Wormhole has jumped into the bidding plans for bridging service Stargate, promising a bid above LayerZero’s initial $110 million token-swap proposal.

It wants the Snapshot vote delayed so the community can weigh its offer.

Stargate’s numbers explain the interest. The bridge processed $4 billion in July, holds $345 million in TVL, and sits on a treasury of $92 million in stables and ether, plus $55 million in STG and other assets. The annual revenue is approximately $2 million.

“Based on our initial review, we believe that STG holders deserve a more competitive process, and we are prepared to submit a meaningfully higher bid,” the proposal said.

LayerZero’s proposal would transfer both the treasury and future income, which critics call a discount. Wormhole says the terms shortchange tokenholders and that “STG holders deserve better.”

A Wormhole–Stargate tie-up would create one of the largest cross-chain hubs in crypto, pairing Stargate’s unified liquidity pools with Wormhole’s integrations across dozens of networks. The foundation argues this would boost volume and long-term resilience for both ecosystems.

“The Wormhole Foundation sees unrealized value in the Stargate brand, protocol, and protocol assets,” the proposal said. “The Wormhole Foundation is confident that a successful combination of Stargate and the Wormhole ecosystem will lead to the most immediate and long-term value for current holders of STG, as well as current and future holders of Wormhole (W).”

Wormhole has requested a five-day delay in the vote, seeking more time for due diligence and a fairer process.

Read more: LayerZero Proposes $110M Stargate Token Merger in Consolidation Play

Wormhole Foundation (WF) entered the bidding competition for Stargate Finance, challenging LayerZero’s proposed $110 million acquisition.

In an Aug. 20 statement via X, WF argued that LayerZero’s offer significantly undervalues the cross-chain bridge protocol.

LayerZero Foundation announced its acquisition proposal on Aug. 10, offering to purchase all circulating STG tokens at $0.1675 per token through a swap for ZRO tokens. 

The proposal requires approval from STG holders through Stargate’s governance process, with a 70% approval threshold needed for passage.

Wormhole Foundation contended that LayerZero’s bid fails to reflect Stargate’s true value, citing the protocol’s treasury holdings and recent performance metrics.

Further, Wormhole shared that Stargate maintains over $92 million in treasury assets, including $76 million in stablecoins and $16 million in Ethereum, while demonstrating substantial growth momentum.

Performance drives valuation dispute

On-chain data shows that Stargate processed $4 billion in bridge volume during July 2025, representing a 10x year-over-year increase. As of Aug. 20, it had $348 million in total value locked (TVL) across more than 80 chains.

According to the Wormhole Foundation:

“STG holders deserve better. The current bid undervalues the protocol’s assets, brand, codebase, and team.” 

The WF added that these fundamentals justify a “meaningfully higher offer” than LayerZero’s proposed valuation.

LayerZero Foundation defends its pricing, noting Stargate’s backing of $0.14444 per circulating token compared to its trading price of $0.1637 per token at proposal time. It added that based on its calculations, the offer represents a premium on both metrics.

Differences beyond offers

LayerZero positions the acquisition as ecosystem consolidation, noting Stargate’s established infrastructure and user base. The foundation plans to direct all future Stargate excess revenue toward ZRO token buybacks while expanding the protocol’s mandate beyond traditional bridging services.

In addition, LayerZero argued that unified governance would eliminate resource conflicts between potentially competitive protocols.

At the same time, Wormhole Foundation proposed an alternative vision combining “Stargate’s unified liquidity pools with our broad ecosystem of integrations.” 

The foundation said this approach would generate “higher volumes, higher revenues, and greater stickiness,” benefiting both STG and W token holders. It also requested a five-business-day suspension of the ongoing on LayerZero’s proposal vote to allow time for due diligence and bid preparation. 

The governance vote requires a 1.2 million veSTG token quorum with 70% approval for LayerZero’s proposal to pass. The proposal was amended to provide additional compensation for veSTG stakers through six months of revenue distribution.

The amendment happened following criticism about the equal treatment of locked versus unlocked tokens.

Mentioned in this article

The top US crypto exchange platform by trading volume is abruptly adding support for Wormhole (W), causing the native asset of the cross-chain messaging project to rally briefly.

