Kraken Institutional supports Lombard’s transition to institutional Bitcoin yield

Lombard has spent the past two years bringing Bitcoin onchain at scale, and LBTC is now moving its yield source from Bitcoin staking to an institutional covered-call strategy managed by Bitwise Asset Management, targeting 2.5% net APY in Bitcoin terms.

Kraken is supporting that transition directly. Bitcoin backing the strategy is held in segregated, bankruptcy-remote accounts at qualified custodians including Kraken, under tri-party agreements that keep the Bitcoin within qualified custody throughout. Kraken also serves as one of the execution venues where Bitwise trades the options underlying the strategy.

Bitcoin as productive collateral

Institutions are increasingly evaluating platforms not just on where they can trade, but on what their assets can do while held there. Bitcoin is at the center of that shift, moving from a passive store of value toward productive collateral, and institutions expect the infrastructure underneath it to reflect that: custody, execution, and yield working together, rather than split across separate providers and counterparties.

Gurpreet Oberoi, Head of Kraken Institutional: “Bitcoin backing this strategy is held in segregated, bankruptcy-remote accounts at qualified custodians including Kraken. Tri-party agreements mean Bitcoin deployed in this strategy remains within qualified custody throughout, meeting the requirements of institutional allocators. Kraken also serves as one of the execution venues for the strategy’s options trading, reflecting our role across both custody and execution for institutional Bitcoin.”