Lido Finance solves a fundamental problem in Ethereum staking: your ETH gets locked up. Instead of running a validator yourself or locking 32 ETH, you deposit any amount into Lido and receive stETH — a token representing your staked ETH plus accruing rewards. stETH is liquid. You can trade it, use it in DeFi, or hold it while earning roughly 3-4% APY.
The protocol delegates your ETH to a curated set of professional node operators. No technical setup. No slashing risk on your end. Lido takes a 10% fee on rewards, split between operators and the DAO treasury.
Key metric: over $28 billion TVL, making it the largest liquid staking protocol and one of the biggest DeFi applications period. The LDO token governs the DAO — fee parameters, operator onboarding, treasury spend.
One risk to know: stETH can depeg from ETH. During market stress — like the Terra collapse or FTX aftermath — stETH traded at a discount because liquidity dried up and redemptions weren't instant. The protocol has a withdrawal queue, but exit times vary. If you need ETH immediately, you're at the mercy of secondary markets.
How much of a discount would make you nervous holding stETH versus native ETH?
#Polygon #MATIC #DeFi #DeFiProtocol
The protocol delegates your ETH to a curated set of professional node operators. No technical setup. No slashing risk on your end. Lido takes a 10% fee on rewards, split between operators and the DAO treasury.
Key metric: over $28 billion TVL, making it the largest liquid staking protocol and one of the biggest DeFi applications period. The LDO token governs the DAO — fee parameters, operator onboarding, treasury spend.
One risk to know: stETH can depeg from ETH. During market stress — like the Terra collapse or FTX aftermath — stETH traded at a discount because liquidity dried up and redemptions weren't instant. The protocol has a withdrawal queue, but exit times vary. If you need ETH immediately, you're at the mercy of secondary markets.
How much of a discount would make you nervous holding stETH versus native ETH?
#Polygon #MATIC #DeFi #DeFiProtocol