Latest news with #stETH
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Lido Proposes a Bold Governance Model to Give stETH Holders a Say in Protocol Decisions
Lido Finance, Ethereum's largest liquid staking platform by locked value, has introduced a proposal that grants staked ether (stETH) holders direct voting power alongside existing DAO tokenholders. The upgrade, dubbed Lido Improvement Proposal (LIP) 28, outlines a dual governance system allowing stETH holders — those who stake ETH via Lido and receive a liquid token in return — to participate in a veto mechanism on key protocol decisions. Currently, only holders of LDO, Lido's governance token, have a say in how the protocol evolves. Under the new system, stETH holders could veto certain proposals approved by LDO tokenholders, though the veto would not enable them to push proposals through unilaterally. The proposed system is framed as a mechanism to increase accountability and decentralization, especially as Lido continues to dominate Ethereum's staking landscape. Over 25% of all ETH is staked on the network running through its infrastructure. The Dual Governance system adds a special timelock contract between Lido DAO's decisions and their execution, giving stETH holders a way to intervene if they strongly oppose a proposal. The "dynamic" time lock is necessary because it is how on-chain governance technically works behind the scenes. In the current system, decisions don't take effect right away, as there is a set period before they're executed. That gives users time to react if they don't agree with certain changes. However, Ethereum staking is different because one can't quickly unstake or withdraw ETH, even with the current timelock. It takes time, liquidity is complex, and there is often a queue that could take several days to clear. The new proposal wants to tackle that. The proposed dynamic timelock assumes that, as enough users, who aren't satisfied with a proposed change, deposit their stETH (or wrapped stETH and withdrawal of NFTs) into a designated escrow contract for withdrawal, the timelock duration begins to increase — this is called crossing the 'first seal' (set at 1% of total Lido ETH staked). If discontent continues and deposits cross the 'second seal' threshold (10% of Lido's ETH TVL), a "rage quit" is triggered: execution of the DAO's decision is completely blocked until all protesting stakers have had the chance to withdraw their ETH. This creates a sort of safety valve — allowing stakers to signal objection and exit — while still giving the DAO time to respond or cancel the contentious action. The plan comes as Ethereum has surged more than 30% over the past week, riding momentum from its Pectra upgrade, which introduced execution-layer reforms to improve scalability and efficiency. The rally has sparked renewed attention on Ethereum-native applications like Lido, which is critical in capital flow and validator participation across the chain — and directly impacts ETH market structure. The LIP-28 proposal is still in its discussion phase, with a formal on-chain vote expected in the coming weeks. If approved, the change could shift how governance is distributed across Ethereum's staking ecosystem, setting a precedent for other DeFi protocols seeking to include users, not just tokenholders, in decision-making. Lido's other competitors include Rocket Pool and Frax Ether. LDO prices have risen 6.5% in the past 24 hours, while the CoinDesk 20 Index, a broader market gauge, climbed 2.5%.
Yahoo
18-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ethereum just feels ‘unloved' right now, says Lido DAO contributor
David Brickell, Head of International Distribution at FRNT Financial, and Kean Gilbert, Head of Institutional Relations at Lido DAO, unpacked the sentiment surrounding Ethereum's lagging performance — even as major institutions bet big on its future. Brickell kicked off the discussion on Deribit's podcast by pointing out Ethereum's recent underperformance. 'Do you have thoughts around Ether? And obviously it's underperformed,' he asked Gilbert. Ethereum is down 46.8% over the past year and is currently trading at $1,584.56. The 24-hour range sits between $1,551.41 and $1,607.12. Gilbert acknowledged the challenge but pointed to deeper structural issues, 'A big part of the feedback we'd heard from meeting the issuers and the big asset managers in New York is that they just felt like the BD [business development] effort had become fragmented,' he explained. Lido DAO is a decentralized autonomous organization that provides liquid staking solutions, allowing users to stake assets like Ethereum while still using them in DeFi. It eliminates the need to lock up tokens, offering stETH (staked ETH) in return. Lido is one of the largest staking platforms in the crypto ecosystem. 'Solana effectively did that really well. They were the tip of the spear… It was quite this unified BD effort where it kind of felt over the past couple of years, Ethereum never really had that.' However, Gilbert believes this is starting to change. 