beincrypto.com
Liquid staking platforms and their associated tokens are seeing a resurgence this week. Industry leader Lido is leading the pack as its LDO token skyrockets.
The newest narrative in the crypto ecosystem is liquid staking derivatives. They offer a more flexible way to stake and earn without locking up crypto collateral.
Momentum for such platforms is mounting, especially as the staked Ethereum unlock approaches. Ethereum will go through the Shanghai upgrade in March, which releases ETH staked for over two years on the Beacon Chain.
However, it will not be released simultaneously for network security purposes. As reported by BeInCrypto, liquid staking platforms are likely to benefit. They provide better yield opportunities as the staking token can be used in other DeFi protocols, unlike ETH staked directly.
Liquid Staking Takeoff
Liquid staking tokens have been on fire during the Monday morning Asian trading session. Lido DAO’s LDO token leads the race with a whopping 30% gain on the day.
Furthermore, the governance token has doubled in price over the past fortnight. It climbed from around one dollar to reach $2 a couple of hours ago. As a result, LDO has reached its highest level since mid-September.
The same cannot be said for other crypto assets or even Ethereum, which has only managed 9% over the past week.
There are almost 16 million ETH staked, and Lido has 4.8 million of that total. This gives the platform a commanding market share of 30%.
Furthermore, the narrative applies to other liquid staking derivative tokens such as StakeWise (SWISE), which has made 20% daily.
2023 will be about new narratives. With NFTs and DeFi leading markets in previous cycles, it could be liquid staking platforms this time around.
Crypto Market Outlook
There is a rare sea of green across markets this Monday morning in Asia. Total capitalization has reached a three-week high following a 3.2% gain on the day. As a result, the total cap is now at $884 billion, having gained 6.7% since the beginning of the year.
Lido’s LDO is the clear leader today, but other crypto assets performing well with double-digit gains include Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL), and ApeCoin (APE).
Additionally, Bitcoin has finally reclaimed $17,000, while Ethereum has topped $1,300 once again.