- Lido will cut about 15% of its contributor workforce to reduce costs.
- Curve Finance has a new proposal to end further development on Layer 2 networks due to low income from non-Ethereum platforms.
- Both protocols remain heavily dependent on the Ethereum blockchain, with most of their business volumes on its mainnet.
- Lido’s total value locked stands at $32 billion, while Curve has processed $7 billion in trades this past month.
- DAO governance structures may face scrutiny as both organizations seek to increase efficiency during a period of sector growth.
Lido and Curve Finance, two major players in decentralized finance (DeFi), announced potential cutbacks despite recent growth in the sector. Lido will reduce the size of its contributor teams by about 15%. At the same time, a governance proposal at Curve Finance suggests ending new development on Layer 2 (L2) blockchain networks, which have not brought in significant revenue.
Lido, the second largest DeFi protocol by total value locked, manages around $32 billion according to DeFiLlama. Nearly all of its assets are on the Ethereum blockchain. Lido co-founder Vasiliy Shapovalov said the decision to downsize the team is driven by cost-control rather than performance or results. “This decision was about costs — not performance. It affects around 15% of the workforce,” he stated in a recent post.
Salary expenses for Lido contributors are just over $8 million, with similar figures reported for overall operating costs. This data comes from a 2022 report referenced by DeFiLlama. Lido has already earned more than $40 million since the start of this year. Shapovalov explained that even though these layoffs may seem unusual during a market upswing, the focus is on “sustainable growth, operational focus, and alignment with the priorities of LDO tokenholders.”
Curve Finance, DeFi’s second largest decentralized exchange with $2.2 billion in total value locked, is also reconsidering its strategy. The governance proposal put forward would cut off development efforts on non-Ethereum networks. Curve’s Ethereum pools have generated 93% of all protocol fees since 2020, while L2 integrations, like those on Polygon and Arbitrum, have produced little in terms of fee revenue outside a brief period from 2021 to 2022.
Most Curve trading activity remains on Ethereum, with 96% of volume recorded there last month. The platform’s pools collect fees when users swap tokens, and these fees are distributed between liquidity providers and the DAO. The discussion on the proposal is ongoing, with some DAO members requesting more information to evaluate such a “radical” change.
Decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) like those running Lido and Curve, often operate with flat, non-hierarchical structures. Critics argue this can lead to inefficiencies or waste. The latest proposed cost-cutting moves come as the sector continues to evolve, highlighting the challenge of balancing open participation with financial discipline.
For more DeFi data and live protocol dashboards, see the DeFiLlama website.
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