Lido V3: Ushering in Institutional Staking Through stVaults
- Hasu𝕏
Ethereum’s transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake created a unique set of conditions (i.e. lack of protocol-level delegation, 32 ETH requirement, long exit queues, etc.) that led to Lido’s liquid staking model to gain huge traction, significantly eclipsing other LSD providers on native PoS chains. stETH added on-demand liquidity, bypassing withdrawal windows, while also increasing DeFi utilization and increasing yields. Moreover, by allowing users to stake any amount of ETH in pools, it removed the requirement for 32 ETH increments, ultimately improving decentralisation through long tail distribution of individual stakers. Lido V3 introduces modular stVaults which enable staking customization. This allows professional actors, such as institutional stakers, to have granular control over validators, MEV and other parameters, diversifying their investment strategies.
Topics:
- Hasu’s background
- Discovering Lido
- Liquid staking and the early days of Lido
- Why liquid staking gained traction on Ethereum
- The evolution of Lido
- Initial decentralisation concerns and the importance of dual governance
- Restaking
- Lido V3 and vaults
- Institutional staking & ETFs
- Ethereum’s ‘crisis’ and its values