# Use $BARD

Stake $BARD to earn rewards and secure LBTC and BTC.b cross-chain transfers. Your staked BARD backs the Symbiotic monitoring network that validates every LBTC and BTC.b bridge transaction.

***

### Get $BARD

#### Centralized Exchanges

$BARD is available on:

| Exchange | Pair      |
| -------- | --------- |
| Binance  | BARD/USDT |
| Bybit    | BARD/USDT |
| OKX      | BARD/USDT |
| Coinbase | BARD/USD  |
| HTX      | BARD/USDT |
| Bitget   | BARD/USDT |
| Upbit    | BARD/KRW  |
| Bithumb  | BARD/KRW  |
| MEXC     | BARD/USDT |
| KuCoin   | BARD/USDT |

#### Earn Through Lux

Deploy LBTC or BTC.b into eligible DeFi protocols to earn Lux points. Lux converts to $BARD in seasonal airdrops. Passive holding does not earn Lux in Season 3.

→ [Lux Rewards Program](https://docs.lombard.finance/learn/community/lux-rewards)

***

### Stake $BARD

Staking is available on Ethereum mainnet only. You receive stBARD, a vault share that grows in value as rewards accrue.

#### Before You Start

* You need $BARD in an Ethereum wallet
* You need ETH for gas fees
* Current APY: \~30% (long-term rate after Epoch 4)

#### Steps

1. Go to [lombard.finance/app](https://www.lombard.finance/app/) and connect your Ethereum wallet
2. Navigate to the $BARD staking section
3. Approve the staking contract to use your $BARD
4. Enter the amount to stake
5. Confirm the transaction
6. Receive stBARD in your wallet

Your stBARD balance appears in the dashboard along with live APY and pending exits.

#### Reward Epochs

The current long-term staking APY is approximately 30%.

#### Claim and Stake Bonus (Limited Time)

Users who claim and stake BARD between March 18 and March 30, 2026 receive a 25% boost on top of the 30% APY, for a total of 55% APY.

This boosted rate lasts three months, expiring June 18, 2026. Bonus rewards are distributed on June 18.

To qualify:

* Stake within the March 18 to March 30 window.
* Maintain the staked position through June 18, 2026.

Unstaking before that date forfeits the bonus.

The bonus applies only to newly staked BARD during the window, not to positions staked before March 18.

#### Additional Rewards

While staked, you also earn:

* Symbiotic points
* Mellow Finance points

***

### Unstake $BARD

Unstaking requires a 21-day withdrawal period. Your funds remain slash-eligible until the epoch closes.

#### Steps

1. Go to the staking dashboard
2. Select the amount of stBARD to unstake
3. Confirm the transaction
4. Wait up to 21 days (may be shorter depending on epoch timing)
5. Return to claim your $BARD

#### What to Know

* You can have multiple unstake requests active at once
* The staked portion continues earning while another portion exits
* You receive more $BARD than you deposited (rewards are included)

#### Example

| Action          | stBARD | Exchange Rate | $BARD           |
| --------------- | ------ | ------------- | --------------- |
| Stake           | 1,000  | 1.00          | 1,000 deposited |
| Unstake (later) | 1,000  | 1.08          | 1,080 received  |

***

### Claim Airdrop

#### Season 1

Claim at [claim.lombard.finance](https://claim.lombard.finance/)

| Phase   | Timing         | Notes                             |
| ------- | -------------- | --------------------------------- |
| Phase 1 | TGE            | 1.5% of supply                    |
| Phase 2 | TGE + 6 months | 1.5% of supply + referral rewards |

#### Season 2

Season 2: 1.5% of total supply (15,000,000 BARD).

Claimable starting March 30, 2026 at 09:00 ET at [claim.lombard.finance](https://claim.lombard.finance/).

90-day claim window. Unclaimed BARD returns to the Ecosystem Fund.

#### How to Claim

1. Go to [claim.lombard.finance](https://claim.lombard.finance/)
2. Connect the wallet you used for LBTC activities
3. View your allocation
4. Accept terms and conditions
5. Sign the transaction to claim

***

### Contracts

Verify addresses before interacting:

| Contract | Address                                      |
| -------- | -------------------------------------------- |
| $BARD    | `0xf0DB65D17e30a966C2ae6A21f6BBA71cea6e9754` |
| stBARD   | `0x4B266366dc8fF4c0007943a679CBa1fDB845f98D` |

Always confirm addresses match what the Lombard app displays.

***

### Next Steps

* [Learn about $BARD](https://docs.lombard.finance/learn/token-economics) — Token utility, tokenomics, distribution
* [Lux Rewards](https://docs.lombard.finance/learn/community/lux-rewards) — Earn $BARD through LBTC activities
* [Liquid Bitcoin Foundation](https://docs.lombard.finance/learn/token-economics/liquid-bitcoin-foundation) — How governance works


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