Ethereum‘s largest decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol, Lido Finance, has reached an important milestone by surpassing one million validators. Maintaining its leading position among liquid staking protocols, Lido has made staking on the Ethereum network more accessible, significantly accelerating this mechanism.
Significant Achievement from Lido Finance
According to information announced by Lido Finance, the protocol has now successfully exceeded one million validators on the Ethereum network. This news was made public in a post dated April 29. Liquid staking protocols like Lido play a crucial role by simplifying staking for individual users who need substantial capital to run their own validator nodes on Ethereum.
According to Dune data, Lido Finance currently represents 28.5% of the total ETH staked. This impressive figure shows that more than 27% of the total Ethereum supply is staked on the Ethereum network. Additionally, major exchanges like Coinbase also support Lido with a 13.6% share.
Liquid staking protocols are recording rapid growth by offering liquidity advantages to users. Lido users stake their ETH with the protocol and receive staked ETH (stETH) in return. This staked ETH can also be used in other DeFi protocols. However, in regular staking, tokens remain locked and unusable as long as they are staked.
Significant Growth in Total Locked Value
The growth of the DeFi ecosystem continues to increase with the influence of key players like liquid staking protocols. Protocols like Lido hold a significant share in the total DeFi TVL. According to DeFiLlama, liquid staking protocols have surpassed a total TVL of $47.7 billion, with Lido leading at $29.9 billion.
However, this rapid growth also brings some concerns. Leading crypto founders express concerns about the increasing dominance of protocols like Lido. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has previously highlighted the potential centralization risks of Lido and the risks of a single stake token gaining control over the network.
It is critical for protocols like Lido to take appropriate measures considering these concerns. However, creating a diversified and resilient structure is also essential for the healthy growth of the DeFi ecosystem.
