Lido

Ethereum requires those who run servers that process the network's transactions to "stake" the blockchain's native cryptocurrency. Participants need to put their crypto in escrow, and if they're found to have manipulated transactions, they lose money.

Stakers receive interest on the staked crypto, but they can't transfer their holdings elsewhere. In 2020, Vasiliy Shapovalov, Konstantin Lomashuk, and Jordan Fish launched Lido to solve for this inconvenience. In a process called "liquid staking," the protocol stakes cryptocurrency on behalf of users and gives them a deposit token that can be transferred. Lido has grown to become the largest staking provider on the Ethereum blockchain, accounting for about 23% of all staked Ether.