Lido begins moving $16.5 billion in staked ether to cut validator count by a third
The liquid staking protocol is consolidating 8 million ETH and requiring its professional node operators to post bonds for the first time.
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Summary
- Lido began its largest upgrade since 2023, consolidating more than 8 million staked ether onto Ethereum’s new post-Pectra validator design.
- The shift is expected to cut Ethereum’s total validator count by about one-third and reduce attestation messages by roughly 29% per epoch, easing load on the consensus layer without directly affecting gas fees or transaction speeds.
- Lido’s curated node operators are moving to Curated Module v2, where all 34 existing operators will post locked ETH bonds for the first time, adding economic accountability.
