Community Votes Overwhelmingly in Favor as Rivals Fail to Overtake Deal
In a decisive move for the cross-chain ecosystem, LayerZero has successfully acquired Stargate Finance for $110 million, following an intense four-way bidding war that captured industry attention.
The acquisition, approved by a 95% majority vote within the Stargate community, marks a major milestone for interoperability solutions in decentralized finance (DeFi). More than 15,000 addresses participated, representing 7.2 million STG tokens in favor of the proposal, according to the official voting data.
LayerZero co-founder Bryan Pellegrino described the vote as “the highest participation of any vote in Stargate’s history,” adding that “not only did ~95% of stake weight vote in the affirmative, but ~95% of addresses voted in the affirmative.”
Bidding War Highlights Strategic Value of Stargate
The acquisition was anything but straightforward. Three major rivals — Wormhole, Axelar Network, and Across Protocol — expressed interest, with Wormhole making an aggressive $120 million all-cash offer just days before the vote. Wormhole argued that LayerZero’s original proposal undervalued Stargate’s business and promised stakers “3x projected revenue for the next six months, paid upfront.”
Despite these offers, the community stood firm behind LayerZero’s revised proposal, which promised 50% of Stargate’s top-line revenue for six months to token stakers, while allocating the remaining half for a ZRO token buyback program.
Why This Deal Matters for DeFi
Stargate, originally launched by LayerZero in 2022, enables cross-chain asset transfers without traditional bridges, addressing a key vulnerability in DeFi — bridge exploits. Bringing Stargate back under LayerZero’s control could accelerate innovation in interoperability, strengthening the protocol’s market position.
Industry analysts suggest this acquisition signals a renewed focus on liquidity-based cross-chain solutions, setting the stage for fewer hacks and more secure asset transfers. BITX analyst noted, “This isn’t just about owning a protocol; it’s about consolidating infrastructure for the next phase of blockchain interoperability.”
Disclaimer
This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice. Cryptocurrency trading involves risk and may result in financial loss.