UNICEF’s Giga Initiative Leverages Lido Staking to Fund Global School Internet Access

In a groundbreaking move, UNICEF’s Giga initiative partners with Lido Finance to stake Ethereum and generate yield for connecting schools worldwide. This DeFi-powered solution bypasses traditional funding bottlenecks—proving crypto can do more than just make degenerate traders rich.

The program taps into staking rewards from Lido’s liquid staking protocol, creating a sustainable funding model. While Wall Street hedgies fight over basis points, this initiative shows blockchain’s real utility: funding public goods at scale.

Theinitiative, dedicated to connecting every school to the internet by 2030, has adoptedas a. By leveraging, Giga can secure long-term funding while enabling donors to contribute.

Giga, a partnership between UNICEF and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), helps governments to design, plan, negotiate funding and implement connectivity for schools worldwide.

Through, institutional donors and individuals canand contribute a portion of their staking rewards to Giga. This approach introduces a, where donors – now “impact stakers” – can

“Innovative financing models like Lido Impact Staking allow us to accelerate school connectivity at scale,” said Gerben Kijne, Blockchain Product Lead at Unicef. “By leveraging blockchain technology and staking rewards, we can unlock new sources of funding to bridge the digital divide.”

Lido Impact Staking enables ETH holders to allocate a percentage of their staking yield tolike Giga. Unlike traditional donations,, while their staking rewards are directed toward funding internet access for underserved schools.

With UNICEF Giga’s participation, LIS is establishing itself as a, demonstrating how.

Giga’s adoption of LIS also opens doors for– corporations, foundations, and Web3 communities – seekingto support global initiatives. Organizations can now stake ETH for Giga and ensurewithout touching their original assets.

Impact Staking emerged as an innovative initiative following Ethereum’s transition to Proof of Stake, pioneered by the team at Launchnodes. Founded in April 2020, Launchnodes empowers users worldwide to solo stake Ethereum and operate their own Ethereum nodes without compromising custody or control over their assets.

In 2023, the Lido Ecosystem Grants Organization (LEGO) awarded Launchnodes a grant to develop an Impact Staking middleware that integrates seamlessly with Lido’s scalable, battle-tested middleware. This led to the creation of Lido Impact Staking (LIS).

Today, the LIS team collaborates with NGOs, governments, philanthropic foundations, family offices, and social impact donors who recognize the transformative potential of Impact Staking. By channelling staking rewards into meaningful causes, this model introduces a sustainable, blockchain-driven approach to philanthropy.

seeks to connect the estimated three million schools still without internet access. Online learning opens a world of information to students and teachers, and enables inclusive lifelong learning and socio-economic growth. Giga is currently engaged in 39 countries.is a decentralized impact funding mechanism that facilitates philanthropy by allowing ETH stakers to donate a portion of their staking rewards to social impact projects. Built on, LIS enables sustainable, long-term funding for initiatives like Giga.

To learn more and become anfor Giga, users can visit: