Lidodao
Lidodao: LDO and stETH Roles
LDO gives holders voting power in Lido DAO, the decentralized organization that oversees the Lido staking protocol. stETH represents ETH staked through Lido and reflects rewards or penalties. stETH holders can also collectively extend execution delays for covered changes to Lido on Ethereum by committing tokens to Dual Governance, subject to its support thresholds and state rules.
What's inside
LDO Voting Power
LDO is an ERC-20 token on Ethereum used to vote on Lido DAO decisions. Those decisions include fees, protocol parameters, upgrades, and treasury spending. The DAO also selects operators for permissioned staking modules.
Voting weight is proportional to eligible LDO holdings. On-chain voting uses a balance snapshot from the block before the vote begins. Holders can delegate their LDO voting power while keeping control of their tokens, and they can override a delegate's vote or revoke delegation.
stETH and Staking Outcomes
Lido's node operators run Ethereum validators using ETH supplied by staking users. The stETH that users receive remains usable in DeFi while reflecting the underlying staking rewards or penalties. A holder's stETH balance doesn't add to their LDO voting weight.
Worked Example: Different Balances, Different Voting Weight
All balances in this example are hypothetical. For the same on-chain vote, assume Wallet A has 8,412 eligible LDO and 17 stETH, while Wallet B has 2,103 eligible LDO and 93 stETH. Both wallets vote directly, with no delegated voting power included.
The LDO voting-weight ratio is
8,412 / 2,103 = 4
. Wallet A has four times Wallet B's LDO voting weight, although Wallet B holds more stETH. The calculation compares their influence in that vote; it doesn't establish whether the proposal passes. Wallet B's larger stETH balance could contribute more to Dual Governance opposition if committed to escrow, but an execution delay would still depend on aggregate support and governance state.
Approval and Execution
Dual Governance adds an execution safeguard for covered on-chain actions targeting Lido on Ethereum. An LDO vote can approve a change before that change becomes executable. Decisions requiring no on-chain action can finish with a successful off-chain vote.
The Dual Governance state model determines when escrowed opposition prevents execution. Support below the required threshold doesn't activate Veto Signalling. During Veto Cooldown, eligible pending proposals can execute even if opposition remains above that threshold. A holder's escrow deposit therefore isn't an individual veto over every DAO decision.
Escrow and Access to Tokens
Veto Signalling changes the availability of the tokens that a holder commits. Before Rage Quit, stETH can be revoked from the signalling escrow subject to a minimum five-hour lock. Once Rage Quit begins, that escrow's staking tokens are irreversibly queued for withdrawal.
After withdrawal finalization and claiming through Rage Quit, the ETH remains in escrow for an additional 60-180 days before it becomes available for final withdrawal. That additional lock applies to Rage Quit escrow assets; it doesn't apply to ordinary Lido withdrawals.