Analysis of Solana Staking Market Depth: Focus on Four Major Liquid Staking Projects

As the cryptocurrency market warms up, Solana (SOL) has risen to become the sixth largest crypto asset by market capitalization, with its staked assets ranking second among all proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchains, only behind Ethereum. However, the total value locked (TVL) in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications within the Solana ecosystem is relatively low, at just $1.137 billion, approximately 11.3% of its historical peak.

In the composition of Solana's TVL, liquid staking projects occupy an important position and are a key factor in driving the recovery of TVL. Among them, Marinade and Jito, with the highest TVL, have become the leaders in this field. This article will deeply analyze the main participants in the Solana liquid staking field, comparing their strategies and market performance.

Overview of Solana Stake Market

As of December 12, Solana's market capitalization reached $30.53 billion, with a staking market value of $27.62 billion, and a staking ratio as high as 69.18%. The total staked amount is 391 million SOL, with an inflation rate of 6.75% and a reward rate of 6.87%. Among all PoS public chains, Solana's staking market value ranks second only to Ethereum.

The Solana network has a total of 1986 validators, with the top-ranking validators offering an annual percentage yield (APY) of nearly 8% with no commission. To incentivize SOL holders and enhance network security, the Solana Foundation has launched the "staking pool program." Users can deposit SOL into the staking pool and receive SPL tokens representing their share, known as liquid staking tokens (LST).

Currently, approximately 16.82 million SOL is locked in the staking pool, accounting for 4.3% of the total staked amount, with an average APY of 6.68%. The top four staking pools are Marinade, Jito, BlazeStake, and Lido, which are also the four largest liquid staking projects in the Solana ecosystem.

Analysis of Major Liquid Staking Projects

1. Marinade Finance

Marinade Finance is one of the earliest liquid staking protocols in the Solana ecosystem, launched on the mainnet in August 2021. Users can stake SOL to receive mSOL, with staking rewards directly accumulating in mSOL. Marinade also offers native staking services, allowing users to earn staking rewards directly without using smart contracts.

As of now, Marinade has locked 7.058 million SOL, making it the project with the highest TVL on Solana, worth $777 million. Its staking yield is 6.543%, and the staking volume has increased by 31.22% over the past 30 days. Marinade's governance token MNDE has a circulating market cap of $85.99 million, with a total market cap of $356 million.

2. Jito

Jito launched its liquid staking platform at the end of 2022, allowing users to stake SOL to receive JitoSOL. Unlike other projects, Jito has developed maximum extractable value (MEV) infrastructure for the Solana network, with a portion of MEV profits distributed to JitoSOL holders, resulting in relatively higher staking returns.

Jito currently has 6.38 million SOL locked, with a TVL of $455 million and a staking yield of 6.892%. Over the past 30 days, its staking volume has grown by 17.77%. Jito's governance token JTO has a circulating market cap of $342 million and a total market cap of $2.973 billion.

3. BlazeStake

BlazeStake was launched in May 2022 and has rapidly developed due to the overall rise of the Solana ecosystem, becoming the third largest liquid staking project. Users can stake SOL to receive bSOL. BlazeStake primarily uses the official staking pool smart contract from Solana Labs, boasting the largest validator set.

Currently, BlazeStake has locked 1.52 million SOL, with a TVL of $108 million and a staking yield of 6.232%. In the past 30 days, its staking volume has astonishingly increased by 177%. The governance token of BlazeStake, BLZE, has a total market value of $38.84 million.

4. Lido

Lido launched its liquid staking service on Solana in September 2021, allowing users to stake SOL and receive stSOL. Although Lido dominates liquid staking on Ethereum, its development on Solana has not met expectations, and it announced in October that it would stop accepting new stakes.

Currently, Lido has locked 887,000 SOL on Solana, with a TVL of $63.4 million and a staking yield of 6.717%. In the past 30 days, its staking volume has decreased by 41.43%. Lido's governance token LDO has a circulating market cap of $2.095 billion and a total market cap of $2.356 billion.

The Application of LST in DeFi

Major liquid staking projects' LSTs (mSOL, JitoSOL, bSOL, stSOL) are widely supported in Solana's DeFi applications. Major lending protocols such as marginfi and Solend support these LSTs as collateral, but stSOL has been delisted. In the leading DEX Orca, both mSOL/SOL and bSOL/SOL have over ten million dollars in liquidity.

The incentive measures of the project have a significant impact on the growth of staking volume and DEX liquidity. For example, BlazeStake offers the highest incentives, providing a subsidy of 15.37% APR in BLZE tokens for deposits on a certain lending platform. In contrast, Jito has not yet incentivized the use of JitoSOL in DeFi, while Lido is unable to continue providing incentives due to the token distribution being nearly complete.

Summary

There are various unique liquid staking solutions in the Solana ecosystem, all of which have received extensive support from DeFi projects. Marinade, as a pioneer, offers comprehensive services; Jito provides higher returns through MEV infrastructure; BlazeStake allows targeted staking; Lido represents multi-chain liquid staking services.

However, the total amount of liquid staking is still relatively small, accounting for only 4.3% of all staked SOL. The diverse range of schemes has also led to liquidity dispersion, and more competitive new schemes may emerge in the future. Incentives remain a key factor in driving the growth of staking volume and improving DEX liquidity, as evidenced by the rapid growth of BlazeStake and the exit of Lido.