# Token Economics
$BARD is the native token of the Lombard Protocol. It's a economic coordination mechanism powering growth, governing the protocol, and enabling access to Lombard's products and infrastructure.
Designed with a generational horizon, $BARD accelerates the development and distribution of Bitcoin infrastructure for decades to come.
***
### Token Overview
| Property | Value |
| ------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Token Name | BARD |
| Total Supply | 1,000,000,000 (fixed) |
| Circulating at TGE (Sept 2025) | 225,000,000 (22.5%) |
| Network | Ethereum |
| Contract Address | [`0xf0DB65D17e30a966C2ae6A21f6BBA71cea6e9754`](https://etherscan.io/address/0xf0DB65D17e30a966C2ae6A21f6BBA71cea6e9754) |
***
### Utility
BARD serves four core purposes:
#### Governance
BARD empowers the community to steer Lombard's evolution. Holders will be able to vote on:
* Security Consortium composition
* Fee structures
* Product roadmap
* Ecosystem grant allocation through the Liquid Bitcoin Foundation
#### Security
BARD secures Lombard's core infrastructure. Holders stake BARD to safeguard LBTC and BTC.b cross-chain transfers through a cryptoeconomic guarantee layer built on Chainlink CCIP and Symbiotic infrastructure. This creates a decentralized security layer that scales with protocol adoption.
#### Ecosystem Development
Through the Liquid Bitcoin Foundation, BARD holders direct resources that accelerate adoption:
* Fund ecosystem grants
* Forge commercial partnerships
* Support research and development
#### Protocol Access
BARD provides holders with:
* Priority access to new products
* Preferred terms
* Enhanced functionality across the ecosystem
***
### Token Distribution
#### Summary
| Category | Allocation | Tokens | Vesting |
| ------------------------- | ---------- | ----------- | -------------------------- |
| Ecosystem | 35% | 350,000,000 | Mixed |
| Core Contributors | 25% | 250,000,000 | 48 months, cliff 12 months |
| Liquid Bitcoin Foundation | 20% | 200,000,000 | 4.25% TGE, 3-year linear |
| Early Investors | 20% | 200,000,000 | 48 months, cliff 12 months |
| | | | |
***
### Token Emissions:
The total token supply is fixed at 1,000,000,000 $BARD at TGE. At launch, 22.5% (225,000,000 BARD) will enter circulation to reward early users and participants, providing liquid incentives that accelerate near-term ecosystem growth. The remaining supply will unlock gradually over a 48-month period post-TGE, designed to align stakeholders and ensure Lombard’s long-term, sustainable development.
***
#### Ecosystem (35%)
Over one-third of supply is dedicated to community growth and development.
| Allocation | % | Tokens | Unlock |
| ------------------------- | ----- | ----------- | ------------------------------------------- |
| **Airdrop Season 1** | 4% | 40,000,000 | 1.5% TGE, 1.5% at 6 months, 1% at 12 months |
| **Ecosystem Activation** | 11% | 110,000,000 | Unlocked immediately |
| **Community Sale** | 1.5% | 15,000,000 | Fully unlocked at TGE |
| **Ecosystem Development** | 18.5% | 185,000,000 | 4.25% TGE, rest linear 24 months |
**Airdrop Season 1:** Early users earned allocation based on LBTC activity. Distribution in three phases over 12 months.
**Ecosystem Activation:** Immediate distribution via incentive programs, including:
* Airdrop Season 2 (1.5%): 6-month post-TGE Lux program
* Kaito Yappers (0.16%): Year-long Kaito Leaderboard campaign
**Community Sale:** Hosted by Buidlpad, raised $6.75 million at $450M FDV from 21,340 verified participants across 132 countries. All allocations fully unlocked at TGE.
**Ecosystem Development:** Fuels growth through commercial partnerships. 4.25% unlocked at TGE, remainder linear over 24 months.
***
#### Liquid Bitcoin Foundation (20%)
The Foundation serves as steward of the Lombard Protocol, funding research, development, and initiatives.
| Allocation | % | Tokens | Unlock |
| -------------- | --- | ----------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| **Foundation** | 20% | 200,000,000 | 4.25% TGE (42.5M), 15.75% linear over 3 years |
The Foundation retains flexibility to direct unlocked tokens toward ecosystem opportunities, ensuring resources create maximum long-term impact.
→ [Learn about the Liquid Bitcoin Foundation](https://docs.lombard.finance/learn/token-economics/liquid-bitcoin-foundation)
***
#### Early Investors (20%)
Leading investors who backed Lombard's vision and enabled development.
| Allocation | % | Tokens | Unlock |
| ------------- | --- | ----------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| **Investors** | 20% | 200,000,000 | 48-month lock, linear from 12 months post-TGE |
**Lead Investor**
* Polychain Capital
**Institutional Investors**
* Franklin Templeton
* YZi Labs (formerly Binance Labs)
* BabylonChain, Inc.
