Recently (13th), Lido DAO passed a proposal with the goal of deploying Lido Staked Ether ($stETH) to BNB Chain. The proposal was originally proposed by Lido multi-signature wallet member Jacob Blish, and the vote was completed yesterday (15th). The results showed that a total of 135 $LDO holders participated in the vote, of which 81 supported and 54 opposed, ultimately passing with a support rate of 60%. Thereafter, Lido will use cross-chain protocols Axelar and Wormhole to enable stETH to be safely and effectively transferred to BNB Chain. The co-founder of Wormhole also announced this news on his X account tweet.
Image source: X/@danreecer_
Axelar and Wormhole become the key to cross-chain transfer of $stETH
Another highlight of the proposal is the selection of two cross-chain protocols, Axelar and Wormhole, as a bridge for the transfer of stETH from Ethereum to BNB Chain. Axelar and Wormhole are two leading projects in the cross-chain bridge track. The Lido team emphasized that the integration of Axelar and Wormhole allows users to directly use $stETH on BNB Chain without first converting it to other tokens, which will help In order to expand the application scope of $stETH, it will further enhance Lido’s dominance in the liquid staking track.
Lido’s strategic expansion
As the most influential liquidity staking protocol in the current DeFi sector, according to DefiLlama data, Lido’s total value locked (TVL) on the Ethereum main network is as high as 25.07 billion U.S. dollars; not only that, Lido is also the total amount of Ethereum pledged. The Dune Analytics dashboard shows that Lido's Ethereum pledge amount accounts for 28.7% of the total Ethereum pledge amount, which is far more than double that of Coinbase, which ranks second in pledge amount. It is conceivable that with the future deployment of $stETH on BNB Chain, Lido will be expected to increase its market share again.
Lido accounts for 28% of total Ethereum pledges. Source: Dune Analytics
For BNB Chain, the entry of $stETH is also a major benefit to its ecosystem. According to DefiLlama data, there are currently more than 750 DeFi protocols in operation on BNB Chain, and the deployment of Lido will bring greater liquidity to BNB Chain and further increase its accumulated funds.
The Lido development team stated that in the next few months, they will work closely with the technical teams of Axelar and Wormhole to ensure the smooth progress of the $stETH cross-chain transfer process and create the best operating experience for users.
