Lido DAO's LDO token climbed over 5% on Thursday as the final on-chain vote for its NEST automated buyback system went live. The vote, which runs until August 8 at 2:00 p.m. UTC, could introduce a mechanism to use surplus revenue for direct LDO purchases and DAO-owned liquidity. Meanwhile, a prominent analyst projected a recovery of more than 1,700% from current levels, citing long-term accumulation potential.
NEST vote details: The Network Economic Support Tokenomics (NEST) proposal would allocate income above a $40 million annual staking-revenue baseline. Once daily revenue surpasses that threshold, 50% of the eligible surplus—subject to a $50,000 daily limit and a $10 million rolling annual cap—would fund LDO buybacks and liquidity. Half of the budget would purchase LDO via CoW Swap, while the other half would be converted into wstETH and paired with the acquired LDO in a Curve liquidity pool under DAO ownership. A prior Snapshot vote overwhelmingly supported the design with 94.5% approval.
Price action and technicals: LDO rebounded from $0.2757 to near $0.293, paring a weekly loss of roughly 16.7%. The token remains below its Bollinger Band midpoint of $0.3577, with RSI at 37.57, still in bearish territory. A close below $0.275 could expose $0.250 and the June low of $0.235; reclaiming $0.305 would signal initial recovery.
Ethereum staking headwinds: The rally comes amid debates over EIP-8361 (Tapered Issuance Burn), a draft proposal to progressively burn validator issuance rewards as staked ETH approaches 50% of supply. Critics warn that reduced staking yields could undercut demand for liquid staking products like Lido's stETH, potentially pressuring the protocol's TVL, fees, and revenue. Proponents argue it would curb staking concentration and limit ETH issuance.
Analyst long-term view: Trader Crypto Patel noted that LDO sits at a multi-year demand area after a 94% crash from its cycle high near $4. He identified an accumulation zone between $0.275 and $0.24, with invalidation below $0.23 and a trend change signal above $0.47. His target range from a successful base ranges from $1.50 to a retest of the $4 all-time high, driven by Lido's leading position in liquid staking and diminishing sell pressure from unlocked tokens. However, he and others stressed that a weekly close below $0.23 would void the setup.
Trading volume dwindled to about $50 million, down 43% from the prior day, while monthly performance remained slightly positive at around +5%.