'Given that kind of positive transition phase I think ETH is in right now, you have the Ethereum Enterprise Alliance doing terrific work. I definitely think the EEA is kind of transitioning away from just doing protocol or standards, focusing more on the BD effort,' he said. 'You obviously have Etherealize now ramping up and doing excellent work. So I think again, it's a matter of time. It's this maturity that the BD effort needs to really ramp up if ETH doesn't want to lose its position.' Brickell then likened Ethereum's current situation to the early 2000s post-dotcom bubble. 'It reminds me a little bit of the dotcom bubble, and when that all crashed and Bezos was saying about Amazon, it was like the price wasn't doing anything… but yet the internal kind of metrics of the business were going continues to improve,' he said. 'And I sometimes think about that with ETH.' Gilbert agreed, noting the involvement of giants like BlackRock as a bullish signal, 'If BlackRock chooses your network or chain or whatever it may be, it's a terrific endorsement,' he said. 'These guys are not foolish. They place big bets and they place winning bets.' Still, he admitted the market isn't reflecting it yet. 'Yeah, it's hard to know… ETH is just a little bit unloved,' Gilbert concluded. 'There's probably a lot of money sitting on the sidelines waiting to see what happens over the next couple of months.' Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Price of Bitcoin crashes amid growth concerns over US economy
The Trump election 'bitcoin bubble' has turned into a major crash with the price of the cryptocurrency falling heavily on economic fears. The value of the world's biggest cryptocurrency slumped dramatically in panicked overnight trading and is now down around 6% over the last day. This morning bitcoin was trading at just below $90,000, its lowest level since November, having peaked at around $105,000 at the time of President Trump's inauguration last month. Other crypto currencies fell even more with Ethereum – the second largest digital currency – down 10 % over the past 24 hours. Dogecoin, the currency most closely linked to Trump adviser Elon Musk was also down around 10%. The total market capitalization of all crypto has fallen by 8%, from over $3.31 trillion to about $3.09 trillion. The huge sell-off raised fears of a new 'crypto-winter' to match the long slump in 2022 and 2023 when bitcoin was trading at little more than $20,000. Nearly one billion dollars worth of positions were liquidated in 24 hours, according to CoinGlass data. Among them, $277 million long positions on Bitcoin, pointing to a market caught off guard by the suddenness of the movement . The sell-off coincided with another big drop in share prices in the US tech sector. The Nasdaq Composite dropped over 1%, over concerns about artificial intelligence demand and upcoming earnings from chipmaker Nvidia. The markets have also been spooked by fears that inflation will stay higher for longer slowing down economic growth in America. Uncertainty over potential tariff wars with Canada and Mexico have also added to concerns. Augustine Fan, head of analysis at SignalPlus,said that 'the sentiment of economic slowdown dominates the markets, with strengthened correlations between stocks, bonds, and cryptos. This explains why we are observing this synchronized correction across all assets.' Sentiment was further soured bya massive hack on Friday, which saw over $1.4 billion in ETH and stETH drained from the Bybit exchange's hot wallet. Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
24-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
North Korea's Lazarus Group Linked to $1.4 Billion Bybit Hack and Solana Meme Coin Scams
North Korea's Lazarus Group, the primary suspect behind the $1.4 billion Bybit hack on Feb. 21, has been linked to a series of meme coin scams on Solana's platform, according to blockchain investigator ZachXBT. The group, known for targeting cryptocurrency platforms, appears to be laundering stolen funds through these fraudulent token launches. On Feb. 22, $1.08 million from the Bybit hack was sent to the Ethereum wallet '0x363908df2b0890e7e5c1e403935133094287d7d1,' which then bridged the funds to Solana as USDC. These funds were split across multiple wallets, some of which had previous ties to rug pulls on ZachXBT, who tracked over 920 addresses connected to the Bybit hack, noted that a known Lazarus Group associate had launched multiple meme coins using the same platform. The Bybit exploit, one of the largest in crypto history, saw attackers steal vast amounts of liquid-staked Ether (stETH), Mantle Staked ETH (mETH), and other digital assets. Blockchain security firms, including Arkham Intelligence, have identified the Lazarus Group as the likely perpetrator. On-chain findings also suggest that the same group was behind the $29 million Phemex