Lido DAO Sunset Solana Project: Financial Challenges Lead to Community Decision
In a significant development, Lido DAO has chosen to sunset the Lido on Solana project following a decisive community vote. This decision, supported by 92% of the community, stems from the project’s financial constraints, making it unsustainable.
Sunsetting Lido on Solana: Phased Process Underway
The Lido on Solana project will undergo a phased sunset process in the upcoming months. stSOL token holders have until February 2024 to unstake their assets through the Lido on Solana frontend.
This community-driven decision comes after extensive deliberations, where 92% of Lido token holders voted in favor of sunsetting the Lido on Solana protocol. The alternative option, supported by just over 7% of the community, involved providing additional funding to the project.
Financial Considerations and Decision Making
The P2P validator team, responsible for Lido on Solana, presented two scenarios to the community. The first involved infusing $1.5 million in funding to sustain the project, while the second was an exit from the Solana blockchain.
Financial details revealed that the team invested approximately $700,000 in development and support. However, their revenue amounted to only $220,000, resulting in a significant loss of $484,000. With the community choosing the sunsetting option, the P2P team will rely on $20,000 per month in support from Lido DAO for technical maintenance over a five-month period, starting from September 4, 2023.
The decision to wind down the Lido on Solana project, despite strong relationships across the Solana ecosystem, was deemed necessary for the broader success of the Lido protocol ecosystem.
Notably, this is not the first instance of Lido discontinuing its liquid staking solutions. Prior to this, Lido had already ceased liquid staking operations on Kusama and Polkadot.
Sunset Process Details: Staking Halt and Unstaking Deadline
The sunsetting process on Solana will include an immediate halt to staking, voluntary off-boarding for node operators beginning on November 17, 2023, and a final date for stSOL token holders to unstake by February 4, 2024, via the Command Line Interface (CLI).
