Lido

Lido lets users stake ETH and receive stETH, a rebasing liquid staking token that accrues daily staking rewards while staying usable across DeFi.

Deepest liquidity and broadest DeFi integration of any LST; staking is delegated across a DAO-curated set of professional node operators.

- stETH (Lido Staked Ether): A rebasing ERC-20 liquid staking token minted 1:1 when ETH is deposited. Balances rebase daily to reflect accrued staking rewards net of the protocol fee, so 1 stETH tracks 1 staked ETH plus rewards. - wstETH (Wrapped stETH): A non-rebasing wrapper of stETH whose balance stays constant while its exchange rate to stETH grows. Preferred for DeFi integrations (lending, LPs, L2s) that do not handle rebasing tokens well. - Staking Router: Introduced in Lido V2, a modular contract that routes stake to distinct node-operator modules (Curated, Simple DVT, and Community Staking), letting the DAO add operator sets with different trust and decentralization profiles. - Withdrawal Queue: The Lido V2 mechanism allowing stETH holders to redeem stETH for ETH at a 1:1 ratio via a queue that mints a withdrawal NFT, fulfilled from staking rewards, buffered deposits, and validator exits. - Simple DVT Module: Lido's second mainnet operator module, using distributed validator technology (Obol and SSV) to let clusters of solo and community stakers collectively run validators, broadening operator decentralization. - Dual Governance: A protection layer (live June 2025) that lets stETH/wstETH holders escrow tokens to delay (>1% TVL) or, at a 10% threshold, trigger a 'rage quit' that halts execution of DAO proposals they object to.

- LDO (LDO) — Token, Governance token - stETH (stETH) — Receipt, Rebasing - wstETH (wstETH) — Receipt, Non-rebasing wrapper of stETH

- Reserve / Depeg: stETH is not hard-pegged and can trade below ETH on secondary markets during stress. In June 2022, cascading selling by Celsius and Three Arrows Capital plus the Terra collapse pushed stETH to a multi-percent discount to ETH in the Curve pool before native withdrawals existed. - Governance: Lido's very large share of Ethereum staking concentrates influence in LDO governance and its operator set, raising concerns about single-protocol control of validation. The Dual Governance system (live June 2025) was introduced specifically so stETH holders can veto or rage-quit DAO decisions they view as harmful. - Network: Because Lido delegates to a set of professional node operators and DVT clusters, validator slashing or extended downtime is passed through to stETH holders. Lido reports negligible historical slashing, but a large correlated slashing or client-bug event across operators would directly reduce stETH's backing. - Oracle: stETH rebases and the withdrawal accounting depend on the Lido oracle reporting beacon-chain balances. A compromised, buggy, or manipulated oracle report could misstate rewards or the stETH:ETH exchange rate, which is why the oracle has been repeatedly re-audited (e.g., Oracle v7.1 in 2026). - Smart Contract: The protocol comprises complex, upgradeable contracts (Staking Router, withdrawal queue, Dual Governance, stVaults). Despite 90+ audits, high-severity findings have surfaced in reviews (e.g., critical/high issues flagged and fixed during Lido V3 audits in late 2025), so residual smart-contract risk remains.

- Money market fund / liquid deposit receipt: similar — Like a money-market fund share, stETH is a liquid, transferable claim that accrues yield continuously while the underlying capital is put to productive use (staking rewards vs. short-term instruments).; differs — There is no fund manager, custodian bank, or redemption gate operator; yield comes from Ethereum protocol issuance rather than interest-bearing securities, and both the token and its yield are fully on-chain and non-custodial.