Lido Staked Ether overtakes XRP as the sixth-largest crypto with a $31 billion market cap. Ethereum's surge to $3,200 and stETH's 40% February gain drive its momentum. Explore Lido's role in Ethereum 2.0 staking.
Staked Ether (stETH) from Lido has surpassed XRP to become the sixth-largest cryptocurrency, boasting a market cap exceeding $31 billion.
The surge in Lido Staked Ether's market value can be largely attributed to Ethereum's remarkable performance this month. As the second-largest cryptocurrency hit $3,200 today, the stETH token saw a 40% increase in February alone.
According to data from Dune analytics, deposits of Ether on Lido are approaching 10 million ETH. Since December 19th, there have been no net outflows from the protocol. Currently, Lido Staked Ether represents 35% of all Ethereum deposits on EigenLayer, a leading platform offering access to Ethereum's staked capital.
Lido Staked Ether is a tokenized representation of staked Ethereum on the Ethereum 2.0 Beacon Chain, facilitated by the Lido decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol. Lido allows users to stake their Ethereum without locking the assets or managing staking infrastructure, addressing key limitations associated with the Ethereum 2.0 staking mechanism.
Meanwhile, XRP's performance has been lackluster, with a 2.5% loss over the past week. Despite significant gains for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Solana, XRP's price has only risen by 0.5%.
XRP traders remain cautious, given the ongoing legal battle with the SEC. If the ruling favors the SEC, XRP could face $2.64 billion in penalties, potentially making 2024 the most profitable financial year for the commission.
Despite XRP's underperformance, whales have invested $40 million in XRP over the last 10 days. This suggests a potential "buying the dip" strategy for the altcoin, which could eventually push XRP to break its resistance level at $0.58 in March.