Lido DAO plans to allocate $60 million to promote business diversification and transform into a diversified DeFi platform

Lido DAO recently released a major strategic proposal, planning to invest approximately $60 million before 2026 to expand into new business areas beyond Ethereum liquid staking. The proposal is titled “2026 Ecosystem Grant Application (EGG): Implementing GOOSE-3,” marking Lido’s official transition from a single product protocol to a diversified DeFi platform.

As the largest liquid staking protocol in the decentralized finance space, Lido has long relied on Ethereum staking and stETH-related products for core revenue. The proposal points out that over-reliance on a single business model may pose challenges to the protocol’s robustness and risk resistance in the long term. Therefore, Lido DAO aims to build a richer product portfolio and new revenue streams through systematic investment.

According to the proposal, this $60 million budget will be used to develop new yield-generating products, innovative vault structures, and solutions tailored to different user groups. The target users include not only on-chain DeFi vaults and DAOs but also some regulated institutional entities, thereby broadening Lido’s application scenarios in the institutional market.

The proposal explicitly states that in 2026, the focus of the Lido Foundation will shift from “liquid staking at the core” to “building a multi-product, multi-revenue protocol system.” This transition includes expanding the product line, improving capital efficiency, and enhancing the protocol’s long-term sustainability across different market environments.

Liquid staking protocols, which allow users to earn staking rewards while maintaining asset liquidity, have become a key infrastructure driving DeFi development. However, as the market matures, growth opportunities in a single track are gradually limited, prompting leading protocols to explore new growth curves beyond liquid staking. The diversification strategy proposed by Lido is a typical reflection of this trend.

It is important to note that the $60 million funding plan still requires approval through a vote by Lido DAO token holders. Once approved, Lido may become a representative case of upgrading from a “liquid staking protocol” to a “comprehensive DeFi yield and infrastructure platform,” which could have a profound impact on the entire Ethereum ecosystem and the decentralized finance landscape.