Lido DAO (LDO) price rose more than 11% in a short period of time, temporarily reaching $1.03.
This sudden increase is thought to be due to BlackRock's application to add a staking feature to its Ethereum ETF.
Chart showing the rise in LDO price following the news.
Lido DAO operates as a liquid staking derivative provider for Ethereum. Users lock up their ETH with Lido DAO, assuming a certain amount of additional risk, and in return receive a token called stETH, considered equivalent to ETH. This allows users to both lock up their tokens and still have liquid use of their ETH on additional decentralized finance platforms.
BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, plans to add staking capabilities to its iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) fund, which offers investments in Ethereum. The fund's Nasdaq exchange filed an updated 19b-4 filing with the SEC today, incorporating this change.
This application indicates that BlackRock is not only looking to gain exposure to ETH price movements, but also to directly participate in Ethereum's proof-of-stake consensus system. If approved, a portion of the fund's Ethereum holdings could be used to generate returns by staking through trusted third-party providers.
*This is not investment advice.
