© 2026 Della Group. All Rights Reserved.
Okay, before we get into the full rundown, here's my go to move for anyone dipping toes into Solana liquid staking. Grab your Phantom wallet, swap some SOL for JitoSOL on Jupiter. Boom. You're earning ~7-8% APY from staking plus MEV boosts, and that JitoSOL works everywhere in DeFi. Why? Jito's sitting at the top with $1.766 billion TVL right now - biggest pool by far. In my experience, it depegs the least during chaos, and those extra MEV rewards? They add up fast, like an extra 1-2% on top. Don't sleep on it if you're lazy like me and want plug and play yields.
But wait, what's liquid staking anyway? You lock SOL to secure the network, get rewards, but instead of your SOL freezing up for days, you get a token back - like JitoSOL or mSOL. Use that token to farm, lend, or trade while it accrues value. Pretty much turns dead staking into DeFi rocket fuel. Sound familiar if you've messed with ETH LSTs?
Look, rankings shift with TVL and yields, but based on what's crushing it as of early 2026, here's my top 5. I ranked 'em by TVL first (from DefiLlama data), then APY, decentralization, and how easy they play with other apps. Fees hover around 0-5% per epoch for most, gas is stupid cheap at ~0.000005 SOL per tx. We'll break down how to use each one later.
Marinade's still solid at ~$1.47B TVL with 6.48% APY, but it slipped a bit - their SAM auction thing is cool for validators bidding on your stake tho. SolBlaze, JPool, Shinobi? Niche plays for max decentralization or performance chasers. More on those if you're advanced.
The thing is, Jito doesn't just stake - it grabs MEV from Solana bundles, redistributes to you. TVL dipped 53% from 2025 peaks but rebounded hard. JitoSOL's everywhere: collateral on lending apps, LP on Raydium. In my experience, during stress like network congestion, it holds peg better than most.
Alright, hands on time. You need Phantom or Solflare wallet, some SOL (start with 1-5 to test), and ~0.01 SOL for fees. Takes 2 minutes.
Pro tip: Bridge extra yield by tossing JitoSOL into Meteora vaults or Kamino lending. I've doubled APY that way, hitting 12-15% total. But gas spikes during pumps - wait it out or use priority fees.
Now, Sanctum's wild. It's not just one LST - it's infrastructure for all of 'em. Their INF token? LP shares in the mega pool of LSTs. You earn staking rewards plus swap fees from every trade across supported tokens. Yields beat isolates at ~8-9%.
I usually start here if I want flexibility. Why does this matter? Say Jito's crowded, swap to stepSOL or whatever via Sanctum - zero slippage, best rates. TVL's $1.46B because it powers most LSTs now, even letting ETF dudes like hypothetical BlackRock launch branded ones.
Potential issue: LST depegging. During 2025 dumps, some dipped 2-5% under SOL. Fix? Use Jupiter for arb, or hold INF which auto rebalances. Honestly, hasn't bitten me yet.
To exit: Swap back on their app or DEX. Waiting period? Nah, liquid baby.
Marinade was first, $1.47B TVL, 6.48% APY. Not the highest, but their "Marinade Select" picks verified validators - safer for noobs. Or go "Max Yield" for riskier high APY nodes.
Stake Auction Marketplace (SAM)? Validators bid for your stake with MEV shares or fees. Kinda genius. mSOL's composable AF - use in Orca pools, lending, whatever.
In my experience, great for long term holds. Fees: 0.05% withdrawal, 5% epoch fee. Unstake direct has a cooldown, but DEX swap's instant.
| Protocol | TVL | APY (Staking + Boosts) | Fees | Best For | Risks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jito | $1.766B | 7.5-8.5% | 0-2% MEV cut | MEV yield chasers | Depeg in stress |
| DoubleZero | $1.634B | 7-8% | ~0.3% | Balanced growth | Newer, less tested |
| Sanctum INF | $1.463B | 7-9% | Swap fees shared | LST swapping | Pool concentration |
| Binance BNSOL | $1.283B | 6.5-7.5% | 0.1-0.5% | Centralized ease | Counterparty risk |
| Marinade mSOL | $1.47B | 6.48% | 5% epoch / 0.05% out | Safety + auctions | Lower base APY |
Table's simplified - yields fluctuate per epoch. Check solana.beach or stakewiz for live stats. DoubleZero's climbing fast cuz smart delegation balances big/small validators.
These are for when you want off the beaten path. JPool's leveraged? Borrow against your LST to stake more. I've seen 12% but liquidation scares me off usually.
Solana's fast, but not flawless. Smart contract bugs? Rare but hit Marinade once back in 2023 - they fixed quick. Validator slashing? Minimal on Solana, like 0.01% chance.
Bigger issue: depegging. LST trades below SOL value in panic sells. Solution? Don't panic swap; use DEX arbs or wait for rebalance. Liquidity crunches on small DEXs - stick to Jupiter/Orca.
Network outages? Solana had a few in 2025, staking paused briefly. But LSTs still accrue post epoch. In my experience, Jito/Sanctum hold up best.
Taxes? US folks, staking rewards are income. Track with CoinTracker. Don't be that guy audited.
Staking alone? Boring. Here's how I layer:
First, stake to LST. Then..
Example: 10 SOL to JitoSOL → LP on Orca → 14% total APY last month. But impermanent loss can bite - hedge with stables if scared.
What's next? Watch for ETF LSTs via Sanctum. BlackRock SOL? Could pump everything.
Phantom's my daily. Download, create wallet, buy SOL via ramp or Binance. Backup seed - duh.
Trackers: Step Finance for portfolio, Stakewiz for validator APYs, DefiLlama for TVL. Jupiter for swaps - best routes always.
Advanced: Use Solana CLI for custom pools if you're devvy. spl stake pool create pool with 5/100 epoch fee numerator, max 10 vals. But that's for launching your own, not noobs.
Sometimes native staking wins. Direct delegate via Phantom to a validator - 5-7% APY, no fees, full control. 2-3 day unstake. Pick top ones on validator lists by stake/uptime.
Go native if you hate smart contract risk or HODL forever. Liquid for traders/DeFi degens. Easy choice?
One more: Fees kill small stakes. Minimum viable? 0.5 SOL. Gas ~0.000005 SOL/tx, but priority fees 0.001 during congestion.
Grab 1 SOL, test Jito. See rewards tick. Then Sanctum swap to INF. Layer into a vault. Watch it grow.
Questions? Hit me. Yields change, but principles don't. Go stake - Solana's printing.
© 2026 Della Group. All Rights Reserved.