hack in January. Solana has been experiencing a surge in meme coin scams and rug pulls, which have damaged investor confidence. One of the most significant incidents involved the Libra (LIBRA) token, promoted by Argentine President Javier Milei. Insiders allegedly withdrew $107 million in liquidity, causing a 94% price collapse within hours and wiping out $4 billion in investor capital. The impact of these scams is reflected in Solana's market activity. The monthly capital inflow into Solana and its MEME index dropped by 5.9%, according to data from Glassnode. The number of active Solana addresses also fell to a weekly average of 9.5 million in February, down 40% from 15.6 million in November 2024. CryptoVizArt, a senior analyst at Glassnode, noted that while activity on Solana has slowed, it remains above pre-bull market levels. The Lazarus Group has been exploiting decentralized exchanges and cross-chain bridges to move stolen funds undetected. According to ZachXBT's analysis, the stolen Bybit funds were bridged to Binance Smart Chain (BSC), divided across more than 30 wallets, and then moved back to Solana through intermediaries. This method helped obscure the source of the assets before they were distributed among scam operators. Despite the negative short-term impact, some analysts believe these incidents could lead to stronger security measures for Solana in the long run. Blockchain researcher Aylo suggested that addressing vulnerabilities in DeFi platforms and cross-chain bridges could ultimately benefit the ecosystem. However, with the Lazarus Group continuing to target the crypto industry, security remains a growing concern.
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Arthur Hayes Proposes Rolling Back Ethereum Network to Negate $1.4B Bybit Hack
Arthur Hayes, BitMEX co-founder and major ether (ETH) holder, asked Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin to rollback the network in order to assist hacked exchange Bybit, which lost nearly $1.4 billion in ether (ETH) on Friday. "@VitalikButerin will you advocate to roll back the chain to help @Bybit_Official. My own view as a mega $ETH bag holder is $ETH stopped being money in 2016 after the DAO hack hardfork. If the community wanted to do it again, I would support it because we already voted no on immutability in 2016 [wh]y not do it again?" Hayes said on X. Buterin was yet to reply as of time of publication. The Bybit hack came into light on Friday when on-chain analyst ZachXBT noted suspicious outflows of over $1.4 billion from the exchange, with the attacker quickly swapping mETH and stETH for ether through a decentralized exchange. The attacker then split 10,000 ETH to 39 different addresses and another 10,000 ETH to nine addresses, Gautham Santhosh, co-founder of explained on X. Bybit CEO Ben Zhou said that the hacker "took control of the specific ETH cold wallet and transferred all the ETH in the cold wallet to this unidentified address." Zhou confirmed that the exchange "is solvent even if this hack loss is not recovered." One of the potential ways to address hacking is to roll back the blockchain. It involves reverting the blockchain to a state before the occurrence of a specific event, in this case, the hack. That way, malicious transactions resulting from the hack can be erased, effectively restoring lost or stolen funds. Implementing a rollback requires consensus from the network participants. For instance, in 2016, the Ethereum network was rolled back using a hard fork to reverse a theft of $60 million in ether from The DAO (30% of all ETH in circulation back then). The hard fork split the chain into two – Ethereum and Ethereum Classic. In 2019, Binance's CEO Changpeng Zhao and his team considered pushing for a rollback on the Bitcoin network following a $40 million hack. However, the Bitcoin mining community criticized the idea of going back against the principle of decentralization and immutability, which are fundamental to blockchain technology. Immutability is a security feature that prevents data from being changed after it's added to the blockchain to make it trustworthy and tamper-proof. There are similar concerns regarding a potential Ethereum rollover. "I wish we could roll back for the Bybit hack, I'm not against the idea. But the DAO hack was 15% of ETH with a clean recovery path. Today, a rollback would break bridges, stablecoins, L2s, RWAs and so much more. ETH ecosystem is just too interconnected now for a clean solution like 2016," Santhosh said. Sina 21st Capital explained that Ethereum is now stuck between a rock and a hard place. "Ethereum is toast. They can roll back the chain and destroy what is left of the decentralization claim or allow North Korean baad actors to keep $1.4B of ETH and unleash an eternal internal battle. Either way, it is terrible," Sina 21st Capital said on X. Ether has dropped nearly 3% in 24 hours, but continues to trade rangebound between $2,600 and $2,800, CoinDesk data show.
