In the fast-paced world of cryptocurrencies, Lido DAO (LDO) has made significant waves in the past week, experiencing an impressive surge of nearly 20%. Though the surge comes at a time the global crypto market is not deep in a downtrend, Lido’s current rally can be attributed to two notable factors.
Over the past seven days, LDO has recorded a significant spike, up by 16%. The asset has picked up from trading at a low of below $2 as of May 9 to trading at a high of $2.25, at the time of writing. Meanwhile, over the past 24 hours, the rally continues as the asset is currently up 6.3% with an increasing trading volume.
Whale Accumulation Fuels Lido’s Surge
One possible catalyst for Lido’s remarkable performance over the past 7 days is the increased buying activity by cryptocurrency whales. According to a recent report by Onchain analyst Lookonchain, three whale accounts have been observed accumulating LDO tokens.
Notably, these whales have been seen transferring their LDO assets from centralized cryptocurrency exchange Binance to personal wallets, indicating a deliberate accumulation strategy. The magnitude of these whale transactions is noteworthy.
For instance, one address withdrew a substantial amount of 724,822 LDO tokens, valued at approximately $1.52 million, from Binance for $2.01 per token. Another whale withdrew 655,641 LDO tokens, equivalent to $1.38 million, from Binance at $1.83 per token. Additionally, a third whale purchased 570,883 LDO tokens using 974,000 USDC for $1.71 on May 12.
This influx of capital from these significant players in the market has undoubtedly contributed to the surge in Lido’s value.
Lido V2 Launch Amplifies Momentum
Another driving force behind Lido’s recent upward trend is the launch of Lido V2. This highly anticipated upgrade brings several notable features to the Lido DAO ecosystem, enhancing its appeal to investors and participants. A key highlight of the V2 release is the ability for users to withdraw their staked Ethereum (ETH).
With the new Withdrawals page, Lido users can easily deposit their staked Ethereum tokens, such as stETH or wstETH, and receive ETH in return. Lido has streamlined the withdrawal process, reducing the withdrawal period to as short as 1-5 days.
This improvement not only enhances the liquidity and accessibility of staked Ethereum but also provides users with greater flexibility and control over their assets. Additionally, the V2 upgrade introduces a modular staking router, which promotes staking diversity among several cohorts.
Solo stakers, decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and Distributed Validator Technology (DVT) clusters can now participate in staking activities through Lido, further expanding the network’s staking capabilities.
LDO’s price has already risen nearly 20% since the upgrade, with a market currently above $2 at the time of writing. Alongside the price surge, Lido DAO’s market capitalization has also experienced a notable rise. The market cap moved from $1.4 billion last Friday to $1.9 billion today.
Moreover, the trading volume of LDO has also witnessed a significant uptick over the same period indicating the increasing accumulation of the asset. Lido’s trading volume has surged from $47.4 million last Friday to more than $104 million in the past 24 hours.
Featured image from iStock, Chart from TradingView