TLDR
This is a separate proposal to the grant request previously posted ( Switzerland for UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, to launch the 1st worldwide digital asset philanthropic platform with Lido support. Commits to restaking all ETH raised with Lido. ) on the Lido Forums by UNHCR, which requested funding for a custody solution and other resources. This grant proposal has been developed and agreed between Switzerland for UNHCR (“UNHCR”) and the Lido Impact Staking team.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a global leader in providing protection, assistance, and sustainable solutions for millions of refugees, forcibly displaced individuals, and stateless people. Operating in over 130 countries, UNHCR delivers critical humanitarian aid in crisis zones, ensures access to shelter, education, and livelihoods, and supports long-term resettlement and integration.
In 2023 alone, UNHCR provided emergency relief to over 50 million people, delivered education programs to refugee children, and ensured life-saving interventions during conflicts in Sudan, Ukraine, and beyond. However, with the escalating needs of displaced populations, innovative approaches to fundraising are essential to sustain and scale these efforts.
Lido Impact Staking (LIS) was created following a grant provided by the Lido Ecosystem Grants Organization to Launchnodes. LIS enables stakers to leverage Lido’s staking middleware platform to stake their ETH, stETH or wstETH, and to donate any percentage of their staking rewards to an established charity or cause available through the platform. LIS is now live at http://impactstake.com on the Ethereum mainnet, has been successfully security audited, and is due to expand further in 2025, with multiple leading global charities and organizations including GiveDirectly, Mercy Corps Ventures, Grassroots Economics, CARE International, Treedom and others.
UNHCR and the Lido Impact Staking team propose to collaborate to leverage LIS to enable UNHCR to receive staking rewards and crypto donations, in a cost-effective, streamlined way that leverages existing infrastructure. This will include:
- Inclusion of UNHCR within the Lido Impact Staking platform, as an option for any visitor or staker to pledge rewards to
- Provision of technical and workflow guidance to UNHCR - regarding custody, workflows and other best practice learnings
- Creation of a dedicated UNHCR Lido Impact Staking portal, with full UNHCR branding - enabling UNHCR to direct prospective donors to a branded UNHCR ‘walled garden’ microsite
- Provision of an initial 10 ETH by the Lido Impact Staking team for 12 months, with 100% of net staking rewards being donated to UNHCR
- Inclusion of UNHCR within LIS marketing plans, including engaging family offices and charitable foundations to increase donations to UNHCR
- Support from multiple Lido Operators that are backing Lido Impact Staking with community and marketing support, and financial backing
UNHCR and the Lido Impact Staking team requests a grant from the Lido Ecosystems Grant Organization of $5,000, to partially fund the onboarding of UNHCR onto LIS, with creation of the branded microsite and a planned go-live in early Q1 2025.
Prototype UNHCR Branded Lido Impact Staking Portal
The Lido Impact Staking team has developed a prototype portal for UNHCR for demonstration purposes, this will be tested, secured and made production ready on the Ethereum mainnet
Accessible at https://unhcr-dev.impactstake.com
Background to UNHCR
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is a United Nations agency established in 1950 to provide protection and support to refugees, internally displaced persons (IDPs), stateless individuals, and asylum seekers worldwide. Its mission centers on safeguarding the rights and well-being of those forced to flee their homes due to conflict, persecution, or natural disasters. Built on the foundation of the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, UNHCR advocates for refugee rights while delivering essential humanitarian assistance such as shelter, healthcare, food, and education.
Operating in over 130 countries, UNHCR responds to some of the world’s most pressing humanitarian crises, including the Syrian conflict, Afghan displacement, Rohingya crisis, and the recent Ukraine emergency. With over 114 million forcibly displaced people globally as of 2023, the agency plays a pivotal role in crisis response, legal advocacy, and finding long-term solutions, such as voluntary repatriation, local integration, and third-country resettlement. UNHCR’s efforts have been widely recognized, earning two Nobel Peace Prizes for its lifesaving work and unwavering commitment to displaced populations.
Despite its success, UNHCR faces ongoing challenges, including increasing displacement numbers and funding shortfalls that threaten its ability to meet rising needs. Its impact, however, remains profound, having assisted tens of millions over the past seven decades. By facilitating critical support and fostering international cooperation, UNHCR continues to provide hope, safety, and opportunities for some of the most vulnerable people across the globe.
