TLDR
- Lido DAO proposed a one-off buyback of up to 10,000 stETH for LDO.
- At current ETH prices, the proposed buyback is worth about $20 million.
- The proposal says the buyback could absorb about 65 million LDO tokens.
- LDO hit a new all-time low near $0.27 on March 7 and trades near $0.32.
- The plan is separate from Lido’s pending NEST automated buyback program.
Lido DAO is considering a one-off buyback of its governance token, LDO, following the protocol’s ecosystem operations team’s proposal to use up to 10,000 stETH from the treasury for open-market purchases. At current Ether prices near $2,000, the plan would amount to about $20 million and target a token that recently fell to a new all-time low of about $0.27 on March 7.
The proposal says LDO is trading at a historically weak valuation relative to Ether. It places the current LDO-to-ETH ratio near 0.00016, compared with a two-year median around 0.00043. Based on the figures in the proposal, a buyback of this size could absorb about 65 million LDO, or close to 8% of the circulating supply, if current prices remain unchanged.
Lido said the proposal is separate from its pending NEST automated buyback plan. NEST was introduced in November 2025 and is structured to activate only if Ether rises above $3,000 and Lido’s annualized revenue exceeds $40 million. The new proposal is designed to be a faster, larger treasury action while LDO remains near record lows.
Treasury Plan Uses 1,000 stETH Batches
The proposal asks tokenholders to authorize the Lido Growth Committee to execute purchases in batches of up to 1,000 stETH. After each batch, the committee must publish a report before requesting the next drawdown. The reporting would include the LDO acquired, the average execution price, and the remaining budget.
Lido said this structure is meant to reduce slippage and allow tokenholders to object to later batches if needed. The plan also gives the DAO authority to pause or terminate the mandate at any time through governance channels. Under the proposal, all acquired LDO would be returned to the treasury after execution.
The execution strategy includes both on-chain and centralized venues. On-chain routes listed in the proposal include CoW Swap, 1inch, and Uniswap. Off-chain venues include Binance, Bybit, OKX, Gate, and Bitget. The Growth Committee may also use market makers through the Lido Ecosystem Foundation if required for execution.
The proposal states that on-chain liquidity is thin, with about $90,000 in depth at the 2% level at the time of writing. That is why the committee said it may use dollar-cost averaging, limit orders, and multiple venues rather than a single market order.
Revenue Trends and Market Conditions Remain in Focus
The buyback proposal comes after a weaker financial year for the protocol. Lido reported total 2025 revenue of $40.5 million, down 23% from the prior year. Net staking fee revenue was reported at $37.4 million, while expenses fell 13% year over year. The protocol’s take rate increased from 5% to 6.11%, according to the proposal.
The team behind the plan argues that LDO’s price decline has outpaced the underlying business changes. It notes that net protocol rewards were down about 20% over the same period, while the LDO-to-ETH ratio declined by about 50%. Lido also remains the largest liquid staking protocol on Ethereum, with a reported market share of 23% as of February 2026.
The proposal also lists several execution-related risks. These include front-running, smart contract exposure, counterparty risk on centralized exchanges, market volatility, withdrawal delays on exchanges, and regulatory or tax issues. To address those concerns, the mandate sets a 3% slippage threshold and limits treasury withdrawals to one batch at a time.
LDO Price Technical Levels Show a Recovery Attempt
LDO is also showing a short-term recovery on the chart, though the broader trend remains weak. Price has rebounded from the $0.28 area and is now trading near $0.32, close to the 0.786 Fibonacci retracement at $0.3193. That places the token at an immediate resistance level.
Support now sits at $0.3109, then $0.3050, followed by $0.2991. The main support zone remains near the recent swing low around $0.28. On the upside, the first major breakout level is near $0.33. If price closes above that area, the next projected levels are around $0.3609 and then $0.4109.
Source: TradingView
The structure still shows a recovery attempt rather than a confirmed reversal. Recent candles have formed higher lows above the $0.28 base, while capital flows have remained slightly positive. If LDO stays above $0.3109 and pushes through $0.33, the rebound could continue. If it falls below $0.3050, the price could return toward $0.2991 or the $0.28 base.
