LayerZero Secures $120M Stargate DAO Buyout

- Stargate DAO approves LayerZero Foundation’s $120 million takeover with a 95% vote. - Deal involves STG token swap for ZRO and the dissolution of Stargate DAO. The Stargate DAO has approved its acquisition by the LayerZero Foundation after a decisive vote. On August 24, 2025, The Block reported that nearly 95% of DAO participants supported the $120 million offer. The deal dissolves the Stargate DAO and transitions Stargate (STG) holders to LayerZero’s ZRO tokens through a token swap. LayerZero outmaneuvered competing bids from Wormhole, Axelar, and Across Protocol, which emerged late in the process. Although Wormhole requested a five-day voting delay to reconsider its offer, Stargate DAO members proceeded with LayerZero’s revised terms. The new terms included temporary revenue-sharing incentives for staked STG token holders (veSTG), a move that ultimately secured broad support. This acquisition is a groundbreaking development in decentralized finance (DeFi), marking one of the first multi-million-dollar takeovers of a decentralized autonomous organization. Following the merger, the Stargate bridge will reintegrate into the LayerZero ecosystem, which originally launched the bridge in 2022. To date, the bridge has handled over $70 billion in transactions across approximately 50 blockchains, emphasizing its dominance in the cross-chain space. Meanwhile, as of 19:08 UTC on August 24, Axelar (AXL), one of the competing bidders, was priced at $0.333, a 2.66% rise over 24 hours. Other assets also saw gains, with Render (RNDR) trading at $3.91, an increase of 2.18%, and Ondo (ONDO) valued at $1.021, up 1.74% over the same period.