LDO

Lido DAO

DeFi

Ethereum's largest liquid staking protocol, whose governance token has lost more than half its value in a year.

Leader, weak token v1.1 · as of 2026-10-21 · framework v1.13 Coinsight · all analyses
Bottom line

Lido still holds about 9.1M staked ETH and earns around $40M a year, but its share of staked ETH slipped from ~24% to ~21% in H1 2026 as ETFs and treasury companies staked elsewhere. LDO is a governance token with no fee share, and it fell −54% in a year, well behind BTC and ETH. The DAO now buys LDO back (a one-off of up to ~$20M and the automated NEST program), which is the first direct link between protocol revenue and the token. Whether that is enough depends on revenue recovering above the $40M threshold while the foundations spend about $60M a year.

Scorecard (1–5)
Project
Token performance
Tokenomics
Price
$0.4127
−0.4% 24h · −4% 30d · CoinGecko 21 Oct
Market cap
$342.4M
rank #136 · FDV $412.7M
24h volume
$46.5M
13.6% of market cap
From ATH
−94%
ATH $7.30, Aug 2021
2026 YTD
−28%
$0.5758 → $0.4127
Staked in Lido
~9.13M ETH
~21% of staked ETH, mid-2026

The last 12 months

$0.25$0.5$0.75$1$1.25Oct 25NovDecJan 26FebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 272025-10-27: $0.9707$0.97 peak2026-01-11: $0.8098$0.812026-07-01: $0.2399$0.24 low2026-10-21: $0.4126$0.411VanEck files stETH ETF2stVaults Phase 1 live3Revenue outlook cut4$20M LDO buyback approved5Year low at $0.246Curated Module v2 launched7NEST auto-buybacks live8US stETH ETF decision9ValMart marketplace
AdoptionProductGovernanceTokenomicsMarketTechUpcoming

Daily closes from CoinGecko, 22 Oct 2025 to 21 Oct 2026. A few single-day spikes in the data (for example in February) look like thin-liquidity prints rather than real moves.

Key events
  1. 1
    20 Oct 25 VanEck files stETH ETF. First US ETF proposal that would hold stETH; still under SEC review mid-2026.
  2. 2
    Dec 25 stVaults Phase 1 live. Lido V3 vaults let institutions pick operators and mint stETH; only ~5,768 ETH by mid-2026.
  3. 3
    Feb 26 Revenue outlook cut. With ETH near $2,000, Lido lowers projected 2026 revenue from $53.9M to $40.6M.
  4. 4
    13 Apr 26 $20M LDO buyback approved. Up to 10,000 stETH to buy LDO in 1,000 stETH tranches, each needing approval.
  5. 5
    01 Jul 26 Year low at $0.24. LDO bottoms at $0.24, −75% from the Oct 2025 high, then rebounds.
  6. 6
    27 Jul 26 Curated Module v2 launched. Starts migrating 8M+ ETH to 0x02 validators over several months.
  7. 7
    14 Aug 26 NEST auto-buybacks live. Half of staking revenue above $40M a year goes to buying LDO via CoW Swap.
  8. 8
    Soon US stETH ETF decision. VanEck's Lido Staked ETH ETF awaits SEC approval; no firm date.
  9. 9
    Q1 27 ValMart marketplace. Planned validator marketplace where operators compete on fees and performance.

How staking ETH through Lido works

Staker
Deposits 10 ETH

Through stake.lido.fi, a wallet or an app built on Lido.

Lido contract
Mints ~10 stETH

stETH is liquid and can be traded or used as DeFi collateral.

Staking router
Assigns the ETH

Sends deposits to a module: Curated, Community Staking or an stVault.

Node operator
Runs the validator

Earns Ethereum consensus and execution rewards.

Lido protocol
Splits rewards

90% to stakers via stETH balance growth, 10% fee to operators and the DAO treasury.

DAO treasury
Funds work and buybacks

Pays grants; revenue above $40M a year partly buys LDO.

Where LDO comes in: nowhere in the staking itself. Users pay and earn in ETH and stETH; LDO is only used to vote on DAO decisions, and since 2026 the treasury uses part of its stETH revenue to buy LDO back. stETH holders can delay DAO actions through Dual Governance.

Usage and adoption

USD millions per year
Protocol revenue (2025)
$40.5M
One-off LDO buyback (max)
~$20M
NEST buyback cap
$10M
Foundations' 2026 budget
$60M
New LDO emissions
$0

LDO has no emissions, so the relevant comparison is money in vs money out. 2025 revenue was $40.5M (Lido annual report); Lido projected ~$40.6M for 2026 at ~$2,000 ETH and booked $15.9M net DAO revenue in H1. The 2026 grant request for Lido Labs and related foundations is $60M, above revenue, so the gap is paid from the treasury. NEST only buys when revenue exceeds $40M a year; the $10M annual cap rests on a single news report. The one-off buyback is released in 1,000 stETH tranches, each needing approval.

  • strong signal
    Protocol revenue
    $40.5M (2025)

    −23% vs $52.4M in 2024. H1 2026 net DAO revenue $15.9M. Real fees from stakers, but falling with ETH.

  • strong signal
    Staked ETH
    ~9.13M ETH

    Mid-2026, +386k ETH YTD. Still the largest staking provider.

  • medium signal
    Share of staked ETH
    ~21.2%

    Down from 23.9% at the start of 2026 as ETFs and treasury companies use exchange or institutional staking.

  • weak signal
    stVaults
    ~5,768 ETH

    H1 2026. The new institutional product is far below its target.

  • medium signal
    stETH ETPs
    ~20,952 ETH

    WisdomTree's European ETP; the VanEck US ETF had not launched as of the H1 report.

