Lido price gains 7% as VanEck registers Lido Staked Ethereum ETF

Lido’s token price climbed 7% to $1.29, adding to a 20% rally over the past week, after asset manager VanEck formally registered its Lido Staked Ethereum exchange-traded fund in Delaware. 

The Oct. 2 filing sparked fresh optimism around liquid staking, with trading and derivatives activity showing a clear rise in investor positioning.

According to documents filed through CSC Delaware Trust Company, the product is set up as a statutory trust, a common first step before submitting an application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. While registration alone does not guarantee approval, it indicates VanEck’s intent to expand beyond spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs into yield-generating products.

The firm’s existing ETFs have already seen steady inflows, and this move positions it early in the race to bring staked Ethereum exposure into mainstream portfolios.

Market activity supports momentum

The price move was supported by a notable jump in market activity. Lido’s (LDO) 24-hour trading volume rose nearly 30% to $158.5 million, while derivatives volume surged 45% to $426.9 million. Traders are opening more positions rather than closing them, as evidenced by the 6.6% increase in open interest to $228.3 million. 

All of these shifts indicate a growing sense of hope that ETF-related inflows could lead to further gains. Investors would be exposed to Lido’s staked Ethereum (STETH) through the proposed ETF, giving them access to staking rewards, which are currently at roughly 4% annually, without having to run validators or lock up assets.

Lido’s liquid staking model accounts for over 30% of all ETH staked, making it the dominant provider. An ETF connected to stETH has the potential to greatly expand its user base and boost protocol revenue if it is approved. 

Lido price outlook amid ETF filing and buybacks

The ETF news comes shortly after Lido DAO approved a buyback framework in September, which will use idle treasury assets like stETH and stablecoins to reduce circulating supply.

The modular system allocates up to 70% of new inflows to buybacks, with safeguards to pause if reserves fall below $50 million. A test phase is expected by December, directly supporting token value.

The latest filings also aim to take advantage of positive regulatory developments. To facilitate institutional adoption, the SEC clarified in August that some liquid staking activities are exempt from securities registration.

At the same time, integrations with Layer-2 networks like Linea are expanding Lido’s reach, while restaking initiatives and validator decentralization strengthen its long-term position.

According to short-term projections from analysts like CoinCodex, LDO should reach $1.34 to $1.75 this month, with potential to rise to $2 to $3 by the end of the year if all the right conditions are met.

While risks from regulatory delays or competition from rival protocols remain, VanEck’s filing highlights the growing demand for staking-linked products, putting Lido at the center of the conversation as liquid staking enters the ETF era.