Lido Finance
also invests Β· investor profile22 known investors
Lido is a liquid staking protocol for Ethereum that allows users to stake ETH and earn rewards while maintaining liquidity through the stETH token. It operates through a decentralized network of 900+ node operators worldwide and offers additional earn strategies through EarnETH and EarnUSD vaults.
Also known as Lido Β· Lido (LDO) Β· Lido DAO
Founders & leadership
Investors Β· 22
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Lido Finance operates a liquid staking protocol on Ethereum: users deposit ETH and receive stETH (and its wrapped form, wstETH), a token that represents the staked position and can be used as collateral or traded in DeFi applications while staking rewards accrue. The protocol imposes no minimum deposit and no lockup, in contrast to running an Ethereum validator directly, which requires a 32 ETH threshold. Staking is executed by a set of validators/node operators, with onboarding and validator allocation decisions passing through the Lido DAO.
Beyond core ETH staking, the protocol has expanded into institutional and structured-yield products. Lido V3 introduces "stVaults," a staking primitive aimed at asset managers, ETF and ETP issuers, DAOs and enterprise treasuries, accessible through custodians and infrastructure providers including Fireblocks, Copper, Cactus Custody, Kiln, Luganodes and Anchorage Digital. Lido Earn adds EarnETH and EarnUSD vaults with an onchain first-loss protection mechanism. wstETH is distributed across multiple networks under a cross-chain framework using Chainlink CCIP, though a June 2026 DAO Snapshot vote revoked canonical bridge status on nine networks. At earlier stages the protocol also supported staking on Kusama, Solana and Terra, with Polygon integration planned as of March 2022.
Governance and protocol economics run through the Lido DAO and the LDO token; NEST, a programmatic system, directs a portion of protocol revenue toward LDO buybacks. The DAO publishes periodic tokenholder updates covering financial results and roadmap.
Founding story
Sources identify Vasily Shapovalov and Konstantin Lomashuk as co-founders. Shapovalov's work has focused on technical development, including the protocol's staking algorithm, post-Merge withdrawal design, governance updates and validator selection algorithms. Sources do not state a founding date or location.
Business model
Lido is a DAO-governed DeFi protocol rather than a conventional software vendor: it intermediates ETH staking between depositors and professional node operators, issuing a liquid receipt token (stETH/wstETH). Protocol revenue is generated from staking activity, a portion of which is programmatically used to buy LDO via the NEST system.
Protocol revenue derives from Ethereum staking rewards flowing through the protocol; sources indicate a portion of that revenue funds automated LDO buybacks. Sources do not disclose the specific fee rate or revenue figures.
Traction
As of March 2022, assets staked on Lido exceeded $10 billion across roughly 76,000 wallets, with over 80% of the Ethereum liquid staking market. More recent disclosures include a $200 million ETH staking allocation from Sharplink, a treasury deployment by the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance, and multiple custodian integrations for Lido V3 stVaults. LDO traded at about $0.36 with a market capitalization near $325 million and fully diluted valuation near $362 million at the time of data capture.
Latest developments
Recent blog disclosures cover the NEST automated LDO buyback system, a Lido Core upgrade, Sharplink's $200 million ETH staking allocation, Anchorage Digital's expansion of U.S. institutional access to wstETH, Web3SOC certification from Cantina, stVaults integrations with Cactus Custody, Copper, Fireblocks, Kiln and Luganodes, the June 2026 revocation of canonical wstETH bridge endpoints on nine networks, Lido Earn's EarnETH and EarnUSD vaults with first-loss protection, and Q1 2026 financials presented at the May 2026 tokenholder Poolside call.
βΈFull profile β market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
Contemporary 2022 reporting described Lido as the market leader in Ethereum liquid staking with roughly 80% market share and more than $10 billion in staked assets across about 76,000 wallets. A crypto data profile describes Lido as the most popular decentralized liquid staking solution on the Ethereum Virtual Machine. Comparable or adjacent projects listed by one startup database include Ether.fi, Liquity, Liqwid and Ion Protocol.
The protocol allows ETH staking without minimum deposits or lockups and issues an Ethereum-native liquid token that can be used as DeFi collateral, which investors cited as resolving the trade-off between staking and pursuing yield. It is governed by a DAO, with validator onboarding and incentive decisions subject to token holder votes, and operates through a distributed set of node operators.
Technology
Smart-contract based liquid staking on Ethereum, issuing stETH and wrapped wstETH. Infrastructure includes staking modules, validator selection and withdrawal algorithms developed after the Merge, community staking, and Lido V3 stVaults as a configurable staking primitive. Cross-chain distribution of wstETH uses Chainlink CCIP as the officially selected interoperability infrastructure. Operational tooling covers validator consolidation and batch-scheduled validator exits, illustrated by a case study of exiting roughly 7,000 validators.
