Direct Staking Without Manual Bridging
Lido announced the launch of direct ETH staking on four Ethereum Layer-2 networks on October 15. Users can now deposit ETH directly through Lido's platform on Arbitrum, Base, Linea, and Optimism and receive wrapped staked ETH (wstETH) without transferring assets to the Ethereum mainnet.
Previously, users needed to bridge ETH to mainnet, stake it, and then bridge their staking tokens back to Layer-2 networks. The new integration eliminates these manual steps while maintaining all staking operations on Ethereum mainnet.
Chainlink CCIP Coordinates Cross-Chain Transfers
The staking process uses Chainlink's Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol (CCIP) to coordinate ETH transfers between Layer-2 networks and Ethereum mainnet. When users deposit ETH on a Layer-2 network, the protocol automatically stakes it on Lido's mainnet contracts and returns the newly minted wstETH to the originating network's liquidity pool.
Conversion rates are determined by Chainlink price feeds using Lido's protocol exchange rate rather than market prices. Cross-chain operational costs are funded separately from staking deposits and do not reduce user stake amounts.
Existing Fee Structure Unchanged
Lido continues to retain 10% of staking rewards, with the remaining 90% distributed to stakers. Users pay standard gas fees on their selected Layer-2 network during staking transactions.
The integration follows third-party platforms offering similar staking routes earlier, and comes after Lido announced preliminary Layer-2 staking support for Arbitrum, Base, and Optimism in October 2024, with Linea integration occurring in October 2025.
