Wormhole Foundation plans to compete with LayerZero for Stargate acquisition

Key Takeaways

Wormhole Foundation is set to submit a rival bid for the Stargate protocol, directly competing with LayerZero’s $110 million offer.
Stargate has shown rapid growth with $4 billion in bridge volume and $345 million in TVL, according to the Foundation.

The Wormhole Foundation, the entity dedicated to supporting the growth of the Wormhole ecosystem, announced today that it plans to submit a competing bid for the acquisition of the Stargate bridge and its STG tokens.

At the WF, we have respect for the @StargateFinance protocol, its team, and especially its holders. Stargate is a leader in multichain asset transfers. That’s why we’re stepping up with our intent to acquire Stargate – to ensure holders get the fair deal they deserve.

— Wormhole Foundation (@WormholeFdn) August 20, 2025

The move would challenge the LayerZero Foundation, which put forward a $110 million deal last week to acquire the protocol through a token swap of ZRO for STG.

The Wormhole Foundation stated that LayerZero’s proposal undervalues Stargate, considering the protocol’s strong growth, with $92 million in treasury assets, $345 million in total value locked (TVL), and over $4 billion in bridge volume in July.

“STG holders deserve better,” the Wormhole Foundation said in a statement. “The current bid undervalues the protocol’s assets, brand, codebase, and team. We’re prepared to submit a meaningfully higher offer, and we believe a competitive process will drive even more value for everyone involved.”

The Wormhole Foundation believes that a union of Wormhole and Stargate would create a market-leading force in cross-chain infrastructure. The partnership would drive greater transaction volumes, stronger revenues, and enhanced ecosystem resiliency, resulting in long-term value for both STG and W holders.

“Stargate brings deep, unified liquidity pools and proven user demand, while Wormhole commands broad ecosystem integration across dozens of blockchains and protocols, as well as key growth areas in crypto, like RWAs,” the team stated.

The Foundation has called for a short delay in the ongoing Snapshot vote to allow time to finalize its offer and engage further with the Stargate team.

The Foundation has also requested detailed information from Stargate, including an exhaustive list of transferable assets, protocol-owned assets, user metrics, team composition, and financial data.