Updated 2026-09-11
Key takeaways
- Liquid staking issues you a tradeable token (an LST) in place of locked SOL, so your stake keeps earning while staying usable elsewhere.
- Jito's jitoSOL includes captured MEV rewards on top of standard staking yield, while Sanctum focuses on liquidity across many different LSTs.
- Depeg risk, validator/slashing risk, and smart contract risk are the three main risks layered on top of native staking's risk.
- Using an LST as lending collateral compounds risk — a depeg event hits both the collateral's value and your liquidation risk at once.
- Liquidity depth matters as much as yield: an LST you can't easily trade or use as collateral loses much of the point of liquid staking.
Liquid staking lets you earn SOL staking rewards without giving up access to your capital, by issuing you a tradeable token in place of locked, unbonding SOL. It solves a specific problem with native staking: your stake is otherwise locked for an unbonding period and unusable anywhere else in DeFi while staked. Liquid staking protocols solve this by staking your SOL on your behalf and issuing you a liquid token — an LST — representing your position, which you can trade, hold as collateral, or provide as liquidity while the underlying SOL keeps earning staking rewards.
The main protocols
Jito issues jitoSOL and is notable for its validator client capturing and redistributing MEV rewards on top of standard staking yield.
Marinade issues mSOL and was one of the original Solana liquid staking protocols, with a long-standing focus on validator decentralization.
Sanctum takes a different approach — infrastructure for launching and trading between many different LSTs, addressing liquidity fragmentation across smaller, validator-specific tokens.
BlazeStake issues bSOL with a delegation strategy favoring smaller, independent validators.
How to choose between LSTs
- Validator strategy. Concentrated delegation to a few large validators versus broad distribution across many affects both your yield and the network’s overall decentralization.
- Liquidity depth. An LST you can’t easily trade or use as collateral elsewhere loses much of the point of liquid staking versus just staking natively.
- Extra yield sources. Some LSTs (notably jitoSOL) include MEV rewards on top of base staking yield; understand where your yield is actually coming from.
- Track record. Longer-running protocols have been tested through more market conditions.
The main risks
Depeg risk — an LST can trade below its fair value relative to SOL during periods of high redemption demand or market stress. See our dedicated depeg risk guide.
Validator and slashing risk — while the protocol manages validator selection for you, poor validator performance or (rarely) slashing events can still affect returns; this risk is managed but not eliminated by the protocol layer.
Smart contract risk — same as any DeFi protocol holding assets on your behalf.
Using an LST as collateral elsewhere compounds risk — if you deposit an LST into a lending protocol as collateral, a depeg event affects both the LST’s value and your liquidation risk on the lending position simultaneously.
Getting started
If you’re new to liquid staking, our practical walkthrough of staking SOL via Jito covers the mechanics step by step. Whichever protocol you choose, understand that you’re trading a small amount of protocol and validator-selection risk for the flexibility of a liquid, usable token — a reasonable trade for most people, but not a risk-free one.