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Okay, look. Every other "top Solana infrastructure tokens" list just spits out a bunch of tickers with hype charts and calls it a day. But that's useless if you're actually trying to use them. You don't need another price prediction. You need to know how to stake JitoSOL without screwing up your wallet or swap LSTs on Sanctum without getting rekt on fees. In my experience, people lose more trying to ape in blind than from market dips. So this guide? It's about getting your hands dirty. Practical steps. Real numbers. Stuff that works right now.
Jito's the king of liquid staking on Solana. You stake SOL, get jitoSOL back - that's your liquid version. It earns staking rewards plus MEV tips. TVL's over $1.2 billion, grew like crazy - 217% YoY. Fees? Super low, around 0.000005 SOL per tx. Why bother? Your staked SOL doesn't sit idle; use it in DeFi everywhere.
In my experience, Jito's the first one I tell friends to try. Beats vanilla staking because you keep liquidity. Sound familiar? You've got SOL gathering dust?
Potential issue: Network congestion spikes fees to 0.0001 SOL sometimes. Wait it out or use priority fees. I've done this weekly - smooth.
Now Sanctum. Largest LST infrastructure. Swaps between all liquid staking tokens - jitoSOL, mSOL, bSOL, whatever. Best APYs from swap fees on top of staking yields. It's like a DEX just for staked stuff. Don't sleep on this if you're rotating yields.
The thing is, most people stake once and forget. Sanctum lets you chase better rates without unstaking. I've swapped jitoSOL for Sanctum's veSOL during APY bumps - netted extra 2-3% easy.
Watch for: Low liquidity pools during off hours. Problem? Use smaller amounts or wait. Fixed it for me every time.
Solana crushes DePIN - decentralized physical infra. Low fees, high TPS make it perfect. Helium (HNT) for wireless - $1.61 token, $299M cap, 223k followers. Hivemapper mapping roads. Render for GPU compute. These aren't memes; they're real world infra tokens eating blockspace.
| Project | Token | Category | Market Cap | Token Price | 24h Vol |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helium | HNT | Wireless | $299M | $1.61 | $3.6M |
| Grass | GRASS | Compute/AI | $128M | $0.295 | $19M |
| Geodnet | GEOD | Sensor | $61M | $0.1395 | $255k |
| Hivemapper | not listed here but top dog | Mapping | check dex | volatile | high |
| Render | RNDR? wait, on Sol now | Render | growing | ~ | ~ |
Helium's my fave. Mine hotspots? Earn HNT passively. But setup's a hassle - buy hardware, connect. Worth it if you're in US with good coverage.
Why does this matter? DePIN tokens fund real networks. Helium's got 10 devices listed, but scales huge. Grass for AI compute - share bandwidth, earn GRASS.
Jupiter's Solana's trading hub. Aggregates all DEXes for best routes. Not just infra token - JUP governance pays fees back to holders. Handles 90% volume sometimes via pump.fun ties.
Honestly, I route all my swaps through it. Fees? 0.1-0.3% max, often less. Integrates LSTs perfect - stake Jito, swap on Jup.
One paragraph on pitfalls: Impermanent loss if providing liquidity. Solution? Use their limit orders. Set price, walk away.
Kamino's lending beast. Supply SOL/USDC, borrow against LSTs like jitoSOL. K tokens for vaults - yield bearing. LTV up to 80% on stables. Slend's similar, Solend's SLND token for governance.
In my experience, loop it: Stake Jito → supply Kamino → borrow SOL → restake. APY 10-20% but risky. Liq price? Watch like hawk.
Slend (Solend) - borrow/lend chunk of Solana. Backed by Coinbase Ventures. SLND for votes.
Pump.fun's wild but infra level. Launches tokens instant, eats 90% Solana volume at peaks. Not a token itself but drives JUP/SOL fees. New users funnel here - meme infra basically.
I've launched test tokens. Cost? 0.02 SOL. Fair launch curve. Problem: Rug risks. Solve: DYOR creator wallet.
Pro tip: Use SPL Token-2022 for extensions - metadata, transfer fees. Better than basic.
Phantom's the gateway. Not a token but holds JUP now? Wait, ecosystem king. Swap, stake, NFT all in app. Consumer infra.
Okay, switch wallets mid guide? Download if not. Supports hardware Ledger for safety.
So daily flow: Stake Jito mornings. Swap Sanctum if APY shifts. Lend Kamino for leverage. DePIN? Run Helium node weekends. Jupiter for all trades. Fees total under 0.01 SOL/day heavy use.
Numbers: SOL at ~$125 now. Stake 100 SOL on Jito? ~6-8% base + MEV. LST swap fees add 1-2%.
Issues across board: Solana outages rare now, but bridge assets slow. Fix: Native USDC/USDT.
That's your stack. Scale slow. Start small. Questions? Hit me.
Underpins all this - SPL tokens. Mint your own? Easy. But for infra, know it.
CLI way: spl token create token. Then metadata: spl token initialize metadata [mint] "Name" "SYM" "uri". URI to JSON with logo on Arweave.
Token-2022 adds fees, metadata extensions. Use for serious launches.
Potential mess: Wrong ATA. Fix: spl token create account [mint].
Helium specifics. Buy hotspot ~$300. Plug in, app setup. Earn HNT per data credits. 24h vol $3.6M. Down 2% daily, but long game.
Hivemapper: Drive with dashcam, map, earn. Grass: Install extension, share unused net, GRASS drips.
I've got a Helium - pays electric easy. Setup steps:
Advanced: Jito → Kamino supply → borrow USDC → swap Jupiter → restake. LTV 70% safe. APY 15%+ but liquidation at 80% drop.
Monitor health factor. Tools: Birdeye for prices.
Table of yields (approx now):
| Token | Base APY | +MEV/Swaps | Risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| jitoSOL | 6.5% | 2% | Low |
| Sanctum LSTs | 7% | 1.5% | Low |
| Kamino Vault | 10% | - | Med |
| Helium HNT | varies | passv | Hardware |
Short sentences. Loop carefully. Don't overleverage.
Honestly, this is how I run 90% of my Solana bag. Practical. Profitable. Yours now.
© 2026 Della Group. All Rights Reserved.