Key Takeaways

Following the trend, Lido remains the most dominant liquid staking protocol on Ethereum despite minor pullbacks in ETH share and stETH APY—both signs of broader network decentralization and lower execution rewards. The protocol leads across nearly all metrics and continues to expand its presence across L2s and protocol integrations. This omnipresence is not merely a function of technical compatibility but reflects a market consensus on trust, reliability and security, conferring a monetary premium that approaches that of ETH itself.

On a valuation basis, LDO stands out as more attractive than peers for liquid buyers, and upcoming roadmap items like Lido v3 and dual governance reinforce its focus on decentralization, risk modularization, and ecosystem alignment. The upgrades are designed to strengthen resilience and adaptability across distinct market regimes, with governance taking center stage as a signal of maturity and institutional adoption—both prerequisites for sustained adoption and long-term value accrual.

• Slight QoQ declines of -3% in ETH staked and -5% in market share reflect healthy network decentralization, alongside a -6% drop in stETH APY driven by lower execution layer rewards amid reduced Ethereum L1 activity.
• Valuation multiples have become more attractive both on an absolute basis and in comparison to peers (sector median). TVL/FDV rose 56% QoQ and now stands 535% above the sector median, signaling more value per unit of valuation (i.e., LDO trades at a discount to competitors). Meanwhile, FDV/Fees and MC/Fees increased 14% QoQ, but remained 33% lower YoY and 47% below the sector median.
• Lido continues to lead its category, ranking first in 5 of 7 key metrics (such as peg deviation, DEX volume and ETH Staked) and 2 of 3 comparison features (days since LST launch and minimum ETH bond).
• Significant updates included stETH expansion to new chains and users—notably Unichain on March 2—and major integrations like Maple (June 12, collateral acceptance) and Copper ClearLoop (staking access).
• Roadmap: Lido v3, dual governance, SSVLM and curated module intra-operator DVT proposal paint a clear picture of Lido DAO’s focus going forward.

Refresher: What is Lido?

Lido is a permissionless protocol for non-custodial ETH liquid staking. Users can stake ETH with Lido’s curated set of professional node operators and receive the stETH liquid staking token to accrue rewards in real time. As a fungible asset, stETH can be used across DeFi as an interchangeable yield-bearing version of ETH for providing liquidity on DEXs, posting as collateral for borrowing, and more.

• The Lido liquid staking protocol refers to the set of smart contracts that issues stETH, coordinates execution and consensus layer rewards, and charges fees on accrued yield.
• The Lido DAO is the decentralized collective that manages the protocol through the LDO governance token.

For onchain users, stETH comes in two forms: a)rebasing stETH, where balances increase daily to reflect staking rewards, and b) wstETH, a non-rebasing wrapped version whose value rises via exchange rate. The latter is the preferred choice for DeFi integrations.

Lido has evolved through three main versions: v1 introduced the Curated set of professional node operators; v2 added a modular architecture with new modules like Community Staking and SimpleDVT via the Staking Router; and v3 (currently in rollout) pushes further toward permissionless validator participation and decentralization. The protocol takes a 10% cut of staking rewards, evenly split between node operators and the DAO treasury.