Decentralized finance protocol Lido has unveiled a new staking product aimed at institutional investors.

On Aug. 2, Lido (LDO), announced the introduction of Lido Institutional, a liquid staking solution specifically designed to cater to the needs of custodians, asset managers, exchanges, and other institutional entities.

“The introduction of Lido Institutional underscores Lido’s ongoing commitment to provide an exceptional staking solution tailored to the high standards of custodians, asset managers, exchanges, and more,” Lido said in a post on X.

Security and deep liquidity

Lido, the platform behind Ethereum (ETH)’s leading liquid staking token Lido staked Ether (stETH), looks to extend its dominance with the new solution. The goal is to provide institutional investors with access to Lido’s robust security, deep liquidity, and staking rewards.

Lido Institutional offers diversified counterparty exposure, enabling participants to earn staking rewards through a diversified set of more than 100 node operators.

Several liquid staking and restaking protocols, including Ether.fi and Renzo, have emerged since Ethereum’s transition from a proof-of-work to proof-of-stake blockchain to challenge Lido. However, Lido continues to dominate as the ecosystem’s largest staking protocol in DeFi.

According to data from DeFiLlama, crypto deposits on Lido currently stand at over $31 billion. The total value locked on the protocol however peaked at over $39 billion in March.

This came as Ethereum price rose to above $4k for the first time since its run to the all-time high above $4.8k in Nov. 2021. Most altcoins also surged as crypto experienced a notable increase in institutional visibility.

stETH dominance

Meanwhile, Lido’s stETH is the largest and widely adopted collateral token in decentralized finance at over $10 billion so far.

Custody solutions that offer native stETH integrations include Fireblocks and Taurus, while traditional trading and asset management platforms that provide access include Matrixport and Swissborg.