Bridging Bitcoin to DeFi: Lombard's Vision for Liquid Staking with Jacob Phillips

The Smart Economy Podcast: Real-World Blockchain Applications with Crypto, DeFi, NFTs, and DAOs

In this episode of The Smart Economy Podcast, host Dylan Grabowski is joined by Lombard co-founder Jacob Phillips.

Join them as they discuss:

• How Bitcoin's market capitalization is an ideal solution for DeFi's need for liquidity
• The differences in the mentality of deploying Bitcoin as an asset into DeFi versus deploying other assets like Ether
• Building on the Babylon staking protocol
• Upcoming Lombard releases
  

And much more!

Jacob brings a wealth of experience from his time at Perennial Labs and as an investor at Polychain Capital, deeply enriching our understanding of how Bitcoin can become a more dynamic player in the DeFi space. Lombard is integrating Bitcoin with decentralized finance, offering solutions such as its flagship product, LBTC—a yield-bearing, cross-chain, liquid Bitcoin, backed 1:1 by BTC.

Episode Highlights:

• [00:00] Introduction
• [00:03] Episode introduction and overview with Jacob Phillips of Lombard
• [02:34] Bitcoin's historical challenges in DeFi and recent market evolution
• [05:20] Catalysts behind Bitcoin's building renaissance
• [12:18] Jacob's journey from crypto skeptic to Polychain Capital
• [31:34] Lombard's growth to $1B TVL and key partnerships
• [36:50] Shifting the Bitcoin holder mindset toward yield generation
• [41:18] Technical overview of Lombard Ledger and BFT chain development
• [47:54] User acquisition and institutional adoption strategy
• [51:39] Institutional perspectives on Bitcoin DeFi adoption

Previous guests include: Rusty Matveev, Chief Strategy Officer at Calaxy; Andrew Lawrence, CEO and Co-Founder of Censo; Zac Townsend, CEO and Co-Founder of Meanwhile; Jesper Johansen, CEO and Co-Founder of Northstake; Tama Churchouse, COO of Cumberland Labs; Holly Wood of Boson Protocol; Sid Powell of Maple Finance; Chad Barraford of THORChain; and many others.
Check out our three most downloaded episodes:

• Laying the Groundwork for a Billion-User Blockchain with Rich Rines, Contributor at Core DAO
• Staking the Future: From Blockchain Beginnings to Institutional Innovations with Chen Zhuling of RockX
• The Unstoppable Nature of Blockchain: A Conversation with Bonart Mati of Obligate

Attention all blockchain, crypto, and Web3 professionals! If you're a founder, CEO, or expert doing something innovative in this space, we're interested in speaking to you! Apply to be a guest on our platform and connect with our vibrant community of blockchain professionals: https://fame.so/nnt-guest

The Smart Economy Podcast is handcrafted by our friends over at fame.so