Bitcoin News Today: Lombard's BTC.b Move Fills Bitcoin DeFi Gaps Left by Centralized Giants

Lombard Finance has acquired BTC.b, Avalanche's bridged bitcoin asset and infrastructure, from Ava Labs in a strategic move to expand its Bitcoin DeFi offerings, according to The Block report. The transaction, expected to close before year-end, allows Ava Labs to offload operational costs and refocus on core blockchain development, while Lombard gains a key asset to strengthen its position in onchain bitcoin capital markets.

BTC.b, launched in 2022, holds a $502 million market cap and is integrated across DeFi protocols like Aave and BENQI. Under the new arrangement, the asset will retain its contract, name, and integrations on Avalanche but transition to Lombard's technical infrastructure. Ava Labs' head of DeFi, Eric Wang, emphasized the shift aligns with the company's goal to "maintain and improve the Avalanche blockchain."

For Lombard, the acquisition accelerates its mission to build a robust Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem. Co-founder Jacob Phillips highlighted that BTC.b complements Lombard's existing yield-bearing token, LBTC, which has a $1.3 billion market cap. The platform now offers both yield and non-yield bitcoin assets across multiple chains, addressing gaps left by centralized alternatives like cbBTC and WBTC. Phillips noted that BTC.b's permissionless minting capability lowers barriers for developers seeking to integrate bitcoin into their protocols.

The deal also unlocks new capabilities via the Lombard SDK, enabling developers to onboard bitcoin directly into their applications. BTC.b will serve as the canonical bitcoin asset on MegaETH at launch, with plans to expand its multichain presence. Phillips added that institutional and retail adoption of Bitcoin DeFi remains nascent, with less than 1% of bitcoin's $2.1 trillion market cap active onchain.

The acquisition follows months of discussions between the two companies and was handled internally without external advisors. While financial terms were not disclosed, the move underscores growing interest in bridging Bitcoin liquidity to DeFi ecosystems.