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

Recently, the market has warmed up, and Solana (SOL) has jumped to the sixth position in the cryptocurrency market capitalization ranking. Among all proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchains, its staked asset scale is second only to Ethereum, ranking second. However, the capital accumulation of decentralized finance (DeFi) applications within the Solana ecosystem is relatively low, with a total locked value (TVL) of $1.137 billion, only 11.3% of its historical high.

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

Solana staking market overview

As of December 12, the market value of SOL reached $30.53 billion, with a staked market value of $27.62 billion, a staking ratio of up to 69.18%, and a staked amount of 391 million SOL. The inflation rate is 6.75%, and the reward rate is 6.87%. It is worth noting that the staked market value of SOL ranks second among all PoS public chains, only behind ETH; its staking ratio is also relatively high among the top PoS public chains by market value.

The Solana network has a total of 1986 validators, with the top-ranking validators providing an annual percentage yield (APY) close to 8%, and no commission is required.

To incentivize SOL holders and enhance network security and censorship resistance, the Solana Foundation has launched the "staking pool program." This program allows users to deposit SOL into the staking pool and receive SPL tokens that represent their share in the staking pool, which are known as liquid staking tokens (LST). These LST can circulate freely. Data shows that a total of 16.82 million SOL is locked in the staking pool, with an average APY of 6.68%, accounting for approximately 4.3% of the total staked amount. Currently, the top four staking pools are Marinade, Jito, BlazeStake, and Lido, which are also the four largest liquid staking projects in the Solana ecosystem.

Comparison of the Four Major Liquid Staking Projects

1. Marinade Finance

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

Features:

• Provide native stake services that allow users to earn staking rewards without using smart contracts.
• The highest stake amount, reaching 7.058 million SOL
• Highest TVL, reaching $777 million
• stake yield is 6.543%
• The staking volume increased by 31.22% in the past 30 days.

Governance Token MNDE:

• Circulating market cap of 85.99 million USD
• Total market capitalization is $356 million
• Increase of 22.2% in the past 7 days

2. Jito

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

Features:

• Develop MEV infrastructure for the Solana network, with part of the MEV profits distributed to JitoSOL holders.
• Stake amount 6.38 million SOL
• TVL 455 million USD
• The staking yield is 6.892%, which is relatively high.
• The staking volume has increased by 17.77% in the past 30 days.

Governance Token JTO:

• Circulating Market Cap: $342 million
• Total market cap of $2.973 billion
• Increased by 46.6% in the past 7 days

3. BlazeStake

BlazeStake was launched in May 2022 and has rapidly risen due to the overall explosion of the Solana ecosystem. Users can stake SOL in BlazeStake to earn bSOL, with staking rewards directly accumulating into bSOL.

Features:

• Mainly using the official staking pool smart contract from Solana Labs
• Have the largest validator set
• Allow users to liquid stake to specific validators
• Staked amount 1.52 million SOL
• TVL $108 million
• stake yield is 6.232%
• The staking volume has increased by 177% in the past 30 days, the fastest growth rate.

Governance token BLZE:

• Total Market Cap $38.84 million
• Increased by 66.5% in the past 7 days

4. Lido

Lido launched its liquid staking service on Solana in September 2021, but announced in October this year that it would stop accepting new stakes on Solana. Users staking SOL in Lido can receive stSOL, and the staking rewards are also accumulated into stSOL.

Features:

• A staking volume of 887,000 SOL, showing a downward trend.
• The TVL on Solana is $63.4 million.
• The staking yield is 6.717%
• The staking volume has decreased by 41.43% in the past 30 days.

Governance token LDO:

• Circulating Market Cap: $2.095 billion
• Total market cap is $2.356 billion
• Decreased by 6.7% in the past 7 days

The Application of LST in DeFi

The LSTs (mSOL, JitoSOL, bSOL, stSOL) of each project are widely supported in Solana's DeFi applications:

• Lending Protocols: marginfi and Solend support mSOL, JitoSOL, bSOL as collateral.
• DEX: In Orca, both mSOL/SOL and bSOL/SOL have liquidity exceeding ten million dollars.

It is worth noting that the incentives have a significant impact on the growth of staking volume and the liquidity of LST in DEXs. For example, Blaze offers the highest incentives, resulting in its staking volume skyrocketing by 177% within 30 days. In contrast, Lido chose to withdraw from the market due to a lack of incentives.

Summary

There are various representative liquid staking solutions in the Solana ecosystem, each with its own characteristics: Marinade is the earliest and provides native stake services; Jito offers higher yields through MEV infrastructure; BlazeStake allows staking to specific validators; Lido represents multi-chain liquid staking services.

However, the total amount of liquid staking is relatively small, accounting for only 4.3% of all staked SOL. While diverse solutions provide users with options, they also lead to dispersed liquidity. In the future, more competitive solutions may emerge, such as marginfi's LST.

Incentive measures remain a key factor in driving the growth of staking volume and improving the liquidity of LST. Competition among projects may intensify further, and those projects that cannot continuously provide attractive incentives may face the risk of being eliminated from the market.