Lido V3 Architecture
The architecture of Lido V3 is built around stVaults and involves several smart contracts.
🧩 Lido V3 Smart Contracts
Below are the main smart contracts employed in Lido V3 and their respective roles.
| Smart Contract | Role / Purpose |
|---|---|
| Staking Vault | Represents an isolated staking environment: holds ETH, submits validator deposits and triggers validator withdrawals. Each vault has an owner and is tied to a chosen node operator. |
| Vault Hub | Central registry and coordination layer between Vaults and the main Lido protocol. Manages vault metadata, enforces collateralization constraints, and handles minting/burning of stETH against vault collateral. |
| Lazy Oracle | Responsible for vault-specific reporting: periodically aggregates validator and vault data (rewards, slashes, value changes) and submits them to the Vault Hub. It bridges information on the Beacon Chain to Ethereum Mainnet. |
| Vault Factory | Factory contract used to deploy verified/stable vault instances. Only vaults deployed via VaultFactory are recognized by Lido Core and can be connected to VaultHub — this ensures security and standardization. |
| Predeposit Guarantee (PDG) | A security guard for validator deposits: ensures that validator activations are properly backed by ETH, mitigating deposit front-running or invalid validator credential risks. |
| Dashboard | Provides a user-friendly interface layer for vault owners: role-based permissions, fee accounting, and vault operations (deposit, mint, rebalance, etc.). While optional, the Dashboard brings significant UX improvements. |
| Operator Grid | Maintains the registry of node operators, enforces per-operator and per-tier limits for stETH minting from vaults, and manages risk parameters (reserve ratios, share limits, rebalance thresholds). |
🔗 How These Pieces Fit Together
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Each stVault is deployed via the Vault Factory and, once funded and properly initialized, can be connected to the Vault Hub.
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The Vault Hub acts as the coordination center between stVaults and Lido. It recognizes vaults, tracks their total value, and ensures that any minted stETH is safely backed by locked ETH and reserves enforced through Operator Grid parameters (reserve ratio, share limits, etc.).
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As validators under a vault accumulate rewards or suffer penalties, periodic reports are submitted via the Lazy Oracle. These updates adjust the vault’s total value, locked collateral, and obligations (mint liability, fees, etc.) accordingly.
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Reserve and health-check logic ensure that vaults remain sufficiently collateralized. If a vault becomes undercollateralized (e.g. due to slashing), it may be forced into rebalance or redemption, ensuring overall stETH solvency.
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To improve the user experience, the Dashboard contract provides vault owners with a unified point of access to operate stVaults and manage permissions.
Updated 22 days ago
