Lido Finance [LDO] escalates by 160%: How much did large investors help?

• Lido Finance (LDO) has increased by over 150% since its rally started.
• Lido has also witnessed a growth in its Total Value Locked (TVL).

Since the start of 2023, Lido Finance [LDO] has seen a value growth of over 150%. Additionally, the protocol’s Total Value Locked (TVL) increased when the TVL for competing DeFi protocols stagnated. What might be the cause of this remarkable increase?

Read Lido’s [LDO] Price Prediction 2023-24

How high has LDO gone?

A daily timeframe analysis of Lido Finance (LDO) revealed that the asset increased by 160%. The chart also made it evident that the surge began on 1 January. LDO was down over 4% in value during this writing period and was trading at roughly $2.2. 

Source: Trading View

Despite the value decline and flat price movement, it was still trading above the long and short Moving Averages (blue and yellow lines). The Relative Strength Index line was at 60, indicating that it was still in a bull trend. An approaching golden cross that could further ignite an upswing was also apparent.

Whales and sharks circling

The recent price increase in Lido Finance has been nothing short of spectacular. However, the spectacular maneuver might have been influenced by the behavior of the whales and sharks.

According to Santiment, sharks have been very active in their accumulation of LDO. Over the past month, LDO addresses with between 100 – one million LDO tokens have accumulated actively. 

Source: Santiment

The whales, or owners of one – 100 million LDO, have also been accumulating, but compared to the sharks, considerably more slowly. Although whales have been less eager to accumulate, their combined activities with those of the shark have significantly boosted the price rally.

Some reasons for LDO’s uptrend

The broad price surge in the market may be one factor driving the increased whale and shark activity. According to data from Coin Market Cap, the total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies has recently surpassed $1 trillion. A potentially stronger bull trend is anticipated, which is why the current positive general market attitude and trend could motivate accumulation.

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Meanwhile, the value of Lido’s token has been on the rise. As of this writing, Lido has a TVL of $8.15 billion, according to data from DefiLlama. At the same time, a closer examination of the chart revealed hinted that the TVL might not be finished climbing.

There has been a spike in the number of staked deposits on Lido Finance. The spike is in anticipation of the Shanghai upgrade, which is expected to occur before the end of Q1 2023.

Source: DefiLlama