LDOUSDT Archives

25th November 2023

Crypto Fund Exits BLUR For Lido And IMX—Endorsing DeFi?

According to Lookonchain data, Sigil, a fund in Gibraltar, has exited BLUR, one of this week’s top-performing tokens, for Lido DAO’s LDO, and IMX, the native token Immutable X–a layer-2 scaling solution primarily dedicated to NFT trading.

Sigil Fund Sells BLUR For IMX And LDO

On November 24, Lookonchain, a crypto analytics platform, noted that Sigil sold 1.55 million BLUR for 807,799 IMX, worth roughly $1.14 million, and 210,905 LDO, trading at $540,000, at spot rates. The exchange was made via multiple transactions and done on-chain.

The swap comes roughly three days after Sigil withdrew 3.1 BLUR from OKX, a cryptocurrency exchange. Surprisingly, the fund is exiting BLUR when the token has dominated performance in the last few trading days.

To quantify, the token has more than doubled this week alone, surging to register new H2 2023 highs above $0.60. BLUR is already up 330% from its 2023 lows and continues to edge higher on rising trading volume.

The Gibraltar-based crypto investment fund’s rotation from BLUR into core governance tokens of Lido DAO and Immutable X comes when there is FOMO around the 300 million BLUR airdrop in Season 2. Still, it is not immediately clear what might have advised the fund to exit BLUR–and not simply ride the current ride–for LDO and IMX.

In retrospect, the shift could be an endorsement of decentralized finance’s (DeFi) resilience and inherent growth prospects. The rotation of funds into DeFi tokens could also signify a focus on backing decentralized ecosystem building rather than speculative NFT mania, as is currently the case with BLUR, which is rapidly rising, spurred by the Season 2 airdrop.

LDO and IMX Are Key For DeFi And NFT

As of November 2023, Lido DAO and Immutable X are some of the core platforms driving crypto and DeFi. Lido DAO plays a crucial role in Ethereum staking, while Immutable X offers a secure NFT trading infrastructure. Though recent troubles at FTX and other CeFi actors like FTX’s partner, Alameda Research, continue to cap upsides, Sigil’s allocation change is an endorsement for DeFi.

In the future, it is not immediately clear whether LDO and IMX prices will edge higher. For now, it remains on an uptrend but is generally volatile and not galloping higher like BLUR. The token is up 80% from October 2023 lows at press time. Meanwhile, IMX is extending gains at 2023 highs, looking at price action in the daily chart.

15th November 2023

Lido DAO (LDO) New All-Time High? One Analyst’s Perfect Setup To $37

Lido DAO has grown over the years to become the leading liquid staking protocol on the Ethereum network and its native LDO token has enjoyed tremendous success on the back of this. The protocol’s continuous growth has been purported to be what will push LDO to new all-time highs and one crypto analyst has revealed how high the token’s price could go.

Lido DAO To Beat Previous $7.22 All-Time High

Back in the bull run of 2020-2021, the price of Lido DAO’s native LDO token soared with the rest of the market and eventually touched its all-time high price of $7.22. Naturally, this has been the level that bulls have been trying to get back to that would put all holders back in profit. However, crypto analyst Weslad expects the altcoin to completely clear this all-time high price by at least a 4x.

In an analysis posted on the TradingView website, Weslad reveals the roadmap for LDO’s price to rise another 1,400% from here. According to the analyst, the LDO/USDT has been showing a “robust ascending triangle pattern.” This pattern, the analyst says, suggests that LDO could move to test the Neckline which is a critical supply zone for the asset.

The analyst who is obviously very bullish on LDO expects that this level will be breached and that the altcoin will eventually turn this resistance mark into support. “The Buy back area on the chart should give all the bull an opportunity to accumulate the coin before major move begins and at same time the chart indicates the outlined target,” Weslad says.

The first target in this setup is already above its ATH price at $9.,176. From here, the analyst expects another bounce up to take the Lido DAO price above $15.9, double its previous all-time high. But it still doesn’t end here.

LDO price chart from Tradingview.com

A final setup outlined by the crypto analyst brings the next target to $29.3. After that comes the coveted $37 level, which is at the very peak of this expected rally.

Just below the buy back zone at around $1.9, the analyst outlines a stop loss zone below $1.473. “The stop loss range is an important area that need to be watched closely should incase price turn around,” the analyst warns.

LDO Enters Top Gainers

The bullishness surrounding Lido DAO and the native token LDO is not without metric, especially given the token’s performance in the last week. LDO has seen its price rise approximately 27% in one week to breach the $2.47 mark.

Even more impressive is its 24-hour positive moves that have come out to 10.5%. This rise puts it in the list of the top 10 gainers in the last day behind the likes of Kaspa (KAS) and PancakeSwap (CAKE).

