Lido’s LDO Token Sinks 10% Following Rumors Crypto Staking Service Received SEC Notice

Lido’s LDO token tanked 10% on Saturday following a rumor that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) served the largest Ethereum staking service with a Wells Notice.

A Lido spokesperson declined to comment on whether the protocol had received a notice.

A Wells Notice is a letter from the SEC detailing charges it is considering bringing against a recipient. On Friday, David Hoffman of the Bankless crypto podcast said that he’d heard Lido and other crypto projects had been served with Wells Notices, an assertion he later retracted.

The rumor sparked panic on crypto Twitter, however, and it quickly spread across the Colorado convention hall where ETHDenver, one of the year’s largest crypto industry gatherings, was underway. The rumors, if proven true, would suggest that the SEC is ramping up scrutiny of Ethereum and crypto staking.

Wells Notice Rumors

On Friday, Hoffman said on a video stream that “many Wells notices” had been distributed in the past week, adding that “I think Lido got one.” Soon after the video spread on Twitter, Hoffman backtracked. “While there is at least one confirmed Wells Notice that *has* gone out recently, that *isn't* known to the public, the idea of a mass recent carpet bomb isn't correct,” he tweeted.

“There have apparently been rumors of Lido being caught in the crosshairs of Gary the Destroyer,” he said, referencing SEC Commissioner Gary Gensler, who has become persona-non-grata in some cryptocurrency circles due to the perception that he is unfriendly to the industry. “Members of the Lido team have reached out to me and said that this is false.”

It is unclear how the SEC would have delivered notice to Lido. The staking service is technically operated by the Lido DAO (decentralized autonomous organization), meaning it is governed by a vast network of Lido’s LDO token-holders and lacks a formal leadership structure.

Despite Hoffman’s retraction, the market appeared to respond to his Wells remarks; the price of LDO has fallen 10% in the past 24 hours.

Andrew Thurman of crypto analytics firm Nansen tweeted that Wintermute, one of the largest crypto market makers, sold off around 10%, or $2 million, of its LDO holdings. Thurman speculated that the sell-off was correlated with the Wells rumor.

Amid the Wells Notice debacle (should be a Not Wells Notice amirite) Wintermute Trading shaved about 10% of their $LDO position, sending $2 milly in tokens to Coinbase through an intermediary wallet

Still hold $21 milly worth pic.twitter.com/hpiVV9qzWu

— Andrew T (@Blockanalia) March 4, 2023

The SEC’s Crypto Crackdown

Friday’s Wells Notice fracas comes amidst a broader crypto industry crackdown by U.S. securities regulators. Last month, for instance, stablecoin issuer Paxos confirmed that it had been served with a Wells Notice on Feb. 3. The SEC said it is considering charging Paxos with operating an unregistered security with its Binance-linked BUSD stablecoin.

Lido, a liquid staking platform, helps users lock up – or “stake” – tokens to earn interest and help secure the Ethereum blockchain. Lido currently accounts for 31% of all staked ether (ETH), according to Dune Analytics. The $8 billion staked with Ethereum via Lido, a decentralized service, makes it the largest Ethereum staker.

Last month, the crypto exchange platform Kraken agreed to shutter its own staking service in a settlement with the SEC. The Kraken shutdown had a chilling effect on the crypto staking landscape, raising regulatory questions for similar services – centrally controlled and DAO-operated alike.