In a new announcement, Coinbase Assets says it’s adding Wormhole, an interoperability project that allows communication between blockchains, to its suite of digital asset products.

“Wormhole (W) is now live on http://coinbase.com and in the Coinbase iOS and Android apps. Coinbase customers can log in to buy, sell, convert, send, receive or store these assets.”

News of the addition sent W flying, as the crypto asset went from a low of $0.61 on June 27th to a peak of $0.81 just a day later. Wormhole has since retraced and is trading for $0.071 time of writing, a fractional decrease during the last 24 hours.

According to its official website, Wormhole is currently compatible with numerous prominent blockchains, including Base and BNB Chain, the respective blockchains of Coinbase and Binance, the two largest crypto exchanges in the world.

“A fully integrated chain can use cross-chain decentralized applications (DApps) to send and receive tokens and NFTs. It can also publish and verify messages to and from the network – meaning developers can utilize the full suite and power of Wormhole.”

Other compatible chains include smart contract platforms Ethereum (ETH), Algorand (ALGO), and Avalanche (AVAX), as well as layer-2 scaling solutions Optimism (OP), Arbitrum (ARB), and Polygon (POL).

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

Featured Image: Shutterstock/Carlos Amarillo

Crypto Journalist

Amin Ayan

Crypto Journalist

Amin Ayan

About Author

Amin Ayan is a crypto journalist with over four years of experience in the industry. He has contributed to leading publications such as Cryptonews, Investing.com, 99Bitcoins, and 24/7 Wall St. He has…

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Last updated: 

June 27, 2025

Ripple has integrated Wormhole to connect the XRP Ledger and its EVM-compatible sidechain with more than 35 blockchains, a move that could significantly boost XRP’s interoperability and reach.

Announced Thursday, the integration allows XRP-native decentralized applications to interact with networks like Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, BNB Chain, and Polygon.

Ripple plans to leverage the new connectivity to grow its offerings in decentralized finance, tokenization, and liquidity provision.

Ripple and Wormhole Integration Unlocks Multi-Chain dApp Development

Developers will now be able to create dApps that operate seamlessly across multiple ecosystems, enhancing XRP’s utility in decentralized finance and other sectors.

“If you want real mass adoption, interoperability is essential,” said David Schwartz, CTO of Ripple and Co-creator of the XRP Ledger.

“The infrastructure has to be there, not just on one chain, but across them. With this integration, tokens natively issued on the XRP Ledger are being set up for that reality by being able to move between blockchain networks while maintaining native issuance and control.”

Wormhole’s cross-chain bridge aims to help XRP solidify its status as an institutional-grade blockchain.

“By integrating Wormhole into the XRP Ledger, we’re helping unlock even greater potential spanning all major blockchains for one of the most established blockchain networks in enterprise finance,” Robinson Burkey, Co-Founder of the Wormhole Foundation, said.

As Ripple doubles down on interoperability, market watchers will be looking for signs that these efforts could translate into renewed momentum for XRP.

XRP Ledger Upgrade Adds Institutional Tokens

As reported, RippleX, the development arm of Ripple, has rolled out version 2.5.0 of the XRP Ledger, introducing several protocol upgrades aimed at strengthening network functionality and security.

RippleX engineer Mayukha Vadari has called the upgrade “possibly the best single lineup of amendments” ever released, introducing significant improvements to token management and transaction processing.

The XLS-85 amendment upgrades the escrow system by allowing third-party issued tokens, including stablecoins, and introduces multi-purpose tokens designed for institutional applications.

Another key change, XLS-56, enables wrapper transactions that can combine up to eight steps into a single action, aiming to lower failure rates in complex transaction flows and improve network efficiency for advanced use cases.

The new update comes as the XRP Ledger has recorded a surge in user activity, with the number of daily active addresses climbing from an average of 35,000 to over 295,000.

Alongside growing usage, the number of whale wallets holding over 1 million XRP has reached an all-time high of 2,700 — a milestone not seen in the 12-year history of the protocol.

The rise in large holders may reflect growing institutional or high-net-worth conviction in XRP’s long-term value.

In May, VivoPower also invested $121 million in XRP as a strategic reserve, making it the first company in the world with an XRP-focused treasury.