LIDO DAO
Mission-driven decentralized organization
Propose
Safeguard
01
Introduction
Lido DAO is governed by LDO holders through a regular process that relies on established frameworks and voting platforms approved by the community — and is safeguarded by stETH holders through the Dual Governance system.
02
Transparency
Contributors to the Lido DAO conduct goal setting publicly through the Guided Open Objective Setting Exercise (GOOSE), with discussions on the Research Forum and final decisions made through off-chain voting.
Ecosystem performance and financial health metrics are reported daily in Dune dashboards.
Progress updates on Lido community’s goals of decentralization, trustless operation, and Ethereum-aligned governance are available on the Scorecard page.
03
Regular process
Research forum
7 days
Off-chain
7 days
On-chain
5 days
Dual Governance
3 days + 1 day
Enacted
Discussion
The first step is publishing an idea, proposal, or grant request on the Research forum and gathering community feedback.
There must be at least 7 days between the initial post and the next steps. It could move forward once the proposal is welcomed and feedback is addressed.
Off-chain voting
The next step is off-chain voting on Snapshot. Proposers can post on the Lido Snapshot themselves or request support from the DAO Ops.
To create a proposal on the Lido DAO Snapshot, users need at least 1,000 LDO tokens — a minimum threshold that deters spam proposals. Users without sufficient LDO can request DAO Ops to create a proposal on their behalf.
To pass, a proposal requires the winning option to receive both a minimum of 5% of total LDO token supply and a simple majority of all participating tokens.
For the DAO's decisions that don't require any on-chain actions, a successful off-chain vote is the final step. Other proposals proceed to on-chain voting.
Snapshot voting cadence: Snapshot voting takes place once a month. New proposals are collected and launched together, usually on Monday. The voting duration is 7 days. You can find upcoming voting slots on the calendar.
On-chain voting
After the off-chain vote, the proposal moves to the on-chain one.
The Lido DAO uses the Aragon framework for on-chain governance. It can perform different operations, including smart contract updates and fund transfers. Snippets from this repo can be used to prepare and start a vote.
To pass, a proposal requires the "yes" option to receive both a minimum of 5% of total LDO token supply and a simple majority of all participating tokens.
If neither option receives at least 5% of the total token supply in votes, no decision is made, and the proposal won’t be enacted. The proposal can be rerun if there are no articulated objections.
To be rejected, more than 50% of voting tokens — and at least 5% of the total token supply — must vote against the proposal.
On-chain voting lasts 5 days and has two phases:
To reduce operational burden and voter fatigue, if there are several passed off-chain proposals that need on-chain execution, they are usually bundled together with each item detailed separately.
On-chain votesOn-chain voting cadence: On-chain votes start on Wednesdays at 14:00 UTC. You can find the closest voting slot on the calendar.
Dual Governance: stETH holders challenge window
After passing the vote, on-chain actions targeting Lido on Ethereum protocol enter Dual Governance — a dynamic timelock that allows stETH holders to extend execution delay based on the level of opposition.
Each proposal faces a minimum 3-day delay, giving stETH holders time to evaluate the proposals. If stETH holders raise no objections, the proposal is scheduled and becomes available for execution in 24 hours.
04
Delegation
Delegation allows LDO holders to designate their voting power to trusted delegates for more consistent participation in governance. This action maps the tokenholder’s address to a delegate, allowing the latter to vote on the tokenholder’s behalf, while LDO tokens remain fully under the tokenholder’s control to be transferred, sold, or used in any way.
Delegated votes are counted alongside direct votes and can be tracked on the voting platform. The tokenholder can override the delegate’s decision or revoke delegation rights at any time.
The Delegate program features public delegates — experts aligned with Lido’s mission who stay current with developments and share their views publicly on the Research forum.
05
Emergency Track
In emergency cases, proposals can bypass the standard governance flow and proceed directly to on-chain voting, skipping Research forum week-long discussion and off-chain voting. A clear rationale must still be published either before or immediately after the vote begins.
In exceptional circumstances, critical parts of the protocol can be paused through committee decision. Resuming normal operations after that requires an on-chain DAO vote.
06
Dual Governance: Veto Signalling and Rage Quit
stETH holders can signal opposition to LDO governance motions by placing their tokens into a dedicated escrow contract. Depending on the amount of stETH in opposition, the governance system enters different states.
The main states are:
07
Easy Track
The Easy Track application provides an efficient mechanism for handling routine operations in the Lido DAO to reduce voter fatigue.
Only authorized addresses — typically committee multisigs — can initiate Easy Track motions. Each motion passes automatically after 72 hours unless 0.5% of the total LDO supply objects.
Examples of Easy Track motions include updating node operator parameters, adjusting staking limits, or funding grants within predefined budgets.
08
Committees
To further streamline routine governance operations, certain activities are managed by committees, established through a regular voting process. Committee operations primarily proceed through Easy Track. Details of each committee’s multisig, including signers and quorum settings, are published on Lido Docs.
List of the key committees:
The Growth Committee is responsible for driving stETH growth through the combined mandates of Liquidity Observation Lab (LOL) and Rewards Share Committee — managing liquidity incentive programs, fostering long-term collaborations with aligned protocols, and strategically supporting applications that enrich and expand the stETH ecosystem.
More details on the Research forum
The Network Expansion Committee (NEC) is responsible for overseeing and coordinating the expansion of stETH and wstETH tokens to the new networks. Its goal is to enhance stETH liquidity and utility by identifying, evaluating, and guiding deployments beyond Ethereum mainnet.
More details on the Research forumLEGO’s mission is to grow the greater liquid staking ecosystem by funding efforts that align with this goal. LEGO supports contributors, projects, and initiatives that drive growth for the Lido community and the broader ecosystem.
LEGO Portal
The Lido Node Operator Subgovernance Group (LNOSG) comprises professional node operators and Ethereum ecosystem experts who assess applications for the Curated Operator Module and advise the Simple DVT and the Community Staking Module Committees. The Group also provides community input on node operator mechanisms, including protocol rules for proposals, exits, and performance.
NO Portal
Treasury Management Committee is responsible for maintaining and executing policies related to treasury management. The committee proposes and enacts strategies and decisions, maintains transparent communication with the community, and may suggest modifications or changes to authorized strategies.
More details on the Research forum
In critical situations and edge-case scenarios, emergency committees step in to protect protocol integrity and ensure governance continuity. GateSeal and Reseal Committees can pause critical parts of the protocol; the Dual Governance Emergency Committee provides a temporary safety net for issues within Dual Governance itself; and the Tiebreaker Committee resolves rare governance stalemates.
More details on the Lido Docs