Lombard Finance Purchases Avalanche's Bridged BTC Solution

Bitcoin DeFi protocol Lombard Finance (BARD) has acquired BTC.b, the leading bridged bitcoin asset on Avalanche, from Ava Labs. Launched in 2022, BTC.b holds a market cap over $500M and enjoys integrations across leading Avalanche DeFi protocols, including Aave, Benqi, and Euler.

What’s the Scoop?

• Transaction Terms: No purchase price was disclosed, but under the deal, BTC.b will remain a neutral public good, continuing to on Avalanche with its contract, name, and integrations unchanged. The deal is expected to close by year end.
• Expanded Access: BTC.b will now operate on Lombard’s protocol architecture – the same foundation that powers LBTC – allowing BTC.b to easily scale across Lombard-supported chains. BTC.b will also deploy to MegaETH upon the network's mainnet launch.
• Ava Labs Refocuses on Core Blockchain Development: Ava Labs’ decision to sell BTC.b comes amid broader efforts to streamline operations. “We are offloading some costs and effort to running a very large piece of infrastructure and focusing on our core business — maintaining and improving the Avalanche blockchain,” said Eric Kang, head of DeFi at Ava Labs in a comment to The Block.