Lido
Ethereum liquid staking protocol: stake ETH, receive stETH, and keep it usable in DeFi.
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Lido key facts
| Category | Liquid staking |
|---|---|
| Chains | Ethereum |
| Platforms | Web |
| Custody | Non-custodial |
| Fees | 10% of staking rewards |
| Security audits | 99 reports for Lido on Ethereum |
| US availability | Staking not restricted by terms; Lido Earn vaults not for US residents or citizens |
LDO token
- Price
- $0.3237 +0.8% 24h
- Market cap
- $268.8M
- Fully diluted value
- $324M
- 30-day change
- -24.5%
Market data: CoinGecko, updated Nov 10, 2026. Educational content, not financial advice.
What is Lido?
Lido is a liquid staking protocol on Ethereum: users stake ETH and receive stETH, which accrues staking rewards within 24 hours of deposit. Lido takes a 10% fee on staking rewards, split between node operators and the DAO treasury. Its audits page lists 99 reports for Lido on Ethereum.
How Lido works
You send ETH to the Lido staking pool and receive stETH, a rebasing token.
The Lido DAO, governed with the LDO token, picks the node operators who run validators and sets protocol parameters. Rewards reach you within 24 hours of deposit, without waiting for validator activation. Your rate equals the protocol APR, a 7-day moving average of consensus and execution-layer rewards across Lido validators, minus the protocol fee.
To exit through the protocol, you approve stETH or wstETH to the WithdrawalQueueERC721 contract and submit a request. The contract places it in the withdrawal queue and mints an unstETH NFT that represents your place in line. Requests are finalized as part of the AccountingOracle report, and you then claim the ETH, which burns the NFT. Large amounts should be split into several requests.
How to start with Lido
- Lido has no 32 ETH minimum; the docs say you can earn rewards on as small a deposit as you want, and stETH stays transferable for use as collateral or in other DeFi apps.
- Lido's terms bar sanctioned jurisdictions such as Cuba, Iran, North Korea and Syria.
- They also bar US and UK citizens and residents from the Lido Earn vaults, including stRATEGY, GGV, DVV, EarnETH and EarnUSD, but not from standard staking.
Lido fees and limits
- Lido takes 10% of staking rewards, split between node operators and the DAO treasury, and the DAO can change that rate by vote.
The fee applies to rewards, not to your deposit. Beyond that, you pay Ethereum gas to stake, to request a withdrawal and to claim. Requesting and claiming are separate transactions: the unstETH NFT is minted when you request and burned when you claim.
Risks to know before using Lido
- Lido's security disclosures log dated incidents, including a Chorus One oracle key compromise that required an emergency rotation in May 2025, a bETH Anchor integration incident published in January 2023, and a critical UI code injection bug reported in March 2022.
- Some later disclosures came through the Immunefi bug bounty.
- The Public Risk Disclosure, updated February 20, 2026, states that rewards are not guaranteed and can be zero, and that slashing or validator downtime can reduce the rewards that reach stETH holders.
- Lido also depends on Ethereum itself and on off-chain components run by independent operators.
Lido usage
From DefiLlama (TVL) (fees users paid), updated Nov 10, 2026.
Lido alternatives
Other projects people compare with Lido.
Decentralized Ethereum liquid staking protocol: deposit ETH for rETH, or run a node with an ETH bond.
Non-custodial crypto neobank that began as ETH staking (eETH, weETH) and adds a Cash card, borrowing and vaults.
Solana liquid staking token JitoSOL that pays staking plus MEV rewards, run by the Jito Foundation.
Where Lido ranks on DappAtlas
Listed next to Lido
Lido pros and cons
- Rewards start accruing within 24 hours of deposit
- 99 audit reports listed for Lido on Ethereum
- stETH is widely accepted as collateral in DeFi
- 10% fee on staking rewards
- Lido Earn vaults are not open to US residents or citizens
- Fee can be changed by a DAO vote
Lido FAQ
What is Lido?
Lido is a liquid staking protocol on Ethereum: users stake ETH and receive stETH, which accrues staking rewards within 24 hours of deposit. Lido takes a 10% fee on staking rewards, split between node operators and the DAO treasury. Its audits page lists 99 reports for Lido on Ethereum.
How much value is locked in Lido?
$20.6B according to DefiLlama on Nov 10, 2026. It is deployed on 5 chains: Ethereum, Solana, Terra, Moonriver, Moonbeam.
How much does Lido cost?
10% of staking rewards, according to Lido’s own page (checked Sep 26, 2026).
How much do users pay Lido in fees?
$56.2M over the last 30 days, according to DefiLlama on Nov 10, 2026.
Does Lido have a token?
Yes, LDO. Its market cap was $268.8M on CoinGecko on Nov 10, 2026. Educational content, not financial advice.
Is Lido available in the US?
Staking not restricted by terms; Lido Earn vaults not for US residents or citizens, according to Lido’s own page (checked Sep 26, 2026).
Does Lido hold my funds?
No. Lido is non-custodial: you keep your funds in your own wallet and sign each transaction.
Sources
How this page works
Sources: Lido: official site, Lido: Docs, Lido: Protocol Audits. Data as of Sep 26, 2026.
Not affiliated with any project listed. Educational content, not financial advice.