Depth Analysis of the Solana Staking Market: The Competition Among Four Major Liquid Staking Projects

With the market warming up, Solana (SOL) has risen to become the sixth largest cryptocurrency in the world, with its staking assets ranking second among all proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchains, only behind Ethereum. However, the degree of capital accumulation in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications within the Solana ecosystem is relatively low, with the total value locked (TVL) only at 11.3% of its historical peak, approximately $1.137 billion.

In the composition of Solana's TVL, liquid staking projects play a crucial role and are seen as key factors in driving the TVL back to historical highs. Among them, Marinade and Jito occupy a significant position with the highest TVL, highlighting the importance of the liquid staking category. This article will delve into the main participants in the Solana liquid staking space and conduct a comparative analysis of their strategies and market performance.

Solana stake Overview

As of December 12, the market capitalization of SOL reached $30.53 billion, with a staked market value of $27.62 billion, a staking ratio as high as 69.18%, and a staking amount of 391 million SOL. The staked market value of SOL is second only to ETH among all PoS public chains; its staking ratio is also relatively high among the top market-cap PoS public chains.

The Solana network has a total of 1,986 validators, with the top validators offering an annual percentage yield (APY) close to 8% and no commission required. To incentivize SOL holders and enhance network security, the Solana Foundation launched the "stake pool program." Data shows that approximately 16.82 million SOL are locked in the stake pool, accounting for 4.3% of the total stake, with an average APY of 6.68%.

Comparison of Four Major Liquid Staking Projects

1. Marinade Finance

As one of the earliest liquid staking protocols in the Solana ecosystem, Marinade Finance was launched on the mainnet in August 2021. Users can stake SOL in Marinade to receive mSOL tokens, and the staking rewards are directly accumulated into mSOL.

Features:

• Provide native stake services
• Maximum stake amount, reaching 7.058 million SOL
• Highest TVL, approximately $777 million
• The staking yield is 6.543%
• The staking volume has increased by 31.22% in the past 30 days.

The circulating market value of the governance token MNDE is 85.99 million USD, with a total market value of 356 million USD.

2. Jito

Jito launched its liquid staking platform at the end of 2022. Users stake SOL to receive JitoSOL tokens, and the staking rewards are directly accumulated into JitoSOL.

Features:

• Develop MEV infrastructure for the Solana network
• MEV rewards are partially distributed to JitoSOL holders
• The staked amount is 6.38 million SOL
• TVL is approximately $455 million
• The staking yield is 6.892%
• The staking volume has increased by 17.77% in the last 30 days.

The circulating market capitalization of the governance token JTO is $342 million, with a total market capitalization of $2.973 billion.

3. BlazeStake

BlazeStake was launched in May 2022 and has rapidly risen recently due to the overall explosion of the Solana ecosystem. Users can stake SOL to receive bSOL tokens.

Features:

• Use the official stake pool smart contract from Solana Labs
• Have the largest validator set
• Allow users to liquid stake to specific validators
• The staked amount is 1.52 million SOL
• TVL is approximately $108 million
• The staking yield is 6.232%
• The staking volume has increased by 177% in the last 30 days.

The total market capitalization of the governance token BLZE is $38.84 million.

4. Lido

Lido launched its liquid staking service on Solana in September 2021. Users can stake SOL to receive stSOL tokens.

Features:

• Multi-chain liquid staking service provider
• Has announced the suspension of accepting new stake on Solana
• The staked amount is 887,000 SOL
• TVL is approximately $63.4 million
• stake yield is 6.717%
• The staking volume has decreased by 41.43% in the past 30 days.

The circulating market value of the governance token LDO is $2.095 billion, with a total market value of $2.356 billion.

The Application of LST in DeFi

LSTs (mSOL, JitoSOL, bSOL, stSOL) from various projects are widely supported in Solana's DeFi applications:

• The main lending protocols marginfi and Solend support these LSTs as collateral.
• In DEX Orca, the mSOL/SOL and bSOL/SOL pairs have high Liquidity.
• BlazeStake offers the highest incentives, such as a 15.37% APR BLZE subsidy for deposits in Solend.
• Marinade also provides MNDE token incentives in DeFi.
• Jito has not yet provided additional incentives for the use of JitoSOL in DeFi.
• Lido is unable to continue providing incentives as the token distribution is nearing completion.

Conclusion

There are various representative liquid staking solutions in the Solana ecosystem, each with its own characteristics and widely supported by DeFi projects. However, the total amount of liquid staking remains relatively low, accounting for only 4.3% of all staked SOL. The diversity of solutions has also led to the dispersion of liquidity, and more competitive new solutions may emerge in the future.

Incentives are still crucial for increasing the staking volume and the liquidity of LSTs in DEXs. Although BlazeStake is the least known, it has achieved significant growth in a short period through substantial subsidies. In contrast, even well-known projects in the liquid staking field, such as Lido, have chosen to exit the Solana market due to their inability to continuously provide incentives. This highlights the importance of sustained incentive mechanisms for project development in the highly competitive liquid staking space.