Lido revenue dropped 23% last year as users withdrew funds and yields declined

Ethereum staking protocol Lido said Tuesday that last year revenues fell over 20% as users withdrew funds and staking yields declined.

Lido posted a total revenue of $40.5 million, a 23% decline year-over-year. In 2024, the protocol registered $52.4 million in total revenue.

"2025 unfolded under a structural shift in Ethereum staking. Network-wide APR compression, capital rotation away from Simple LST toward exchange and institutional staking, and intensified competition reduced the size of the segment where Lido holds category leadership," the organization said in its annual report.

Lido noted that gross revenues dropped 18.2%, citing users withdrawing funds (net staking outflows) and lower staking yields (network-wide APR compression). 

The protocol also added that its market share shrank amid a shifting landscape.

"The Simple LST segment, historically Lido’s strongest category, had already begun contracting in 2024 and continued to decline as a share of total staking in 2025," Lido said. "Capital rotated toward exchange staking, institutional low-risk staking, and the APR-maxis segment, where liquid restaking providers heavily incentivized demand with protocol token subsidies."

Lido is also exploring LDO token buybacks with a program to potentially launch in the second quarter of this year. "Under the proposed design, protocol-generated staking rewards would be used to acquire LDO from the open market and deploy the tokens into an LDO/wstETH liquidity position held by the DAO," Lido said.

Strategic pivot

Last August, Lido reduced its headcount by 15% to "ensure long-term sustainability." The protocol built on Ethereum debuted in 2020. It is designed to allow users to maintain liquidity with their staked ETH rather than having those funds locked away while participating in network security.

Lido said in 2025 its main goal was to expand beyond its core staking product and launch new offerings aimed at institutional investors and users seeking higher yields.

At the end of last year, which Lido says has $140 billion in assets under management, introduced an Ethereum-based exchange-traded product (ETP) in Europe that earns staking rewards using the decentralized Lido protocol.