shares that accrue yield.

Every staked BARD contributes to Lombard’s cryptoeconomic guarantee layer and earns transparent rewards in return. Withdrawals are processed through predictable queues, so users maintain straightforward access to their funds without worrying about the mechanics under the hood. The result is simple: stake, secure, and earn—with Mellow infrastructure making it seamless.

Industry Precedent and Future Implications

This collaboration sets precedents. It represents the first production deployment of economically secured cross-chain bridging infrastructure built through cooperation between leaders in distinct but complementary verticals.

More broadly, this partnership establishes a replicable framework. The model's applicability extends beyond bridging to encompass oracles, settlement layers, and other critical DeFi infrastructure—positioning this collaboration as a foundational reference for the industry's evolution toward more sophisticated cryptoeconomic guarantee architectures.

Technical Architecture

The solution leverages Symbiotic's universal staking framework to provide economic guarantees, while using CCIP's configurable security parameters to customize protection levels for LBTC transfers. This dual-layer approach ensures that cryptoeconomic guarantees scales dynamically with the value being transferred while maintaining the efficiency and user experience that institutional users demand.

The architecture's modularity means that cryptoeconomic guarantee enhancements can be implemented and upgraded without disrupting existing operations, providing Lombard with the flexibility to evolve its cryptoeconomic guarantee posture as the protocol grows and market conditions change.

“Symbiotic turns passive crypto assets into active security infrastructure. Integrating our restaking framework with Chainlink CCIP for cross-chain LBTC transfers showcases how decentralized collateral can be deployed—quickly and permissionlessly—to reinforce cross-chain value flows and deliver tangible benefits to end users.”— Misha Putiatin, Co-Founder, Symbiotic

About Symbiotic

Symbiotic is a universal staking protocol that provides a modular coordination framework for the blockchain ecosystem. It enables protocols to evolve their security models over time and unlock entirely new economic primitives. Backed by Paradigm, Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures, cyberFund, and over 100 angel investors, Symbiotic launched 16 production decentralized networks secured by over $1 billion in TVL. For more, visit Ecosystem at https://symbiotic.fi.

About Lombard

Lombard is building onchain Bitcoin Capital Markets to unlock the full potential of the most important asset of our generation. Founded in 2024, Lombard pioneered Bitcoin's integration into DeFi with LBTC, the leading yield-bearing Bitcoin asset secured by a consortium of 14 digital asset institutions. LBTC reached $1 billion TVL in just 92 days and became the first Bitcoin LST trusted by blue-chip protocols including Aave, Spark, and EigenLayer. Today, Lombard is building full-stack infrastructure to accelerate onchain BTC adoption by holders, protocols, and platforms, backed by digital asset leaders including top DeFi protocols, institutions, and exchanges.

About Mellow

Mellow is the leading modular infrastructure for building structured products onchain, with ≈$500M TVL.The protocol offers a flexible, permissionless vault system built around a curated model, allowing any sophisticated entity to deploy and manage bespoke vaults with full control over strategy, fees, and risk parameters.Mellow is agnostic to underlying onchain primitives, supports any asset, and is designed for both permissionless and permissioned use cases. Whether you're a fund, asset issuer, validator, or protocol team, Mellow gives you the tools to structure tailored onchain products that match your LPs’ needs and regulatory constraints.