Lido is a liquid staking platform built for the Beacon chain, powered by top-tier staking providers. With Lido, users can stake their ETH without locking their funds or running infrastructure, while still taking part in on-chain uses such as lending. Lido aims to address the drawbacks of early Beacon chain staking-namely illiquidity, immovability, and limited accessibility-so that staked ETH stays liquid and can be used even with smaller ETH amounts to help strengthen Ethereum’s security.

When users stake through Lido, they receive stETH tokens that are issued on a 1:1 basis against their initial stake. stETH can be treated like regular ETH for earning and lending rewards, and balances are refreshed daily to mirror ETH staking rewards. There are no lock-ups or minimum deposit requirements for staking with Lido.

What is liquid staking?

Liquid staking protocols enable users to earn staking rewards without tying up assets or maintaining staking infrastructure. Participants deposit tokens and receive liquid, tradable tokens in return. A DAO-run smart contract carries out the staking with tokens by using selected staking providers. Since the DAO controls users’ funds, staking providers do not receive direct access to user assets.

LDO is an Ethereum token that provides governance rights in the Lido DAO. The Lido DAO oversees a collection of liquid staking protocols, sets important parameters (such as fees), and carries out protocol upgrades to support efficiency and stability. Holding the LDO token grants voting power within the Lido DAO. In general, the more LDO a user locks in their voting contract, the more influence they have over decisions.