Lido

What Lido does

Lido is a decentralized liquid staking protocol for Ethereum and other Proof-of-Stake assets, governed by Lido DAO and operated since 2020. Its core product, stETH, is a rebasing liquid staking token representing staked ETH plus accrued rewards, with a non-rebasing wrapped variant wstETH bridged across multiple chains via Chainlink CCIP. Around stETH, Lido has built a modular platform comprising node operator modules (Curated Module, Simple DVT Module via SSV/Obol, Community Staking Module) and Lido V3 stVaults for tailored, configurable staking setups. The Lido Earn suite extends beyond staking into automated yield vaults: EarnETH allocates ETH and stETH across blue-chip DeFi protocols, while EarnUSD accepts USDC/USDT deposits for stablecoin yield, with the DAO committing to cover losses. Governance runs through Lido DAO via Snapshot signaling, on-chain votes, Dual Governance (an stETH-holder timelock veto), and LEGO grants.

Lido serves three primary customer segments: (1) individual DeFi users seeking permissionless liquid staking without running validators or meeting the 32 ETH minimum; (2) institutional clients — custodians (Fireblocks, Copper.co, BitGo, Taurus), market makers (Wintermute), treasuries (Enterprise Ethereum Alliance), and ETF issuers (VanEck) — requiring regulated, audit-ready staking infrastructure, accessible via Lido V3 stVaults and the institutional channel; and (3) DeFi protocols and builders integrating stETH/wstETH as collateral or liquidity across 100+ integrations. Revenue is generated from fees on staking rewards distributed to stETH holders (a recurring, TVL-linked stream), supplemented by performance fees on the Earn vaults; the company is decentralized with no traditional equity structure, $14.99B in protocol TVL, ~9 million ETH staked, 900+ node operators, and over $1.95B in cumulative staking rewards paid since inception.

Name

Lido

Legal name

Lido DAO

Website

https://lido.fi

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Lido is a decentralized liquid staking protocol for Ethereum and other Proof-of-Stake assets, governed by Lido DAO. It issues stETH and wstETH, supports modular node-operator setups including V3 stVaults, and serves retail DeFi users, institutional custodians, and DeFi protocol builders.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Decentralized Liquid Staking Protocol

NAICS

Other Financial Vehicles (525990), Open-End Investment Funds (525910)

SIC

Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services (6200), Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

Staking, Restaking & Liquid Staking Finance (LST/LRT, validator markets) (FSAPAEAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Staking-as-a-Service Platforms (Non-Custodial) (FSADAHAF), DAO Treasury, Governance & On-Chain Finance Tools (FSADAMAL)

Keywords

• Liquid staking protocol
• Ethereum staking
• Defi infrastructure
• Liquid staking tokens
• Yield vaults

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Staking Fee Revenue: Lido charges a percentage fee on staking rewards distributed to stETH holders; revenue declined 23% in the prior year due to user withdrawals and lower staking yields amid network-wide APR compression. Revenue is recurring, driven by total staked ETH TVL.
2. LDO Token Buyback Program: Lido DAO proposed a $20 million one-off LDO buyback funded by 10,000 stETH tokens to address price dislocation between LDO market price and protocol fundamentals, absorbing ~8.5% of LDO circulating supply.
3. EarnUSD/EarnETH Vault Performance Fees: Lido's stablecoin and ETH yield vaults (EarnUSD accepting USDC/USDT; EarnETH allocating ETH/stETH across blue-chip DeFi protocols) generate yield-based fees; Lido DAO deployed $5M from its treasury into the vaults.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Lido is a decentralized liquid staking protocol that lets users stake ETH (and other Proof-of-Stake assets) without running validators or meeting the 32 ETH minimum. Deposits are routed to vetted node operators and tokenized as stETH (rebasing) or wstETH (wrapped, non-rebasing), which can be used across DeFi as collateral or traded on secondary markets. Around the core, Lido offers modular staking products (Curated, Simple DVT, Community Staking Module, stVaults/Lido V3), institutional staking via partner custodians, and DeFi yield vaults (EarnETH, EarnUSD).

Product overview

Lido is a single unified decentralized liquid staking protocol for Ethereum, operating as a platform-plus-modules architecture. At its core, the protocol issues stETH (and its wrapped variant wstETH) — Ethereum's leading liquid staking token, with ~$14.99B TVL and 9,028,469 ETH staked at the time of the page. Around that core, Lido organizes products into three pillar areas: (1) Products, including stETH, wstETH, and the Lido Earn suite (EarnETH and EarnUSD yield vaults); (2) Node Operator modules, including the Curated Module, Simple DVT Module, Community Staking Module (CSM), and the newer modular stVaults (Lido V3) for personalized staking setups; and (3) Institutional Staking, providing stETH liquidity and utility for enterprises via integrations to Fireblocks, Copper.co, BitGo, Taurus, and Wintermute. Governance is handled by Lido DAO through the Research forum, Snapshot signaling votes, on-chain executable votes, Dual Governance (stETH dynamic timelock), Delegation, and LEGO grants. Supporting infrastructure includes the lido-ethereum-sdk developer SDK, comprehensive docs and smart-contract references on docs.lido.fi, an Immunefi bug bounty, Safe Harbor protections, and security audits from firms including Certora, MixBytes, Statemind, Ackee, OpenZeppelin, Consensys Diligence, ChainSecurity, Oxorio, Hexens, SigmaPrime, Composable Security, and Cantina.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• stETH: Ethereum's leading liquid staking token issued by Lido, providing best-in-class security, deep liquidity, and competitive rewards.
• wstETH
• Lido Earn
• EarnETH
• EarnUSD
• stVaults

