Lido started migrating over 8 million ETH, equivalent to $16.5 billion, onto new Ethereum 0x02 validators enabled by the Pectra upgrade. This shift reduces Ethereum's validator count by about 33%, marking a major infrastructure update since Lido V2 launched in 2023.
Previously, each Ethereum validator was limited to handling 32 ETH, requiring Lido to run thousands of individual nodes. The Pectra upgrade lifts this cap, allowing validators to manage larger stakes and consolidate the network footprint.
The migration, known as Curated Module v2 (CMv2), was ratified by the Lido DAO on July 23, 2026, following extensive audits and testnet testing. It also introduces a new financial aspect: Lido's 34 professional node operators must now post locked ETH collateral, increasing accountability beyond reputation alone.
During the transition, staking rewards for Lido users may see a slight dip of roughly 0.28% annually. The drop in validator count will also reduce attestation message traffic by an estimated 29%, easing consensus layer congestion, though this won’t directly affect gas fees or transaction speeds for most users.
Lido's control over a large share of staked ETH means these changes have network-wide implications. This upgrade runs alongside other Core Upgrade adjustments, including CSM v3, approved by the Lido DAO on the same day.
