LIDO, Staking finally made easy w/ Konstantin Lomashuk

On this episode of The Ledger Podcast, host Mo Sayed delves into the world of staking with Lido DAO Co-founder Konstantin Lomashuk and Ledger VP Product Charles Hamel. 

The discussion explores how to securely grow Ethereum holdings, the future of staking, and Lido’s pivotal role in simplifying wider participation in the Ethereum staking economy.

Key Highlights:

Defining Staking & Its Disruptive Power

Konstantin Lomashuk began by demystifying staking, explaining it as a process where users lock their cryptocurrency to help secure and operate a blockchain network. 

He clarified that this “work,” which typically involves validating new blocks of transactions, comes with both risks and rewards. Participants earn rewards for reliable contributions, Lomashuk noted, but can be financially penalized, or “slashed,” by the network for errors or malicious behaviour.

Staking is highlighted as disruptive for several reasons. 

It offers a different security model for blockchains compared to Proof of Work (PoW). Staking decentralizes the whole way the operational side of the blockchain is run and secured by shifting the main resource from electricity (mining) to the staked ETH itself. 

Lido’s Solution: Simple, Secure, Decentralized Staking

Lido’s core mission is to make staking simple, secure and keep Ethereum and other blockchains decentralized. It addresses a significant barrier to entry in Ethereum staking: the requirement of 32 ETH to run a node. 

With Lido, users can stake any amount of ETH.

Lido operates as smart contract software that redistributes your stake between many validators. For example, in Ethereum, Lido currently delegates stake across approximately 14 different validators. 

This approach offers enhanced security, as if you redistribute the stake to many validators I mean the risk of flashing his lower. 

Additionally, Lido provides users with a liquid token (stETH) that can be exchanged immediately, allowing users to have a liquid token that you can exchange and withdraw and receive staking rewards daily.

Ledger’s Evolving Platform for Crypto Services

Charles Hamel shed light on Ledger’s transformation, explaining that Ledger Live, traditionally a companion app for hardware wallets, is evolving into a comprehensive platform. 

“What we’re doing now is taking this app to becoming more of a platform where you can access a variety of applications running on blockchains like Lido [where you can] swap and do so in a very easy to use integrated way”. – Charles Hamel

This evolution offers users a more secure and convenient gateway into Web3. By integrating services directly into Ledger Live, it eliminates the risks of connecting to external software and solves the critical “blind signing” problem.

As Hamel explains, deep hardware integration ensures users see exactly what they are authorising on their device’s trusted screen. This “clear signing” means users can confidently interact with services like Lido or Paraswap, knowing they are always in control and not approving a malicious transaction.

Safeguarding the Ecosystem: The Imperative of Self-Custody

The conversation highlighted the risks of staking on centralized platforms, which Lomashuk noted control over 30% of staked Ethereum and hold users’ private keys. 

He warned the “worst case” scenario is governments compelling these large companies to censor transactions. This threat underscores why decentralization is paramount. Hamel added that the future is converging towards a choice between centralized services and hardware self-custody, calling software wallets “inherently vulnerable.”

He stressed that secure hardware is crucial for the technology’s promise to be fulfilled.

“We need to keep blockchain decentralized – it’s the biggest value of the blockchains.” – Konstantin Lomashuk

Lido’s Expanding Horizons & Genesis Story

Lido is expanding beyond its core products (stETH, stSOL, bLuna) with teams now developing liquid staking for Polkadot, Kusama, and Polygon. Lomashuk explained Lido’s origin stemmed from his team’s experience running a validator, where they saw investors struggle with the conflict between staking rewards and market volatility during mandatory lockup periods. 

Realising liquidity was the key, they designed Lido as a DAO from day one, partnering with other top validators to avoid creating a centralized product that would be bad for ethereum. This decentralized structure ensures the protocol’s resilience.

Watch the episode here:

Ledger’s Unwavering Commitment to Security

Charles Hamel affirmed that security, rooted in smart card technology, is the absolute core of Ledger. The company’s elite internal Donjon security team actively works to break our own products and competitor hardware, publishing all findings to up the standard for the entire industry.

This fusion of Lido’s decentralized accessibility and Ledger’s robust security creates a more user-friendly crypto ecosystem. Together, they are building a secure, multi-lane highway for digital assets, allowing anyone to participate with confidence.