Lido, whose share of the Ethereum stake market was once so great that it raised, the concerns, that the protocol was approaching a level considered a dangerous concentration of power has fallen into a record as competition from rivals is intensified and the development of infrastructure tailored to institutional funding, opens new opportunities in the industry.
While it is still the dominant strength, Lido’s market share is now 24.4%, down from its heights at the end of 2023, as it had 32.3%. It is within a marked distance from the 33% level that many scientists and Ethereum -core developers said would allow a single fluid poor supplier to exert disproportionate influence on blockchain’s consensus mechanism.
The shift points to a stacking ecosystem that matures. Where Lido once seemed unwavering, it now faces a mixture of institutional quality operators, socially driven decentralized protocols and exchange -hosted intervention products.
For Ethereum, this diversification can be a sign of improved blockchain health. If these trends continue, Ethereum efforts in 2025 are likely to be defined less by concerns from one-provider’s dominance and more in competition among specialized service models.
“Lido’s share declined significantly due to share centralization problems and protocol security,” said Darren Langley, general manager of Lido-Competitor Rocket Pool. “There was a great social effort to make sure Lido did not reach 1/3 of the total share.”
One of the clearest recipients of the Rebalansing is Figment, a provider of stack infrastructure with a strong institutional customer base. While Figment has long ranked among the largest validator operators at Ethereum, the past year has brought a significant acceleration in ETH deposits from foundations, custodians and large-scale asset managers.
According to data from Dune Analytics, the figure was the biggest winner of new stakes over the past month, approx. 344,000 and now had 4.5% of all stack eth. Lido lost the largest number, approx. 285,000. Ether.fi, coinbase (COIN) And Binance is also among the greatest holders.
Figure said that Eth Stack’s demand from its institutional clients doubled after the US security and exchange commission (SEK) Said in May that effort did not constitute a securities activity, a wave mirrored in rising validator queue waiting times across the network. Last week, SEC clarified that those who participated in Liquid Staking also don’t have to worry about securities law, a decision that is likely to open the doors to more stacked products.
“Now that the largest institutions in the world embrace digital assets, we are busy than ever aboard them,” Figment CEO Lorien Gabel said in an interview. “We have built our business from day one on compliance, regulation and risk -adjusted benefit, exactly for customers such as digital asset boxes and neobanks. It works. If we didn’t win the majority, I would shoot myself as CEO.”
Read more: Sec Green Light On Liquid Poor Send Eth Past $ 4K, Spurs Broad Stake and Layer-2 Rally
