# stake

Lock up your crypto to help maintain the blockchain network and earn rewards

+ Related tags
All
CeFi
DeFi
Resources
Developer
NFTs

Ethereum

Ethereum is open access to digital money and data-friendly services for everyone – no matter your background or location. It's a community-built technology behind the cryptocurrency ether (ETH) and thousands of applications and smart contracts (computer programs living on Ethereum) you can use today. The Ethereum network is a network of computers all over the world that follow a set of rules called the Ethereum protocol, and it acts as the foundation for communities, applications, organizations and digital assets that anyone can build and use. Ethereum allows you to coordinate, make agreements or transfer digital assets directly with other people. You don't need to rely on intermediaries. And because no government or company has control over Ethereum it is impossible for anyone to stop you from receiving payments or using services on Ethereum. As mentioned before, Ethereum is not controlled by any particular entity and it exists whenever there are connected computers running software following the Ethereum protocol and adding to the Ethereum blockchain. Each of these computers is known as a node. Nodes can be run by anyone, although to participate in securing the network you have to stake ETH (Ethereum’s native token). Anyone with 32 ETH can do this without needing permission. ### Why Ethereum helps people and communities to coordinate in a resilient, open and trustworthy way on the internet. It also gives people the tools to have self sovereignty over their digital assets, and is particualrly important for people who have had to handle uncertainty around the security or soundness or mobility of their assets due to external forces outside of their control. The core value of Ethereum is that you can interact with the internet without trusting a central authority that could change the rules or restrict your access. The internet was meant to be a free and open space for everyone, and Ethereum builds on this premise, allowing you to control your own assets and identity, instead of them being controlled by a few mega-corporations.

Lido

### What Lido is an open source tool and family of protocols that enables users to mint liquid staking tokens (sTokens) - These liquid staking tokens receive rewards from validation activities of writing data to the blockchain, but unlike their staked counterparts, are "unlocked" which means they can be used in other on-chain activities, like DeFi. Lido protocols let users stake native tokens (ETH, MATIC, SOL) from Ethereum, Polygon, and Solana networks in a fully permissionless way. And as the protocols are deployed on public blockchains, users do not need the website to access the smart contracts. ### Why Traditional staking means that users need to lock-up their ETH or other native asset to be able to secure the network and receive the respective rewards. However, this means that these tokens can't be used for anything else while they are staked. Lido aims to solve this problem. Lido protocols give users liquidity - users are able to receive staking rewards from validation activities, but can sell their stTokens (tokens minted on Lido) anytime they want to exit their staking position. In addition, it allows users to participate in DeFi while getting rewards - Because sTokens are unstaked and thus "liquid", users can use stTokens as building blocks in DeFi protocols at the same time as getting staking rewards from validating activities. The Lido DAO also works with experienced node operators, which decreases the likelihood of technical mistakes that could lead to slashing or penalties and minimizes the technical burden for users to receive staking rewards. Users supply the stake, and the node operators supply the know-how.

Articles and documentation