Lido's Community Staking Module (CSM) Goes Permissionless

Ethereum liquid staking platform Lido has transformed its Community Staking Module (CSM) into a fully permissionless platform.

CSM is a component of the Lido protocol that was designed to make Ethereum staking accessible to the broader community.

However, participation in the CSM was restricted, requiring permission until the game changed with Friday's announcement.

What's changed?

In 7 words - removal of gatekeeping or overwhelming approval processes. Previously approvals were more permissioned or selective but now based on meeting a minimum bond requirement.

According to the announcement:

"New stakers only need to put up 2.4 ETH as a bond for their first validator while subsequent validators require just 1.3 ETH, with early adopters during the Early Adoption phase enjoying a discounted bond of 1.5 ETH for their initial validator."

By lowering the entry cost, CSM empowers anyone with a relatively small amount of ETH to participate in staking, a development that is in sharp contrast to the standard 32 ETH requirement for independently running a validator on Ethereum.

The move not only aligns with Ethereum's core philosophy of open participation but fosters robust decentralization as a diverse set of validators reduces the risk of centralization.

The best part is that CSM v2 is in the works and it promises to further reduce barriers, empower stakers, and increase the stake that can be managed in a permissionless manner.