Lido is a real business with real fees, but revenue shrank with ETH and its share is slipping. For LDO the scoreboard is now revenue against the $40M NEST threshold and how much LDO the buybacks actually absorb, compared with what the foundations spend.

Project

What it is
The largest liquid staking protocol on Ethereum: users deposit ETH, Lido stakes it through a set of node operators and gives back stETH, a token that earns staking rewards and can be used across DeFi. Lido keeps 10% of staking rewards as a fee, split between operators and the DAO.
Team
Launched in Dec 2020. Lido DAO (LDO holders) governs; Lido Labs Foundation, led by executive director Vasiliy Shapovalov, maintains the code. Since July 2025 Dual Governance lets stETH holders delay or block DAO decisions.
Technology
Staking modules: the Curated Module (professional operators, v2 launched 27 Jul 2026), Community Staking, and Lido V3 stVaults, which let institutions pick their own operators and still mint stETH.
Traction
~9.13M ETH staked (mid-2026, +386k ETH YTD) and 2025 revenue of $40.5M (−23% vs 2024). stETH is used in a European ETP (WisdomTree, ~21k ETH); VanEck's US stETH ETF filing is still under SEC review.
Competitors
Exchange staking (Coinbase, Binance), US staking ETFs and treasury companies that stake directly, restaking protocols, and Rocket Pool.
Key risks
Falling market share (23.9% → 21.2% in H1 2026); revenue tied to ETH price; 2026 targets declared unreachable in May; LDO gives no claim on fees, and stETH holders, not LDO, hold the veto.
Roadmap
Curated Module v2 migration of 8M+ ETH to 0x02 validators over coming months; ValMart, a validator marketplace where operators compete on fee and performance, planned for ~Q1 2027; MetaVaults (EarnETH / EarnUSD) and US ETF approval pending.

Token performance

1-year return (22 Oct 2025 → 21 Oct 2026, CoinGecko)
LDO
-54%
BTC
-22%
ETH
-35%

LDO lagged both benchmarks over 12 months. Over 3 years it is down about −73% (from roughly $1.55 in Oct 2023, researched by hand and approximate), against BTC ~+179% (from ~$29.7k) and ETH ~+53% (from ~$1.6k); 3-year figures are manual because the free CoinGecko API covers 365 days.

Range 2026
$0.24 low (1 Jul) to $0.81 high (11 Jan), daily closes; now $0.41
12-month drawdown
−75%, from $0.97 (27 Oct 2025) to $0.24 (1 Jul 2026)
Liquidity
$46.5M traded in 24h, 13.6% of market cap; rank #136
Relative strength
−54% in a year vs BTC −22% and ETH −35%; YTD −28%. Since the July low it is up ~72%, helped by the buyback programs
ATH check ATH check passed. The $7.30 high came on 20 Aug 2021, about seven months after LDO started trading, so it is not a launch spike. Price is −94% from it.

Tokenomics

Supply
Fixed 1B LDO, no inflation. ~829.6M circulating; the rest sits mostly in DAO-controlled wallets.
Emissions
None. No new LDO is minted; supply only reaches the market through treasury spending or grants.
Unlocks
Investor and team vesting ended in 2022. Remaining risk is DAO treasury LDO being used to pay contributors.
Utility
Governance votes only (on-chain and Snapshot). No staking yield and no fee share; LDO does not secure the protocol.
Concentration
Early investors, founders and the DAO treasury held most of the initial supply; governance votes are often decided by a few large holders.
Sinks
Buybacks: a one-off of up to 10,000 stETH (~$20M) approved 13 Apr 2026, plus NEST since 14 Aug 2026 (half of staking revenue above $40M a year). Bought LDO goes to the treasury; it is not burned.

Bull case

ETH recovers, lifting Lido revenue above the $40M NEST threshold so buybacks run steadily alongside the ~$20M one-off program; a US stETH ETF and ValMart win back share from ~21%. LDO holds above $0.35 and retests the $0.81 January high.

Bear case

Share keeps sliding as ETFs and treasury companies stake elsewhere, revenue stays under $40M so NEST buys little, and a ~$60M budget drains the treasury. LDO loses $0.35 and retests the $0.24 July low.

Watch before the next re-run

  • Lido share of staked ETH (21.2% mid-2026) and stVaults TVL
  • Annualised revenue vs the $40M NEST threshold
  • LDO actually bought by NEST and the one-off program
  • SEC decision on the VanEck stETH ETF; $0.35 support

Where to trade

Krakenlisted

LDO against EUR · USD

24h $307.7k · ±2% depth $216.1k

OKXlisted

LDO against EUR · USDT · USDC

24h $799.7k · ±2% depth $112.3k

Largest exchanges

Exchange24h vol±2% depth
BinanceLDO/USDT$2.72M$204.0k
BybitLDO/USDT$736.3k$62.3k
OKXLDO/USDT$720.3k$129.1k
CoinbaseLDO/USD$351.5k$84.8k
KuCoinLDO/USDT$233.5k$62.9k

Deepest DEX pools

Pool24h vol±2% depth
Uniswap V3CLLDO/WETH · Ethereum$131.7k$27.6k
Uniswap V4CLLDO/ETH · Ethereum$10.5k$5.24k
Uniswap V3CLLDO/WETH · Polygon$11.8k$3.69k

Pool size (TVL), fee tier and fee APR are not in yet: they need DefiLlama, which this setup cannot reach so far. CL = concentrated liquidity (higher fees, more impermanent-loss risk).

On-chain share of all LDO volume: 0.5%.

As of 21 Oct 2026 · CoinGecko tickers (24h volume, ±2% depth). ±2% depth is the money it takes to move the price 2% either way: the real size of a market. Exchanges ranked by volume among well-known venues; pools by depth. Not investment advice.

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