The total value locked (TVL) in Lido Finance’s liquid staking protocol saw a 10.57% increase in the last 30 days, with 7.56% growth in the past week. This has resulted in the protocol currently accounting for 19.08% of the overall $49.66 billion locked in defi today. The rise in ethereum’s price has likely played a role in the value increase; however, it has been reported that Lido’s protocol received a large deposit of at least 303,000 ether from Tron Founder Justin Sun.
Onchain Data Shows Tron Founder Justin Sun Bolstered Lido’s TVL
As of March 2, 2023, Lido’s liquid staking protocol has seen a total value locked of $9.48 Billion, with $9.3 billion of that consisting of ethereum (ETH) deposits. This represents 74.87% of the 7,607.536 Ether ($12.44B) locked into liquid staking platforms, with Lido being the largest defi Protocol in terms of TVL. Makerdao, Curve and Aave all lag behind with significantly less value locked.
The 3.8% increase in the price for ether relative to the U.S. dollars is likely a contributing factor to the value lock. However, onchain data also reveals that the protocol saw a large amount of inflows this week. Tron Founder Justin Sun is suspected to have deposited at least 303,000 Ether into Lido; a figure that was first reported by Bitcoin.com News. Blockchain Security auditing and analysis firm Peckshield noted deposits labeled after the Tron founder’s name, though the initial deposit was reportedly 150,000 ether. Some people have speculated that the deposits could be used to fund upcoming elections.
According to the online analytics tool Arkham Intelligence, Sun’s total staked ether may be much more than 210,000 ETH. The transaction analysis indicates that Sun holds a total of 329,660 STETH, worth $494million based on the STETH exchange rate on March 2, 2023. Sun’s labeled addresses also show that he holds 25,657 ethereum (ETH), worth $41.64 million. At the current annual percentage yield (APY) of 4%, the Tron founder is earning 4% interest on close to half a billion dollars’ worth of staked ethereum.
What do you think of Justin Sun’s reported deposits and Lido’s increase this week? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
