Lido’s dominance in Ethereum staking eroded sharply in the first half of 2026, capturing only 5.7% of the network’s net staking growth despite deploying capital alongside institutional partners and maintaining its position as the largest liquid-staking protocol.
The protocol held 9.13 million ETH, or 21.18% of total staked ETH, at June 30, 2026, down from a 23.93% market share at the start of the year. Ethereum’s staking base expanded from 36.3 million ETH to 43.1 million ETH over the six-month period, a gain of 6.8 million ETH. Lido added 386,000 ETH, meaning competitors captured 6.414 million ETH of the new inflows.
The shift reflects institutional capital routing to competing providers. Bitmine held 11.5% market share at June 30, while Coinbase captured 10.9% and Binance 7.9%. Grayscale, operating through Coinbase, held 3.1% market share. The institutional segment itself grew to 35.3% of total staking by June 30, up from 25.9% at the start of H1.
Lido’s operational challenges surfaced in parallel. The protocol’s NEST buyback mechanism, which allocates DAO revenue to repurchase and burn LDO tokens, recorded a negative cumulative budget of $517,024 as of September 9 and skipped its scheduled allocation. On the same date, the Validator Queue showed 1,931,206 ETH awaiting activation with an estimated 33 days 13 hours delay.
A marquee institutional deployment underscored Lido’s continued appeal to large capital allocators. On August 13, Lido announced that Sharplink, an institutional investor, was deploying $200 million in ETH through the protocol, with Anchorage Digital serving as custody provider for the resulting wstETH position.
Revenue and Reserve Position
Lido generated $15.71 million in net staking revenue during H1 2026 after deductions, down from $27.51 million in gross revenue. Total net DAO revenue, including the Earn product, reached $15.94 million. Foundation expenses totaled $14.33 million, leaving an operating surplus of $1.61 million before one-time charges.
A $6.06 million Kelp-related loss in H1 pushed total DAO net loss to $4.45 million for the period. On September 9, Lido’s 24-hour revenue stood at $101,935, with seven-day revenue at $696,955 and 30-day revenue at $2.71 million. Daily reserves measured $109,589.
The protocol’s fee structure remained unchanged at 10%, with the DAO capturing an effective 6.15% share of staking rewards at H1’s end, up from 4.96% in December. According to a sensitivity calculation assuming 100,000 ETH in new active stake at a 2.59% annual reward rate and $2,500 ETH price, estimated annual DAO staking revenue would reach 159 ETH, or approximately $398,000. New deposits entering the activation queue faced a 0.24% delayed reward opportunity cost.
Infrastructure Fee Waiver Expiration
Lido’s stVaults product was operating under a 0% infrastructure fee waiver set to expire on October 31, 2026. The protocol did not announce an extension or renewal terms as of the latest available data.