Background to Impact Staking
The team has worked with governments, UNICEF Giga, the Ethereum Foundation and other global organisations to demonstrate how ETH staking rewards can be used to fund powerful global initiatives such as enabling internet connectivity for schools:
- Impact Staking - Delivering school connectivity with Ethereum staking - YouTube
- Giga Finances School Connectivity in Rwanda through Ethereum Staking – Giga
There is a widely held belief by the general public that blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies are a speculative gamble with no societal benefits. There is also a malaise within web3 and blockchain communities that the focus for builders in this space is heavily skewed towards financial gain at all costs. Impact Staking demonstrates that these perceptions are not indicative of the web3 community overall – and that Ethereum, blockchain and staking can be a serious long term financing tool to address the world’s most pressing problems.
Lido Impact Staking
In 2023, the Lido Ecosystem Grants Organization provided a grant to enable Lido Impact Staking to be implemented. This has now been done, with the platform live and accessible at http://impactstake.com as of December 2024.
Visitors can connect their wallet, and stake ETH, stETH or wstETH with Lido, directing between 1% and 100% of their rewards to one or more charities or impact causes.
Stakers can withdraw part or all of their stake at any time, and can receive transaction reports to take advantage of the tax benefits of donating crypto through this model.
The platform has been running on the ETH Holesky network since August 2025, and security audits of the Lido Impact Staking smart contracts were completed in December 2024: https://lis-audit-report.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/final-report-30102024.pdf
Scope of Work
UNHCR is seeking to attract new funds for its vital work, from individuals and organizations that hold crypto. Lido Impact Staking enables these benefactors to donate some portion of their staking rewards, while retaining full custody and control of their ETH, stETH or wstETH - and the ability to withdraw their funds at a later date.
- Dedicated UNHCR Lido Impact Staking Portal
The team will provide and maintain a dedicated, UNHCR portal, that has been prototyped at the following address: https://unhcr-dev.impactstake.com
This custom branded portal will enable UNHCR to promote and market a dedicated Impact Staking microsite, or incorporate it within its own websites, enabling crypto native individuals and organizations to stake and unstake ETH, stETH and wstETH, with all proceeds sent to a dedicated crypto wallet fully owned and controlled by UNHCR.
Prototype staking Lido Impact Staking portal for UNHCR
Accessible at https://unhcr-dev.impactstake.com
- Provision of technical and workflow guidance to UNHCR - regarding custody, workflows and other best practice learnings
The team will support UNHCR in establishing its internal processes and governance to enable the go-live of the UNHCR staking portal
- Provision of an initial 10 ETH by the Lido Impact Staking team for 12 months, with 100% of net staking rewards being donated to UNHCR
The Lido Impact Staking team will provide an initial 10 ETH to be Impact Staked, with 100% of rewards being sent to UNHCR.
The Lido Impact Staking team will also incorporate UNHCR within the Lido Impact Staking platform at ImpactStake.com, and actively promote UNHCR to prospective Impact Stakers.
Off-ramp and Fiat Conversion
The Lido Impact Staking team promotes and encourages the use of crypto where possible, however understands the reality of UNHCR’s work and the need for fiat currency for many of its operations.
UNHCR will establish a dedicated, secure crypto wallet or custody solution, which will automatically receive donated Impact Staking rewards. UNHCR can then choose to utilize these funds as crypto currency and stablecoins, or alternatively to off-ramp to fiat using their preferred custody partner, or a reputable exchange regulated in their jurisdiction.
All transactions from the Lido Impact Staking (LIS) infrastructure are transparent and fully auditable via the Ethereum blockchain, with payments to the UNHCR wallet made automatically from the LIS smart contracts.
Promotion and Attracting Impact Stakers
It is anticipated that UNHCR will utilize its current marketing team and capabilities to promote UNHCR Impact Staking to prospective stakers globally. It is recognized that targeting and messaging may need to be adapted in order to reach crypto natives and prospective Impact Stakers.
The Lido Impact Staking team will also include UNHCR in its marketing plans and activities, to raise the profile of Impact Staking for UNHCR and to help maximise the donations made to UNHCR.
Impact and Outcomes
UNHCR will share details of the impact delivered by funds received from Lido Impact Stakers. This will serve to both evidence the social impact resulting from donations made, and also to encourage future staking by new Impact Stakers.
Project Timing
The Lido Impact Staking team is ready to being final testing for the dedicated UNHCR Impact Staking portal, and to ensure seamless integration with UNHCR’s existing website. Functionally and technically, this platform can be live on Ethereum mainnet from early February 2025.
Key aspects in preparing for go-live include UNHCR receiving internal approvals, establishing a robust ETH wallet or custody solution, putting in place a reliable ‘off-ramp’ to a fiat bank account, and ensuring the internal systems and resources are in place to manage this new fundraising income stream. The Lido Impact Staking team is available to support these UNHCR activities.