Go-to-market
Distribution occurs through direct protocol access plus integrations with DeFi applications and, increasingly, institutional intermediaries β custodians and staking infrastructure providers (Fireblocks, Copper, Cactus Custody, Anchorage Digital, Kiln, Luganodes) that expose stVaults to their existing client base. The team also publishes research, guides and institutional blueprints (for example on liquid staking for ETH ETFs) and runs recurring public tokenholder calls.
Retail ETH holders seeking staking rewards without minimum deposits or lockups, DeFi users looking to deploy staked ETH as collateral, and institutional participants including asset managers, ETF and ETP issuers, corporate and DAO treasuries, and custody clients.
Geography
Sources do not state a headquarters. Operations are distributed: the validator set spans multiple geographies, and wstETH has been deployed across multiple blockchain networks. Institutional access initiatives referenced include expansion of U.S. institutional access via Anchorage Digital.
History
Lido raised a $73 million round led by Paradigm in May 2021, followed by a $70 million round led by a16z announced in March 2022 and a further $25 million recorded in August 2022. During 2022 the protocol prepared for Ethereum's transition to proof-of-stake, with co-founder Shapovalov discussing withdrawal design and Merge risks at EthCC in Paris in July 2022. Subsequent development, documented on the company blog, includes Lido V3 and stVaults, Lido Earn vaults, multichain wstETH deployments and adjustments, Lido Core upgrades and Web3SOC certification.
Risks & controversies
Sources note external market stress affecting stETH: during the KelpDAO stress event, stETH pricing moved and market depth became more expensive, though the protocol characterizes the asset as remaining functional. In June 2026 the DAO revoked canonical wstETH bridge status on nine networks, reducing supported venues. Co-founder Shapovalov publicly characterized the Merge as carrying unguaranteed implications for blockchain security. Earlier backers named in reporting include Three Arrows Capital and Alameda Research.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources β announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed β not independently audited.
Competitors Β· 10
by search overlap
Companies competing with Lido Finance for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
Timeline Β· 16
launches, deals, and filingsFollowing a Lido DAO Snapshot vote, canonical status for wstETH bridge endpoints was revoked on zkSync Era, Mode, Scroll, Mantle, Swell, Zircuit, Soneium, Polygon PoS and Lisk.
Web3SOC certification followed a point-in-time assessment covering governance, financial resilience, security, and legal and compliance posture.
A Lido Core upgrade delivered improvements across staking modules aimed at protocol health, sustainability and decentralisation on Ethereum.
Anchorage Digital clients can access wstETH through the platform they use for custody, staking and settlement.
Cactus Custody clients can create and manage stVaults from their existing custody accounts through the Cactus Link DeFi connector.
Lido's Network Expansion Committee selected Chainlink CCIP as the official cross-chain infrastructure for wstETH.
The EEA deployed treasury assets through the Lido protocol for staking while preserving liquidity.
Fireblocks users can create and manage stVaults using the stVaults web UI via WalletConnect, subject to their existing custody setup.
Luganodes stVaults bring compliance-oriented ETH staking to Lido V3, targeted at asset managers, ETF and ETP issuers, DAOs and enterprise treasuries.
Sharplink, described as one of the largest corporate holders of ETH, selected Lido for a $200 million ETH staking allocation.
$200M source β
NEST is a programmatic system that uses a portion of Lido protocol revenue to buy LDO.
Two vaults, EarnETH and EarnUSD, were introduced to generate rewards for DeFi users; Lido Earn also added an onchain first-loss protection mechanism.
Andreessen Horowitz led a $70 million investment into Lido, its first round since May 2021. a16z stated it had used Lido to stake a portion of its crypto fund's ETH holdings on the Beacon Chain.
$70M source β
Paradigm led a $73 million financing round; other contributors included Alameda Research, Digital Currency Group and Three Arrows Capital.
$73M source β
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
In the news
βΈResearch sources Β· 8
primary sources listed
- Lido - Lido Financeblog.lido.fi Β· web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Lido Finance do?
- Lido is a DAO-governed liquid staking protocol for Ethereum whose stETH token keeps staked ETH usable across DeFi.
- Who founded Lido Finance?
- Lido Finance was founded by Vasily Shapovalov.
- Who are Lido Finance's investors?
- Lido Finance's investors include a16z crypto, Aegis Ventues, Andreessen Horowitz, BR Capital, DeepTech Ventures, DeFiance Capital, Digital Currency Group, Divergence and 14 more.