What is Lido DAO (LDO)?

Lido DAO sits underneath Ethereum’s largest liquid staking setup. Instead of locking ETH and waiting, users stake through Lido and receive stETH, which keeps earning rewards while staying usable in DeFi. That small tweak—liquidity—ended up being a big deal. Lido didn’t change staking itself, it changed how staking fits into the rest of crypto.

How does stETH actually behave day to day?

You stake ETH, you get stETH, and over time the balance increases as rewards roll in. You can lend it, loop it, or just sit on it. The trade-off is liquidity mechanics. stETH isn’t instantly redeemable for ETH, so in rough markets it can drift below peg. That’s not a flaw, just how secondary markets react under stress.

Where does the LDO token come into play?

LDO is governance, not yield. It doesn’t earn staking rewards and it doesn’t represent ETH. Holding LDO means voting on fees, treasury usage, validator policies, and the long-term roadmap. It’s influence, not income. That distinction matters, and it’s easy to blur if you’re skimming.

How is the LDO supply structured?

Total supply is fixed at 1 billion tokens. The split is treasury (36.32%), investors (22.18%), founders (15%), initial developers (10%), venture rounds (10%), and validators (6.5%). There are no emissions and no inflation later. The treasury allocation is the lever that really matters—it’s how Lido funds growth, defense, or experimentation.

Are there still vesting or unlock risks?

No. All major allocations are fully unlocked. Investor, founder, validator, venture, and treasury tokens finished vesting by March 2024. There are no future cliffs and no scheduled unlock events left. From here on, supply changes only happen if governance actively moves tokens.

How did Lido raise capital?

Lido raised roughly $145 million across four rounds between 2020 and 2022. There was a small strategic round in late 2020, two separate raises in May 2021, and a Venture Round 2 in March 2022. Backers include a16z and Paradigm as lead investors, alongside Jump Trading, Delphi Digital, Coinbase Ventures, Dragonfly, and DCG.

Where does LDO trade, realistically?

LDO trades widely against usdt and usd pairs on centralized and decentralized venues. The important detail is market structure: derivatives dominate. Perpetual futures see far more activity than spot markets. That keeps liquidity deep, but it also means leverage and funding rates often drive short-term price action.

What is Lido focused on building now?

The emphasis has shifted toward resilience and governance design. Dual Governance is already live, giving stETH holders a way to delay or block harmful DAO decisions. The broader direction is about making the protocol harder to capture or misuse as it continues to sit at the center of Ethereum staking.

What risks tend to get underestimated?

Smart contract risk never fully goes away. Validator slashing is rare but real. Governance can still make bad calls. And in stressed markets, stETH can depeg from ETH—especially painful for leveraged strategies. Lido manages these risks better than most, but it doesn’t eliminate them.