Lido has activated its long-awaited automatic LDO token buyback program, NEST, on mainnet. The program is designed for dynamic buybacks based on market conditions, with a daily limit of $50,000 and annual purchases capped at $10 million. It will only trigger if the protocol’s daily staking revenue exceeds $109,000, equating to a $40 million annual baseline; current daily revenue of roughly $75,000 remains below this threshold. Bought tokens will go to the DAO treasury, not be burned. The program is smaller than those of competitors like Hyperliquid and Uniswap.
Staking protocol Lido has activated its automatic LDO token buyback program, known as NEST, on mainnet. The program is limited to $50,000 in daily purchases and $10 million in annual purchases.
It is designed for dynamic buybacks that consider prevailing market conditions. Under the NEST design, only 50% of daily staking revenue exceeding $109,000 will be directed to the program.
This translates to a $40 million annual revenue baseline. Lido’s current daily staking revenue in August is roughly $75,000, according to data from DeFiLlama.
The last time daily revenue crossed the $109,000 trigger point was in April 2026. The bought LDO tokens will be owned by the DAO treasury, not burned.
The program was previously criticized for being too small compared to others. For reference, Hyperliquid executes about $100 million in annual buybacks, while Aster and Uniswap run $40 million programs.
Pro-crypto attorney Gabriel Shapiro praised the dynamic mechanism, stating, “How buybacks should be.” Critics, however, argue buybacks can waste funds during downturns and prefer directing capital to ecosystem development.
On price charts, LDO has defended the $0.28 support level in August. This stopped the previous month’s decline, but a strong recovery remains elusive.
The token is currently trading below key moving averages. A decisive move above $0.33 would confirm upside potential.
