Lido Crypto: Staking, Liquid Staking, and What You Need to Know in 2025

When you stake Ethereum, you lock up your ETH to help secure the network and earn rewards. But what if you want to keep using your ETH while it’s staked? That’s where Lido, a leading liquid staking protocol that lets you stake ETH and still use your staked assets in DeFi. Also known as liquid staking provider, it solves a major problem: the inability to move or trade staked crypto. Lido gives you stETH, a token that represents your staked ETH and keeps growing in value as rewards accumulate. You can trade, lend, or use stETH in other DeFi apps—something you can’t do with regular staked ETH.

Lido isn’t just about ETH. It also supports Solana, Polygon, and other chains, making it one of the few platforms that offers liquid staking across multiple networks. The LDO token, the governance token for the Lido protocol that lets holders vote on upgrades, fee structures, and treasury decisions. Also known as Lido DAO token, it’s not a reward token—it’s a vote token. If you hold LDO, you can influence how the protocol evolves. That’s rare in staking. Most staking services are centralized and don’t let users have a say. Lido’s decentralized governance means its future is shaped by its users, not just a company.

But it’s not all smooth sailing. Liquid staking introduces new risks. If the Lido protocol gets hacked or the validators it uses go offline, you could lose rewards—or worse. And while stETH is widely accepted, it’s not always valued exactly like ETH. During market stress, stETH has traded at a discount. That’s why smart users track its price relative to ETH and avoid locking up too much capital in it during volatile times.

You’ll also find that Lido’s competitors—like Rocket Pool and Stader—offer similar features but with different trade-offs. Rocket Pool uses smaller stakers and more decentralized validators. Stader focuses on multi-chain support with lower fees. But Lido still leads in total value locked, user base, and exchange listings. It’s the most tested, the most used, and the most integrated into DeFi.

In 2025, Lido’s role is bigger than ever. With Ethereum’s staking rewards rising and more DeFi protocols building directly around stETH, it’s become a backbone of the ecosystem. But it’s also under scrutiny. Regulators are watching liquid staking closely. If new rules force Lido to become more centralized, its whole model could change.

Below, you’ll find real breakdowns of what happened with failed airdrops, how staking rewards shift over time, and which platforms actually deliver on their promises. No hype. No fluff. Just what works—and what doesn’t—in the messy, real world of crypto staking.