Lido has emerged as the leading layer-1 Ethereum liquid staking protocol, dominating the DeFi ecosystem in terms of protocol category. Lido’s ownership of over 28.5% makes it the largest in the industry. As the top decentralized finance protocol on Ethereum, Lido has reached a significant milestone of 1 million validators.
Lido’s liquid staking platform, which surpassed the 1 million validators mark on April 29, has revolutionized the staking landscape. The protocol enables small-scale investors with limited capital to participate, eliminating the requirement of holding 32 Ether.
One of the key advantages of liquid staking protocols like Lido is the liquidity it offers to its users. By depositing their Ether with Lido, users become owners of Lido-staked Ether (ETH), which can be utilized in various other DeFi protocols.
However, it’s important to note that the ETH tokens locked up for staking are not immediately accessible. They can only be withdrawn once the staking duration ends. Nevertheless, the cumulative effect of staked ETH has significantly contributed to the growth of the cryptocurrency universe. Currently, almost $100 billion is locked into DeFi protocols, with about $90 billion worth of Total Value Locked (TVL) in decentralized finance platforms. The TVL figure of $92.32 billion is verified and supported by DefiLlama.
The surge in DeFi TVL, which saw a quarter-on-quarter increase of 65.6%, can be largely attributed to the popularity of liquid staking protocols like Lido. Messari, an on-chain intelligence provider, noted that the rise in asset prices for liquid staking, particularly Ethereum’s TVL increase of approximately 71%, played a significant role in this upward trend.
According to DefiLlama, as of June 2023, the liquid staking protocols with the highest TruTVL amounts have accumulated over $47.7 billion in TVL. Lido’s pool alone holds more than $29.9 billion, making it the largest individual pool. In second place is Rocket Pool, boasting a TVL of about $3.8 billion.
Lido Finance accounts for 28.5% of the total staked amount, making it the dominant player in the field. Following Lido Finance, Coinbase holds the second-largest pool, staking 13.6% of the total ETH on the network. Currently, approximately 27% of Ether investors have staking accounts.
