Lido, the leading liquid staking protocol, has launched EarnUSD, its first dedicated stablecoin vault, and restructured its Earn platform into two core products. The new EarnUSD vault accepts deposits of USDC and USDT on the Ethereum network, automatically routing funds into a diversified set of dollar-denominated DeFi yield strategies.
The strategies include conservative on-chain lending positions, real-world asset (RWA) integrations, and selective exposure to higher-return opportunities. Users receive an earnUSD token representing their position, which automatically compounds rewards over time. This product is designed to provide stablecoin holders with simplified, passive access to DeFi yields without the need for manual strategy management.
Concurrently, Lido has revamped its broader Earn platform, consolidating it into two primary vaults: EarnUSD for stablecoins and EarnETH for ether-based assets. The EarnETH vault accepts ETH, WETH, and stETH, deploying them across lending platforms like Aave, decentralized exchanges such as Uniswap, and yield markets including Morpho. This new structure replaces the previous three thematic vaults, aiming to reduce fragmentation and simplify user access.
The Lido DAO has committed significant treasury support to back the launch. It has allocated $5 million from its treasury to the new vaults, depositing the funds under the same conditions as regular users. Crucially, this capital acts as a first-loss buffer; should any vault incur losses, the DAO's position will absorb them first, aligning incentives between the protocol and its depositors.
This expansion is part of a broader strategy approved by the DAO in December, which earmarked a $60 million budget to grow Lido's product suite beyond its core liquid staking service. The original Earn platform launched in September 2025 and had accumulated nearly $250 million in deposits prior to this restructuring. Lido currently manages approximately $19 billion in total value locked (TVL), with over 8.7 million ETH staked.
Marin Tvrdić, Head of Earn Partnerships at the Lido Ecosystem Foundation, stated, "Stablecoins are a fundamental part of the DeFi market, and until now we weren’t serving those users. That changes today with EarnUSD." This move positions Lido as a broader DeFi infrastructure provider, catering to both ether stakers and stablecoin holders seeking yield.