* dao5
* Foresight Ventures
* HTX Ventures
* Mirana Ventures
* Mantle EcoFund
* Nomad Capital
* OKX Ventures
* Robot Ventures
**Strategic Exchange Partners**
* Binance
* Bybit
* OKX
* HTX
* Bitget
**Angel Investors** Founders and executives from Allora, Altlayer, Babylon, BeraChain, Euler, Gearbox, Manta, MegaEth, Pendle, Ritual, Scroll, StakeStone, Seven Seas, and Zircuit.
***
#### Core Contributors (25%)
Incentivizes current and future team members building Bitcoin Capital Markets on-chain.
| Allocation | % | Tokens | Unlock |
| ---------------- | --- | ----------- | --------------------------------------------- |
| **Contributors** | 25% | 250,000,000 | 48-month lock, linear from 12 months post-TGE |
Service-based vesting ensures long-term alignment.
***
### Staking
Staking BARD contributes to protocol security and earns rewards.
#### How It Works
1. Deposit BARD into the Mellow vault
2. Receive stBARD (vault share token)
3. stBARD appreciates in value as rewards accrue
4. Redeem stBARD for more BARD than deposited
#### What Your Stake Secures
BARD staking integrates three layers:
**Mellow Vault**: Holds staked BARD. Issues stBARD.
**Symbiotic Network**: Monitors cross-chain transfers. Enforces slash eligibility.
**Chainlink CCIP**: Validates burns before mints across chains.
When LBTC or BTC.b moves cross-chain, Symbiotic monitors both burn (source) and mint (destination). Mismatches trigger alerts and slash eligibility. This creates the first production system where restaked collateral actively secures cross-chain Bitcoin assets.
#### Rewards
* Paid in BARD
* Auto-compound (no claiming needed)
* stBARD exchange rate increases over time
Example: 1,000 stBARD at rate 1.00 → rate increases to 1.08 → redeem 1,080 BARD
#### Unstaking
* 21-day withdrawal period
* Funds remain slash-eligible until epoch closes
* Multiple concurrent unstake requests allowed
* Continue earning on staked portion during exit window
#### Staking Contracts
| Contract | Address |
| -------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| BARD | [`0xf0DB65D17e30a966C2ae6A21f6BBA71cea6e9754`](https://etherscan.io/address/0xf0DB65D17e30a966C2ae6A21f6BBA71cea6e9754) |
| stBARD | [`0x4B266366dc8fF4c0007943a679CBa1fDB845f98D`](https://etherscan.io/address/0x4B266366dc8fF4c0007943a679CBa1fDB845f98D) |
→ [Stake BARD](https://app.lombard.finance/)
***
### Protocol Revenue
Lombard captures fees across its product suite:
**LBTC Staking Yield:** Share of yield from operating Finality Providers on Babylon.
**Vault Fees:** Management fees from integrated vaults.
***
### Where to Get BARD
#### Centralized Exchanges
| Exchange | Trading Pairs |
| ------------ | ---------------------------------------------------- |
| **Binance** | BARD/USDT, BARD/USDC, BARD/BNB, BARD/FDUSD, BARD/TRY |
| **OKX** | BARD/USDT |
| **Coinbase** | BARD/USD |
| **Upbit** | BARD/KRW, BARD/BTC, BARD/USDT |
| **Bithumb** | BARD/KRW |
| **Toobit** | BARD/USDT |
#### Earn BARD
**Staking:** Stake existing BARD to earn more BARD through auto-compounding stBARD.
**Lux Program:** Earn Lux points through LBTC and BTC.b DeFi deployment activities. Lux converts to BARD in seasonal airdrops.
→ [Lux rewards program](https://docs.lombard.finance/learn/community/lux-rewards)
***
### Airdrop Claiming
#### Season 1
Claim at [claim.lombard.finance](https://claim.lombard.finance/)
| Phase | Allocation | Timing |
| ------- | ---------------------------------- | -------------------------- |
| Phase 1 | 1.5% | At TGE |
| Phase 2 | 1.5% plus all referral Lux rewards | March 18, 2026 at 09:00 ET |
Phase 2: 1.5% of supply plus all referral Lux rewards.
Claimable at [claim.lombard.finance](https://claim.lombard.finance/) starting March 18, 2026 at 09:00 ET.
Referral Lux was excluded from Phase 1 and is distributed exclusively in Phase 2.
#### Season 2
Season 2: 1.5% of supply (15,000,000 BARD) allocated based on Lux earned between September 18, 2025 and March 18, 2026 00:00 UTC.
100% of the Season 2 allocation is claimable starting March 30, 2026 at 09:00 ET at [claim.lombard.finance](https://claim.lombard.finance/).
***
### Next Steps
* [**Stake BARD**](https://app.lombard.finance/) — Earn rewards and secure the protocol
* [**Liquid Bitcoin Foundation**](https://docs.lombard.finance/learn/token-economics/liquid-bitcoin-foundation) — Learn about governance
* [**Lux Rewards**](https://docs.lombard.finance/learn/community/lux-rewards) — Earn BARD through LBTC activities
* [**Claim Airdrop**](https://claim.lombard.finance/) — Check eligibility
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