Here’s why the growth of token staking could be bullish for Lido (LDO)

cointelegraph.com:

Liquid staking has grown in popularity over the past year thanks in part to the launch of the Ethereum beacon chain and the inability of ETH stakers to withdraw their tokens until the full launch of the consensus layer. 

As a result, Lido (LDO) has established itself as a leader in the liquid staking sector. Lido is one of the main staking protocols for several popular tokens and it allows token holders to earn an extra yield by putting their staked assets to work in decentralized finance (DeFi).

Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that the price of LDO trended higher throughout the month of March and then entered a consolidation period in early April. Currently, the wider market is in a sharp downtrend, but the growth of the staking sector and upcoming Ethereum "merge" could still lead to bullish outcomes for LDO.

LDO price reversed trend toward the end of February and this was in part due to the addition of Polygon (MATIC) liquid staking to the Lido protocol, which was developed in conjunction with Shard Labs.

Lido for Polygon is here ️https://t.co/FCv36KDQj4Stake your MATIC with Lido for an effortless staking experience. Get started on https://t.co/usVwJcgv4Q. pic.twitter.com/ueBk2iSYeE

At the time of writing, there is more than $14.5 million worth of MATIC staked on Lido and it is earning a 8.7% yield. The protocol currently allows staking of ERC-20 MATIC tokens and stakers receive stMATIC in return, which can be utilized in DeFi protocols on the Ethereum and Polygon network.

The addition new assets, as well as an increase in the amount of Ether staked on Lido sent the total value locked on the protocol to a record-high $20.83 billion on April 5 and currently this figure stands at $18.3 billion