Ethereum’s largest liquid staking protocol, Lido, has laid off 15% of its workforce in what the company is calling a move toward “long-term sustainability.”
The decision, announced on Friday by Lido co-founder Vasiliy Shapovalov, affects contributors across Lido Labs, Lido Ecosystem, and Lido Alliance. While the broader crypto market has shown signs of recovery in recent months, Shapovalov said the layoffs were about cost management, not performance.
“This is a difficult decision, but one rooted in long-term resilience,” Shapovalov wrote in a post on X. “It may seem counterintuitive amid a market upswing, the move reflects a deliberate commitment to sustainable growth, operational focus, and alignment with the priorities of LDO tokenholders.”
The company didn’t disclose the exact number of roles affected but noted that impacted contributors played a key role in building Lido’s protocol and community. Those affected are being offered support through a referral network, with Shapovalov encouraging companies hiring in the space to reach out directly via Telegram.
Lido, which launched back in 2020, lets Ethereum users stake their ETH without locking it up, so they can still use or trade it while helping secure the network. Earlier this year, in February, they rolled out Lido v3, introducing something called “stVaults.” It’s basically a new setup that gives users more control to build advanced, customized staking strategies.
Right now, Lido is the second-biggest DeFi protocol in the liquid staking space, with about $31 billion locked in. It also brings in close to $90 million in yearly revenue, according to DeFiLlama.
Despite the layoffs, the protocol’s governance token, LDO, rose nearly 5% on the day, trading at $0.9316. Its current market cap stands at just over $835 million, with daily trading volume nearing $58 million.
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