LDO’s large transaction volume has also fallen in the last week which suggests that whales are winding down their activities. While this could mean there is not a lot of buying going on by these large whales, it also suggests there is not a lot of selling happening either. This could point toward a tendency to hold and wait for better prices rather than selling tokens now.

Lido DAO (LDO) price chart from Tradingview.com (Crypto analyst

20th October 2023

Lido Finance Fees Exploding, Should Comparatively Low Revenue Be A Concern?

The total amount of Ethereum (ETH) staked on Lido Finance, one of the many liquidity staking protocols available, has risen steadily over the past few years. Surprisingly, revenue accrued by the platform (compared to staking rewards distributed) remains comparatively low.

Lido Finance Revenue Isn’t Growing As Fast As Expected

Looking at Token Terminal data shared on October 19, the blockchain analytic platform observed that while staking rewards paid, counted as “fees” by Lido Finance grew from less than $10 million in early 2021 to over $60 million in June 2023, revenue has grown at a much slower pace. To illustrate, Lido Finance’s average revenue is roughly less than $5 million during this period.

Lido Finance fees versus revenue| Source: Token Terminal

Overall, Lido Finance is a liquidity staking protocol that supports the staking of multiple proof-of-stake (PoS) coins like Ethereum (ETH) without necessarily locking them up. Users can concurrently earn staking rewards while accessing their hard-earned ETH–or any other coin supported.

The protocol issues another derivative, stETH, for every ETH staked to achieve this. This token can be freely traded on exchanges. It can even be used as collateral for users keen on taking trustless loans on supported platforms.

Ethereum recently shifted to be a proof-of-stake blockchain to be greener and conserve the environment. This transition was a boon for protocols that supported the first smart contract platform to confirm transactions and remain secure, especially after the activation of Shanghai in April 2023.

The Shanghai upgrade allowed Ethereum validators to withdraw their staked ETH for the first time, permitting them to use alternatives, of which Lido Finance, looking at total value locked (TVL), was preferred. As of October 19, Lido Finance had a TVL of $13.913 billion, most of it being assets on Ethereum.

Lido Finance TVL| Source: DeFiLlama

Ethereum Centralization Concerns: How Will This Be Addressed?

Lido Finance makes staking more accessible to everyone while concurrently enhancing liquidity. However, the revenue generated appears low versus the amount of staking rewards distributed to stakers, most of whom are from Ethereum. Part of the revenue the network generates is also distributed to LDO holders and node operators. Whether the liquidity staking protocol plans to increase the 10% fee charged to increase revenue earned remains to be seen.

Presently, there are concerns that Lido Finance’s role on Ethereum could lead to centralization. Ethereum has been accused of being “centralized,” mainly in how it is built. Critics assert that the reliance on its co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, for endorsement and guidance could slow down development in the future.

18th October 2023

LidoDAO Records Overwhelming 92% Votes To Exit The Solana Network

In a recently concluded voting program, it was revealed that over 92% of LidoDAO members (Lido token holders) of the decentralized liquid staking protocol Lido Finance, voted in favor of Lido ceasing its operations on the Solana Network.

LidoDAO Cut Ties With The Solana Network Following Community Vote

The proposal was first introduced by Lido on Solana’s peer-to-peer (P2P) team on September 5, due to financial limitations. Following the introduction, the voting program began on September 29, 2023, and was concluded a week later on October 6.

The P2P team in charge of the development of Lido on the Solana Network offered the community members two options in the voting program. These included the organization leaving the Solana Network, or providing funds to the organization to sustain its operations on the Solana Network.

In the proposal by the P2P team, Lido requested that LidoDAO provide $20,000 per month to fund technical maintenance activities related to sunsetting operations on Solana over the following five months. The proposal also expressed worries about not being able to meet goals in the next year due to the challenging market conditions.

“Achieving even 2% of the market share in 2023-2024 seems improbable, particularly in the current Solana market, without any marketing assistance and given Lido DAO’s committee resolution 22 to discontinue all incentives in Solana,” the team’s proposal stated.

According to Yuri Mediakov, the P2P team invested a total of $700,000 in Lido on the Solana project to build and support the product in the past year but ended up making $220,000 in revenue, resulting in a net loss of $484,000. Therefore, in order to support the project for the next 12 months, the team would need around $1.5 million.

However, at the end of the vote, over 65 million (92.7%) of LDO tokens (voted by token holders) were in favor of sunsetting operations on Solana Network. Meanwhile, 5.1 million (7.2%) of LDO tokens voted in favor of providing funds to the organization to continue its operation on the Solana Network. The total number of Lido (LDO) tokens concluded in the vote was 70.1 million LDO tokens.

