Lido DAO (LDO) maintains strong upward momentum, recording an increase of over 5% on Friday, marking the fifth consecutive session filled with green. The bullish momentum comes from BitGo's important announcement on Thursday, when the company revealed the launch of native Ethereum (ETH) staking services through the Lido platform, targeting institutional clients. Technical indicators and Total Value Locked (TVL) figures clearly reflect increasing interest in Lido, opening up expectations for a sustainable upward price cycle in the near future.
BitGo announces native Ethereum staking through Lido
BitGo pioneers the implementation of native Ethereum staking in the U.S., opening up new opportunities for over 2,000 institutional clients spread across Europe and Asia, according to an announcement released on Thursday. With this new feature, users can directly stake ETH on BitGo's custody platform to mint stETH – a token representing liquid Ethereum staking – through Lido's decentralized infrastructure.
This integration not only simplifies the staking process but also allows customers to use stETH in decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols or easily convert it back. Additionally, institutions can monitor and manage their entire investment strategy directly on the BitGo platform – all within a secure and professional ecosystem.
Currently, BitGo is custodian for over $100 billion in digital assets, with up to $48 billion being staked. Meanwhile, Lido reports over $25 billion in ETH being staked through its platform – accounting for over 25% of total global ETH staking – a figure that demonstrates increasing interest from institutional investors.
Mr. Kean Gilbert, Director of Institutional Relations at Lido Ecosystem Foundation, commented:
"BitGo's enabling of native Ethereum staking through the managed custody platform, utilizing Lido's infrastructure, has unlocked the full liquidity value of stETH. This provides institutions with an efficient capital deployment solution that also ensures legal compliance."
Lido adds over $9 billion to Total Value Locked (TVL)
TVL – short for Total Value Locked – is an indicator that reflects the total value of assets that are locked or staked on a DeFi protocol, converted to U.S. dollars. According to data from DeFiLlama, Lido's TVL has now risen to $31.76 billion, a significant increase from the $22.97 billion recorded on July 1. This impressive increase shows Lido's growing appeal in the decentralized finance ecosystem.
LDO aims for higher levels as bulls surpass the 200-day EMA
LDO recorded an increase of over 5% on the day, bringing the total increase over the last two sessions to 12%. Notably, this upward momentum has helped LDO establish a new peak, surpassing the significant psychological level of $1.000 on Thursday, while also breaking through the 200-day exponential moving average (EMA) at $1.051.
Currently, the price is approaching a strong resistance zone at $1.179 – the peak established on May 10. If it decisively surpasses this level, LDO could extend its upward trend to the $1.403 region, corresponding to the peak level on March 2.
Technical indicators are reinforcing the positive outlook. The MACD indicator shows that green histogram bars are increasing significantly, and both the MACD line and the signal line are trending upward – a clear sign that bullish momentum is being reinforced.
The relative strength index (RSI) on the daily timeframe is currently at 76, in the overbought zone – reflecting a significant increase in accumulation activity.
However, investors should also exercise caution. If LDO weakens and closes below the 200-day EMA at $1.051, selling pressure may increase and push the price back to test the psychological support area of $1, or even the 100-day EMA around $0.887.