Lombard Integrates With Eigenlayer, Bringing Bitcoin (BTC) Restasking to the Eigenlayer Ecosystem

Lombard has partnered with Eigenlayer and the Eigen Foundation to integrate bitcoin into Eigenlayer’s restaking ecosystem. This marks the first time bitcoin (via Lombard’s LBTC) will be used as collateral for decentralized services on Ethereum.

Eigenlayer, a leading Ethereum restaking protocol, will expand its ecosystem to include bitcoin ( BTC), traditionally a passive asset. In a Thursday announcement, Lombard said it has partnered with Eigenlayer and the Eigen Foundation to integrate bitcoin into the Eigenlayer ecosystem.

Eigenlayer’s protocol allows users to build new decentralized services, termed Autonomous Verifiable Services (AVSs), on top of existing liquid staking protocols. These services can be anything from decentralized exchanges to lending protocols, all powered by the Eigenlayer network.

However, Eigenlayer currently supports only ETH-based liquid staking tokens (LSTs), like those from Rocket Pool and Shapeshift. This integration with Lombard will introduce the first bitcoin (BTC) liquid staking token to the Eigenlayer ecosystem.

Through this collaboration, bitcoin holders can now restake LBTC, Lombard’s liquid staking token for bitcoin, to earn yield and contribute to securing new decentralized services on Eigenlayer.

This unlocks a unique use case for bitcoin (BTC), which is typically used as a store of value or for cross-chain transfers. In this instance, bitcoin will be an active contributor to securing decentralized services on Ethereum.

“We are excited to be working with the Eigenlayer and Eigen Foundation teams to bring this integration to life,” said Ben Lerner, CEO of Lombard. “We believe that it will unlock significant new opportunities for both bitcoin and the Eigenlayer ecosystem.”

The Eigen Foundation will also be providing incentives for the adoption of LBTC across the Eigenlayer ecosystem, which includes over 190 emerging and deployed AVSS, and 80,000 unique staking addresses. Together with the Eigenlayer team, Lombard will be researching slashing risk management strategies to ensure the optimal security of bitcoin used to secure the Eigenlayer network.

In addition, Lombard and Layerzero are developing a Decentralized Validation Node (DVN) that will further extend the utility of bitcoin by improving cross-chain data availability. This synergy aligns with Eigenlayer’s modular and open-source infrastructure, fostering seamless integration and interoperability between different protocols and services.

“We are always looking for new ways to expand the Eigenlayer ecosystem and bring new use cases to the forefront,” said Huy Nguyen, CEO of Eigenlayer. “We are impressed by the work that the Lombard team has done to create such a liquid and efficient bitcoin staking solution.”