The organization highlighted in an excerpt that the decision was a necessary one to make despite how difficult it was:

Whilst this decision was difficult in the face of numerous strong relationships across the Solana ecosystem, it was deemed a necessity for the continued success of the broader Lido protocol ecosystem.

According to LidoDAO, the organization will cease accepting staking requests as of October 16, while users will have to unstake on Solana’s frontend by February 4, 2024. Failure to unstake before the deadline will result in unstaking through the Command Line Interface (CLI). In addition, Voluntary node operator off-boarding will commence on November 17, 2023.

Nonetheless, staked Solana (stSOL) token holders are still expected to receive rewards during the sunsetting process. However, Lido’s staking services are now solely supported on Ethereum and Polygon.

The P2P team has been working on Lido’s Solana project since acquiring it from Chorus One in March last year.

LidoDAO (LDO) price chart from Tradingview.com (Solana staking)

17th September 2022

Lido DAO (LDO) Struggles At $1.8 After Ethereum Merge, What Next?

Lido DAO (LDO) showed so much strength as the price rallied from $0.5 to a region of $3, creating a new all-time high against tether (USDT) ahead of the anticipated “Ethereum Merge.” Lido DAO (LDO) benefited from the relief bounces across the crypto market as it continues to top the chart week in and week out but has since struggled after the merge. (Data from Binance)

Lido DAO (LDO) Token Price Analysis On The Daily Chart
Daily LDO Price Chart Analysis | Source: LDOUSDT On Tradingview.com

LDO saw a decline in price from $3 to $1.8, setting its price up for a new all-time high despite the difficult market conditions. The price of LDO has since struggled to discover the mojo that helped LDO outperform so many altcoins, as many are confused if it is out of steam.

The price of LDO on the daily chart faced resistance at $2.2 as the price got rejected severally. LDO’s price formed a symmetric triangle as the price continued to range with two options available; an uptrend continuation or a break to the downside to test lower support.

For LDO’s price to restore its bullish move, the price needs to break out of the triangle and rally to the upside. With good volume, the LDO price would have to break and hold above $2.2, acting as strong resistance preventing the price from the upside. If the price of LDO fails to break to the upside, we would expect the price of LDO to retest the support area at $1.4-$1.

Daily resistance for the price of LDO – $2.2.

Daily support for the price of LDO – $1.4-$1.

Price Analysis Of LDO On The Four-Hourly (4H) Chart
Four-Hourly LDO Price Chart Analysis | Source: LDOUSDT On Tradingview.com

The 4H timeframe for LDO prices continues to weaken as prices break to the downside of key support of $1.8 as price struggles to reclaim this region for a chance to trend higher. If LDO fails to reclaim this zone, we expect the price to retest lower support zones of $1.7-$1.5.

On the 4H timeframe, the price of LDO is currently trading at $1.79 below the 50 and 200 Exponential Moving Average (EMA), acting as resistance for LDO price. The price of $1.9 and $2 corresponds to the resistance at 50 and 200 EMA for the price of LDO. The price of LDO needs to reclaim 50 EMA for a chance to trend to $2.2. If LDO fails, the price of LDO will look for support below this area.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) for LDO is below 50 on the 4H chart, indicating more sell order volume.

Four-Hourly resistance for the LDO price – $1.9-$2.

Four-Hourly support for the LDO price – $1.7-$1.5.

Featured Image From Coinmarketcal, Charts From Tradingview

2nd September 2022

Lido DAO Continues With Strong Bullish Bias, How High Can Price Go?

The price of Lido DAO (LDO) has shown so much strength despite the downtrend across the market, with Lido DAO (LDO) eyeing a rally to its all-time high of $4. Bitcoin’s (BTC) price has shown a little strength bouncing off from key support, leading to most crypto assets popping out from their shell. (Data from Binance)

Lido DAO (LDO) Price Analysis On The Daily Chart

LDO token price has shown so much strength creating a higher high after hitting a daily low of $1.6; the price bounced off from this region and rallied to $2.

The price of LDO rallied to a high of $2.2 but has faced resistance; LDO needs to break this resistance at $2.2 to have a chance of trading higher.

LDO price has continued to show so much strength as bulls are ready to push the price of LDO to higher heights.

The price of LDO is currently trading above its support at $1.9, with eyes set for more highs.

Daily resistance for the price of LDO – $2.2-$2.4.

Daily support for the price of LDO – $1.9.

Price Analysis Of LDO On The Four-Hourly (4H) Chart
Four-Hourly LDO Price Chart | Source: LDOUSDT On Tradingview.com

After falling from a high of $4, the price of LDO on the four-hourly timeframe has formed support at $1.6, holding the price of LDO from going lower as this has become an area of demand for LDO price.

