The Lido Protocol operates under the oversight of the Lido DAO, a decentralized autonomous organization governed by LDO token holders. The DAO manages key aspects of the protocol, including operator selection for permissioned modules, parameter adjustments, and upgrades through a phased governance process.
With over 55,000 unique LDO token holders, the Lido DAO stewards the protocol towards community and decentralization alignment. Additional safeguard for the protocol is provided by stETH holders via the Dual Governance system that allows them to delay contentious proposals before execution.
LDO
LDO is the Lido DAO's governance token. Built on the ERC-20 standard, it includes balance snapshotting functionality that calculates voting power based on token holdings from the block before voting begins. This prevents vote manipulation through last-minute market trades.
Governance Process
Lido DAO’s governance follows a multi-staged, publicly documented process designed to balance efficient decision-making, security, and transparency.
The process is permissionless on several stages. Proposals begin on the Research Forum, where anyone can submit proposals and engage in community discussions.
Refined proposals then move to Snapshot voting (requires 1,000 LDO to initiate; with insufficient balance, DAO Ops can help to submit).
If supported, proposals requiring on-chain changes advance to an Aragon vote divided into two phases (a main phase and an objection‑only phase).
After an on-chain vote passes, proposals enter Dual Governance, a dynamic timelock that allows stETH holders to review the decision and, if opposition arises, extend the execution delay.
Goal setting and funding framework
The Lido DAO establishes strategic goals through GOOSE (Guided Open Objective Setting Exercise), an open process that sets one - and three-year objectives. Proposals are submitted on the Research Forum, refined through community discussion, and approved via Snapshot vote.
To support achieving the approved goals, the DAO votes to fund grants using the Ecosystem Grants gRequests (EGGs) framework.