LDO Token Rallies Amid Treasury Buyback Initiative
Lido DAO (LDO) traded up 5% against the dollar during the 1-day period ending at 9:00 AM E.T. on April 26th, with a market cap of $338.55 million and approximately $58.40 million worth of LDO traded on exchanges in the last 24 hours. The live Lido DAO price stands at $0.373256 USD with a 24-hour trading volume of $35,335,578 USD.
Buyback Program Drives Price Recovery
Lido DAO launched its approved $20 million LDO buyback program, withdrawing 4.82 million tokens from Binance on April 16, which has led to a 30% price increase over the month, outperforming the broader DeFi sector downturn. The DAO proposed spending up to 10,000 stETH (about $20 million) from its treasury to buy back its LDO governance token, which it says is trading at a historically depressed valuation.
EarnETH Vault Exposure to Kelp DAO Exploit
Following the $293 million Kelp DAO bridge exploit on 18 April, Lido Finance announced it would halt deposits and withdrawals for its EarnETH vault, which held a leveraged position of about $21.6 million in the compromised rsETH token on Aave, representing 9% of its holdings. Lido suspended activity to assess losses and ensure fair treatment for depositors, noting its core staking protocol and stETH tokens remain unaffected. A $3 million first-loss protection fund from the Lido DAO treasury is available if needed.
Strategic Development Initiatives
A central goal of the GOOSE-3 strategic proposal is to expand Lido's staking ecosystem through V3's stVaults, with the objective to attract 1 million ETH staked through these vaults by the end of 2026. The 2026 strategic cycle outlines scaling new revenue streams via Lido Earn, a product suite aiming to serve DeFi users, restakers, and treasury managers, moving beyond core staking to capture yield across various market segments.