The Evolution: From Atomic Options to Lygos Credit
When Atomic.Finance started building with DLCs, they were untested in production. We took something novel but elegant and proved it could survive the adversarial environment that is the Bitcoin network. $140M in volume later, with $25M in BTC TVL locked in our options vaults, we validated something important: DLCs work. They're robust, secure, and ready for prime time.
But here's what else we learned: the market doesn't want complexity. It wants Bitcoin to stay Bitcoin.
Bitcoin Doesn't Need a Costume
The last cycle taught us what happens when you dress Bitcoin up as something it's not. BlockFi, Celsius, Voyager — they all took your Bitcoin and played shell games with it. Wrapped it, rehypothecated it, lost it. The custodial risk was hidden behind yield promises, and when the music stopped, users discovered they never really held Bitcoin at all.
Meanwhile, in DeFi land, the solution was to wrap Bitcoin, bridge it to a VM, and hope the smart contracts don't blow up. $3B+ in hacks later, institutions have made their position clear: they're not touching that with a ten-foot pole.
There's a better way. Keep Bitcoin on Bitcoin. No wrapping, no bridges, no custodians holding your keys. Just pure, bilateral agreements enforced by Bitcoin's simple, predictable script.
The Credit Revelation
Running Atomic.Finance taught us that while options are intellectually interesting, credit is what moves markets. Institutions and high-net-worth individuals need to borrow against their Bitcoin without triggering taxable events or taking on unbounded smart contract risk.
DLCs are perfect for this. Every loan outcome can be pre-computed and signed. No surprises, no infinite attack surfaces. Just deterministic contracts that institutions can actually underwrite.
This is where Jay Patel and Francis Corvino, our new co-founders at Lygos, come in. While Matt and I were busy building the technical infrastructure at Atomic, Jay and Francis built up the lending desk at Anchorage Custody, one of the leading custodians in crypto. They know what institutional and HNWI borrowers actually want because they've been on the other side of the table. Jay proceeded to manage hundreds of millions in triparty arrangements at Anchorage after cutting his teeth at JPMorgan. Francis was Anchorage's foundational lending employee and later shaped StarkWare's Bitcoin strategy.
They bring what we didn't have: deep institutional relationships and an understanding of how credit actually moves in this market.
Enter Lygos
Today we're announcing that Atomic Finance's IP and battle-tested DLC infrastructure are now part of Lygos — the first truly non-custodial Bitcoin lending platform.
What does "truly non-custodial" mean? Nobody — not Lygos, not an oracle, not a custodian — can move your funds except you and your counterparty. The oracle merely attests to a price. The Bitcoin script does the rest.
Loans range from $25k to $100M. Bitcoin stays on Bitcoin L1 as collateral. Stablecoin gets issued on Ethereum. No wrapped tokens, no bridges, no custody risk. Just clean, bilateral lending that institutions and HNWIs can understand and trust.
What This Means for Atomic.Finance Users
First and foremost — thank you. Genuinely.
You trusted DLCs when they were just theory. You helped us battle-test infrastructure with real capital while others chased airdrops and yield farms. Together we proved DLCs work: $140M in volume, $25M TVL, zero hacks, zero custody nightmares.
The Atomic Finance app sunsets over the coming month. Your funds remain yours — always have been, always will be. After sunset, just restore your 12-word seed in any Bitcoin wallet to access funds. For those curious about what's next: Lygos applies the same principles (non-custodial, Bitcoin-native, no nonsense) to institutional and HNWI lending. Join us as a lender or borrower at lygos.finance.
Whether you continue with us or not, know this: Atomic users were the pioneers. You didn't just use a product — you proved Bitcoin DeFi could be better.
Looking Forward
Bitcoin lending is a massive market trapped between two bad options: custodial platforms that might implode, or DeFi protocols that require wrapping and unbounded risk. Lygos is the third way — institutional-grade lending that keeps Bitcoin native and risk bounded.
We're not pivoting away from our mission. We're doubling down on what actually works: Bitcoin-native financial infrastructure that doesn't require you to trust anyone.
The future of Bitcoin finance isn't about forcing Bitcoin into foreign systems. It's about building where Bitcoin naturally excels.
See you on the other side.
—Tony + Matt, Atomic.Finance Co-Founders
Ready to Experience True Non-Custodial Bitcoin Lending?
We're onboarding institutional lenders and borrowers now. If you're tired of choosing between custody risk and smart contract risk — if you believe Bitcoin should stay Bitcoin — we should talk.
Get early access at lygos.finance
First cohort starts lending in weeks, not months.