Products and services

• stETH Liquid Staking Permissionless liquid staking of any amount of ETH via Lido's staking interface; users receive stETH (rebasing) representing staked ETH plus rewards, redeemable 1:1 for ETH. Designed for individual crypto holders and DeFi users who want staking exposure without running validators.
• wstETH (Wrapped Lido Staked ETH) Non-rebasing wrapped version of stETH that accrues value via exchange-rate appreciation rather than balance changes; bridged across multiple chains via Chainlink CCIP and used as collateral across DeFi. Designed for DeFi protocols and cross-chain builders needing a yield-bearing ETH asset.
• EarnETH Vault (Lido Earn) Automated ETH growth vault that allocates ETH and stETH across leading blue-chip DeFi protocols to optimize capital efficiency; advertises variable 4.4% APY with ~$145M TVL. Designed for ETH holders seeking enhanced on-chain yield beyond base staking rewards.
• EarnUSD Stablecoin Vault (Lido Earn) USD-denominated yield vault accepting USDC and USDT deposits, automatically allocating across DeFi strategies with transparent asset selection and risk controls; reported ~$29.5M TVL and 7.9% APY at launch. Designed for stablecoin holders seeking on-chain yield.
• stVaults (Lido V3) Modular staking product on Lido V3 that enables tailored staking setups with validators of choice, configurable access to liquidity, and bespoke validator configurations via the stVaults platform. Designed for institutional clients and advanced users needing customized validator and liquidity arrangements.
• Lido Institutional Staking Institutional-grade staking offering providing stETH liquidity and utility for enterprises, delivered through integrations with Fireblocks, Copper.co (Clearloop), BitGo, Taurus, and Wintermute, plus bespoke validator configurations via stVaults. Designed for asset managers, custodians, treasuries, and ETF issuers.
• Community Staking Module (CSM) Permissionless module allowing independent and community stakers to join Lido's validator set with flexible validator configurations, subject to a configurable stakeShareLimit. Designed for solo and independent node operators who want access to Lido's staking reward distribution.

Quantifiable outcome

• $1,956,752,332 in staking rewards paid since 2020
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration17 records

Feature8 records

Scale indicators15 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Rocket Pool: Decentralized Ethereum liquid staking protocol issuing rETH, the most direct competitor to Lido's stETH. Both target retail and institutional stakers with permissionless validator onboarding and competing on decentralization, fee structure, and integration breadth.
• Frax Finance: Decentralized stablecoin and liquid staking protocol issuing frxETH, a competing liquid staking token. Frax overlaps with Lido in ETH liquid staking, DeFi integrations, and yield products, positioning them as direct substitutes for stETH/rETH.

Broad incumbents

• Coinbase (cbETH): Largest US-regulated crypto exchange offering cbETH liquid staking token. Coinbase is a broad incumbent competing with Lido via centralized staking services; cbETH competes head-to-head with stETH in institutional channels, and Coinbase also faces similar SEC regulatory scrutiny over staking programs.
• Binance (WBETH): World's largest crypto exchange offering wrapped BETH (WBETH) liquid staking. Competes with Lido in retail and institutional ETH staking globally, leveraging Binance's exchange-native distribution to capture stakers who prefer centralized over decentralized rails.
• Kraken (ETH staking): Major US-regulated exchange offering centralized ETH staking services. While Kraken does not issue a liquid staking token comparable to stETH, it competes for the same institutional and retail ETH staking demand and has been the subject of SEC staking-program enforcement cited in Lido's class-action.

Emerging players

• EigenLayer: Ethereum restaking protocol enabling staked ETH (including stETH) to secure additional services. EigenLayer is complementary to Lido (Lido deposits can be restaked via EigenLayer) but represents an emerging yield layer that may attract capital and attention away from core liquid staking.
• Kelp DAO: Liquid restaking protocol issuing rsETH. Competes with Lido in the liquid staking/restaking category and was the subject of a major April 2026 exploit that triggered the DeFi United recovery effort (in which Lido participated), highlighting both Kelp's growing relevance and its security risk profile.
• Ankr: Decentralized infrastructure provider offering liquid staking (ankrETH) and node services. Competes with Lido in liquid staking and RPC/node infrastructure; smaller scale and more focused on multi-chain staking than Lido's Ethereum-centric offering.
• Stader Labs: Multi-chain liquid staking protocol with ETH (ETHx) and other PoS assets. Competes with Lido in liquid staking but with a multi-chain focus, serving stakers on Ethereum and other networks who want a non-Lido alternative.
• Marinade Finance: Decentralized liquid staking protocol for Solana issuing mSOL. While focused on Solana rather than Ethereum, Marinade is structurally analogous to Lido — DAO-governed liquid staking with native yield token — and represents Lido's model as applied to other PoS ecosystems.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/lidofinance
• GitHubgithub.com/lidofinance
• YouTubeyoutube.com/playlist?list=PLhvXP1-8VKZSumn31p5sR2B_DXvz6vJqC
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lidofi

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors12 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments1 record

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Lido