The price of LDO formed a bullish symmetrical triangle before breaking out with good volume, and the price continued to rally after a successful breakout.

LDO trades at $2.2 above the 50 and 200 Exponential Moving Average (EMA). The prices at $2.1 and $1.96, corresponding to 50 and 200 EMA, will continue to keep the price of LDO from going lower.

If the price of LDO maintains its structure, we could see the price going higher to a region of $3 as the volume pushing the price of LDO looks bullish for such price movement.

If the price of LDO fails to hold this above 50 and 200 EMA support, we could see the price of LDO retesting the support at $1.9-$1.6, as this has proven to be an area of interest for buyers

Despite being rejected recently from the $2 mark, LDO price has continued to look bullish with more buy volume for this coin.

Four hourly (4H) resistance for the LDO price – $2.2-$2.4.

Four hourly (4H) support for the GMX price – $1.9-1.6.

Price Analysis Of LDO On The One Hour (1H) Chart
Daily LDO Price Chart | Source: LDOUSDT On Tradingview.com

The price of LDO in the 1H timeframe has continued to respect the trendline while creating higher highs; if the price of LDO continues its bullish structure, we could see LDO going past the $3 mark.

If the trendline supporting the LDO token is broken, we could see the price revisiting $1.9, just below the 200 Exponential Moving Average (EMA). The price of LDO is currently trading above the 50 and 200 EMA, acting as support for LDO price in the 1H timeframe.

One Hourly (1H) resistance for the LDO price – $2.2-$2.4.

One Hourly (1H) support for the LDO price – $1.9.

Featured Image From Coingape, Charts From TradingView.com

18th July 2022

Weekly Update: LDO Outperforms, MATIC Rises By 65% While Ethereum Gains Momentum

As markets responded to Shadow Fork 9’s announcement, ETH was back in the green. Ethereum is currently regaining ground and progressing due to the favorable market situation.

At the same time, some other altcoins are doing well on the weekly chart, such as Polygon (MATIC) and Lido DAO (LDO), which have seen considerable price increases over the last week and in the previous 24 hours as well.

Related Reading | TA: Bitcoin Price Eyes Fresh Increase To $22K, Why Dips Remain Supported

Only a few of the top 100 cryptocurrencies have been able to generate double-digit gains, and the rest are still suffering from the effects of the merciless crypto storm. One of them is Polygon (MATIC), which demonstrated a sizable gain.

Per the CoinGecko statistics, MATIC is currently trading at $0.91, up almost 19.88% over the past 24 hours and a notable 65% gain over the last seven days. After Disney revealed that Polygon (MATIC) had been chosen for its “Accelerator Program,” the price of the coin increased quickly.

The list also includes Lido DAO (LDO), which has experienced a significant gain. The decentralized autonomous organization’s governance token, LDO, outperformed over the last seven days with a remarkable increase of 167%. Its current price is $1.68, with an upward thrust of 6.1%throughout the previous 24 hours.

Even though LDO was able to recover its losses from the June decline, in which it fell to a low of roughly $0.432899, it yet hasn’t found the support it needs to climb back to the May high of $3.3816.

ETH is currently trading at $1481 on the daily chart | Source: ETHUSDT From Tradingview
Ethereum(ETH) Is On A Comeback Rally

Ethereum (ETH), the second largest coin, has recently crossed the $1,400 threshold. It has gained 9.31% over the previous 24 hours and is currently trading at $1,482.01. The currency has increased by around 29.32% over the past seven days, according to CoinMarketCap, and is thus gaining momentum.

According to nomics data, ETH’s overall market cap increased by 8.78% over the last 24 hours to $179.11 billion. However, the price increase occurred after a week of poor performance and unfavorable market circumstances.

Although, the specific cause is unknown. The fact is that the price spike occurred right after the ninth shadow fork’s introduction on July 14. It implies that the price spike may be caused by the rising popularity of Ethereum and its impending “Merge” to Proof-of-Stake.

Related Reading | Preference For Ripple XRP Surges Among BSC Whales

The Merge was covered during the most recent Consensus Layer Call of the Ethereum Foundation, which took place on Thursday. Tim Beiko, an Ethereum Foundation member, proposed September 19 as a tentative launch date, providing the most unambiguous indication that the Merge would happen soon.

The merge upgrade combines Ethereum’s consensus and execution layers to switch the network from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake. It is anticipated to cut the network’s energy use by 99.95%, but it won’t necessarily result in lower transaction fees (gas).

Featured image from Flickr, chart from Tradingview.com