Blockchain messaging protocol LayerZero has successfully acquired cross-chain protocol Stargate Finance following a competitive four-way bidding war and community approval. The Stargate community voted on Sunday with a 94.76% majority (representing 7.2 million STG tokens) in favor of LayerZero Foundation's $110 million acquisition proposal, which was amended after initial criticism from STG token holders.
LayerZero's revised offer includes giving Stargate stakers half of all top-line revenue for six months, with the remaining half used to buy back LayerZero's ZRO token. Under the approved deal, all circulating STG will be swapped for ZRO at a ratio of 1 STG to 0.08634 ZRO, effectively phasing out the STG token and consolidating governance under ZRO.
The acquisition faced last-minute competition from Wormhole, which offered a $120 million all-cash purchase, and expressions of interest from Axelar Network and Across Protocol. However, Stargate Foundation lead Angus Lamps confirmed the vote couldn't be paused for additional bids. LayerZero CEO Bryan Pellegrino noted the vote had "the highest participation of any vote" in Stargate's history, with over 15,000 addresses participating.
LayerZero originally developed and launched Stargate in 2022, and the acquisition brings the platform back under its control. Stargate currently facilitates cross-chain transfers using liquidity pools with approximately $345 million in Total Value Locked (TVL).