Lido starts moving more than 8 million ether to cut validator count by a third
Lido’s Core upgrade centers on Curated Module v2, adding support for 0x02 withdrawal credentials and new operator bonding and penalty rules while aiming to lower Ethereum’s validator count over time.
Lido said its Lido Core upgrade is live, with Curated Module v2 rolling out at the protocol level with no action required from stakers. The upgrade adds support for Ethereum’s 0x02 withdrawal credentials, allowing validators to raise their effective balance from 32 ETH to as much as 2,048 ETH through consolidations. Lido has said the broader migration involves more than 8 million ETH and could reduce Ethereum’s validator count by about one-third to roughly 628,000 from around 880,000, lowering consensus-layer message and data-processing load while not being designed to change execution-layer activity such as transaction fees and gas costs. Curated Module v2 also introduces bond-based accountability and penalty mechanisms for node operators, and Lido said future stake distribution could put greater weight on operator performance, fees and contributions to Ethereum’s ecosystem.
- 0x02 withdrawal credentials: A newer Ethereum validator format that supports validator consolidation and much larger effective balances.
- consensus layer: The part of Ethereum responsible for validator coordination and network agreement rather than transaction execution.
- slashing: A proof-of-stake penalty that can cause validators to lose staked assets for certain failures or violations.