Lido (LDO) is a liquid staking protocol for proof-of-stake (PoS) cryptocurrencies that mainly supports staking on the consensus layer of post-merge Ethereum.
It rose to prominence the day before Ethereum transitioned to a PoS blockchain when staking became an option within its ecosystem.
Today, we are going to take a look at Lido’s liquid staking platform to understand what it is and how it works.
This guide will also look at the platform’s native LDO token, explore what purpose it serves, and analyze its future price prospects to determine whether it is a good cryptocurrency to invest in.
What is Lido (LDO)?
Lido is a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) and liquid staking protocol that supports staking on multiple Layer-1 blockchains, including Ethereum, Polygon, Kusama, and Polkadot.
The protocol is managed by its community through a DAO that makes key decisions on its protocol, ensuring that it remains aligned with its stakeholders’ best interests and protects its decentralization and transparency.
Lido solved one of the most pressing challenges on Ethereum, where a minimum of 32 ETH was required to initiate the staking process.
The network also gives users access to the locked value of their staked ETH through its liquid staking mechanism.
Liquid staking lets Lido users keep the liquidity of their staked tokens by using a stand-in staked token (stToken), which can be used outside of the protocol on DeFi platforms to earn additional yield.
How Does Lido Work?
When staking ETH on Lido, holders receive a stETH token, which acts as the placeholder for the delegated Ether. stETH can be used like regular ETH on multiple decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms.
Lido’s stTokens are supported on MetaMask, AAVE, and Uniswap among others. Users can also increase their yield upon the staked tokens by freeing the locked value of the tokens currently held within the staking pool.
Once staked, users will receive stTokens in exchange for their locked assets. stTokens can be used for yield farming, decentralized lending, providing liquidity, and trading on decentralized exchanges (DEX).
Lido acts as a staking pool smart contract that manages users’ withdrawals and deposits, delegates the network’s pooled funds to node operators, determines the reward fees for staking, minting, and burning tokens, and possesses a full list of node operators, validation keys, and records of reward distribution within supported blockchains.
What is the LDO Token?
LDO is the governance token of Lido’s decentralized autonomous organization (DAO).
It is an ERC-20 standard token that also gives holders governance rights and the ability to vote on improvement proposals, upgraded, and network parameters.
The more LDO locked in a user’s voting contract, the greater their decision-making power for their votes.
LDO Price Prediction: 2024, 2025, 2030
At the time of writing, LDO is trading at $3.39 – up 3.4% in the last 24 hours.
Based on Lido’s current market value, it is predicted that LDO could trade between a minimum price of $4.94 and a maximum of $5.81 this year. The average trading price for Lido in 2024 is $5.13.
In 2025, LDO is expected to trade between $7.27 on the lower end and $8.60 on the upper end. The average trading price of Lido during that year will be $7.52.
Lido’s price is forecast to reach a possible low of $48.32 and a maximum high of $56.85 in 2030. The average trading price for LDO during that year will be $49.67.
Where to Buy Lido (LDO)?
Here are the cryptocurrency exchanges where you can trade Lido (LDO):
Is Lido (LDO) a Good Crypto Investment?
Lido DAO is a liquid staking protocol that allows users to delegate tokens on Ethereum, Polygon, Kusama, and Polkadot.
Users can delegate the native tokens of the above-mentioned blockchains to receive stTokens from Lido that can be used to earn a yield on several decentralized finance platforms. Moreover, the stand-in staking tokens can also be traded on exchanges.
Lido is a unique cryptocurrency project that allows users to grow wealth from their crypto assets. Furthermore, the LDO token is projected to perform well going into the future, further signifying its importance to the blockchain sector, especially proof-of-stake protocols.
All things considered, I can say that Lido is a credible cryptocurrency project. However, as is the case with every cryptocurrency, LDO is also prone to severe market volatility. Therefore, you should do your research before investing in LDO or any other token for that matter.
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