Surging LST Adoption on Solana
According to on-chain data from Dune, the total market cap of liquid staking tokens (LSTs) on Solana spiked above $7.5 billion on January 10, 2025. This milestone highlights the growing role of LSTs in Solana's ecosystem as users increasingly adopt these tokens for staking and DeFi opportunities.
Among the top-performing LSTs:
Jito staked SOL (jitoSOL): Maintains its lead with a 37.6% market share, totaling over $2.8 billion in market cap.
Binance staked SOL (bnSOL): Accounts for 20.2% of the market, with a market cap of $1.5 billion.
Marinade staked SOL (mSOL): Holds 14.1% of the market, valued at $1.05 billion.
Other notable Solana LSTs include jupSOL from Jupiter, sSOL by Solayer, bbSOL from Bybit, and laineSOL by Laine, each contributing to the overall growth of the market.
Staking Metrics and DeFi Integration
The total market cap of staked SOL across the Solana ecosystem stands at $82.66 billion, indicating that liquid staking tokens account for approximately 9.07% of the staked supply. This ratio underscores the growing preference for LSTs, which offer flexibility and additional earning potential compared to traditional staking.
LSTs allow users to stake their SOL tokens and receive tokenized representations, such as jitoSOL or bnSOL. These tokens can then be utilized on decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms for trading or earning additional rewards, all while the underlying assets remain staked.
Performance Highlights and Challenges
While the market cap of LSTs has surged, the total value locked (TVL) across some major protocols has shown mixed trends:
Jito and Marinade: Experienced declines in TVL, dropping by 19% and
15%, respectively, over the past month.
Binance staked SOL (bnSOL): Recorded a 29% increase in TVL during the same period, boosted by Binance’s August 2024 launch of the bnSOL token.
Liquid Staking's Role in DeFi
Liquid staking protocols and their associated tokens are becoming increasingly vital in DeFi. They enable users to access staking rewards while maintaining liquidity for other financial activities. This dual benefit has made LSTs popular among DeFi participants, especially in ecosystems like Solana, where low transaction fees and high-speed processing offer additional advantages.
The continued growth of LSTs reflects Solana's evolving DeFi landscape and positions it as a key player in the next wave of decentralized finance innovation.