Key Highlighted Risks and Mitigations
Risk: Internal processes at UNHCR are not established or agreed
UNHCR have indicated that they are keen to explore and progress Impact Staking, however internal processes may take time.
If the UNHCR portal is not live on mainnet within 6 months of a grant being approved, the Lido Impact Staking team intends to return the grant funding in full.
Risk: Amount raised resulting from Impact Staking is low
Impact Staking is a new and innovative concept, and the scale of donations received by UNHCR will be a direct function of the Total Value Locked, where the rewards are pledged to UNHCR.
Maximising TVL will be done through a combination of:
i) Promotion and marketing by UNHCR
ii) Promotion and marketing by the Lido Impact Staking team and broader ecosystem
This grant proposal is attractive as an effective way for UNHCR to have a dedicated, branded portal for receiving staking rewards using Lido’s middleware, enabled by the Lido Impact Staking infrastructure and platform. Lido Impact Staking has been security audited, and includes functionality for tax reporting, straightforward staking and unstaking of ETH, stETH and wstETH, and removes the need for additional software or services.
We aim for UNHCR to receive healthy ongoing rewards, and with active promotion to ETH holders who wish to support the globally increasing number of displaced individuals, we expect that this will become a meaningful funding stream for UNHCR over time.
UNHCR may require further support and funding for marketing activities targetted at maximising the total amount staked with Lido for their benefit. In this case a separate, focussed grant proposal will be developed to understand this activity and develop a detailed plan. The Lido Impact Staking team plans to collaborate on a playbook for multilateral organizations to maximise the impact of staking with Lido, which will include key marketing activities and guidance.
Who are the Lido Impact Staking team?
Launchnodes has been pioneering and promoting Impact Staking within the Ethereum ecosystem since 2021. In 2024, the Launchnodes team focussed on building Lido Impact Staking at impactstake.com, enabling users to stake using Lido’s trusted middleware. Since 2024, the broader Lido community and multiple other organisations and individuals have embraced and supported Lido Impact Staking, broadening the scope and potential for this new model of philanthropy. Every new Impact Staker brings TVL into the Lido ecosystem, to the benefit of all curated, DVT and CSM node operators.
Grant Request
Breakdown Timeline for each of the following components:
- Finalise and test UNHCR branded Impact Staking portal
- Co-ordinate with UNHCR technical team, integrate within UNHCR website if necessary
- Agree and establish internal processes and governance within UNHCR
- Set up enterprise grade wallet/custody solution and fiat off-ramp solution
- Develop and execute marketing plan and ongoing activities
- Go-live
Total Project Duration: 2 months (Estimated)
2 weeks (UNHCR Portal testing and integration) +
1 month (UNHCR internal processes) +
2 weeks (Marketing and launch planning)
Access
Access and ongoing support relating to all features outlined in the Scope of Work proposed above is planned for at least 24 months after completion of the full scope of the proposal.
It is intended that the platform and Impact Staking as an initiative will grow at pace throughout 2025 and beyond, and that the project components will continue to be built upon, supported and maintained - either by the Lido Impact Staking team within Launchnodes, or through a broader community approach with a dedicated DAO or similar structure.
Fees and Payment
For the Scope of Work proposed above, we are requesting a $5,000 grant, payable upon project initiation. This is to partially cover the costs of implementing and maintaining the dedicated UNHCR portal for a 24+ month period.
Launchnodes has committed to achieve a minimum of 10 ETH staked for at least 1 year, to catalyse further staking on behalf of UNHCR, and to generate funds for vital UNHCR work.
In the event that this portal does not go live within 6 months, the grant will be returned in full.
We are happy to accommodate DAI, at the suggestion of the LEGO committee.
Ongoing Maintenance, Support and Growth
The Lido Impact Staking team is committed to maintaining and supporting the infrastructure for Lido Impact Staking and UNHCR for at least 24 months. The code, smart contracts and other core components of Lido Impact Staking are within the public domain.
Initial Impact Projects and Causes
UNHCR is requested to provide ongoing data on the Key Performance Indicators being tracked as part of their project delivery, eg. numbers of individuals assisted, timeliness of fund utilization, number of aid packages delivered, number of projects delivered etc.
This will drive increasingly insightful real-time data on the publicly available Lido Impact Staking dashboards.
Conclusion
This initiative puts UNHCR at the forefront of digital philanthropy, enabling the organization to lead the humanitarian sector in embracing innovative fundraising solutions. By adopting Lido Impact Staking, UNHCR can focus on what it does best — delivering hope and support to the world’s most vulnerable — while leveraging staking as a simple and elegant tool for greater impact.
Lido’s Mission is to empower communities through innovative staking solutions, this grant would help to underpin this empowerment for some of the world’s most vulnerable communities.