That’s right—despite Solana’s smaller market cap, its staking rewards are quite the talk. Not only are you guaranteeing a stable, passive income by staking Solana, but you’re also playing a tremendous role in running the network. A win/win situation, if you could say.

Where to stake Solana is a question that merits a comprehensive answer. There are a couple of ways to stake SOL, and each has its own benefits and consequences.

So if you’re keen on earning SOL passively, you’re in luck. I’ve compiled a list of where to stake Solana, so you don’t have to scour the web on your time off. Ready? Let’s get into it.

How does Solana staking work?

Before we embark on this journey of where to stake Solana, let’s get a clear picture of how—and why—Solana staking works. 

Solana staking is the process of locking up your tokens for a select period of time to help secure and validate the network, all while earning passive interest for your efforts. 

When you lock up your tokens, you become the “staker” who designates or distributes tokens to “validators,” or those who run a validator node. Validators actively participate “in the consensus of the network, maintaining its speed, security, and censorship resistance.”

If you compare this to our traditional banking system, it’s similar to stashing your funds in a term deposit. You lock up your cash in a contract for a chosen timeframe, and the bank can use that cash as liquidity. Since you’re lending your money to the bank, they’re required to pay you passive interest.

In this situation, the staker (or delegator) is the lender, and the validator is the bank. 

Cool. We got a basic idea of how Solana staking works⁠—albeit, there’s more to it than we can explain in this article. Click here if you’re interested in reading more about it.

So… where to stake Solana?

Solana staking comes in various forms. You’ll notice that on our list of where to stake Solana, we’ll start with cryptocurrency wallets, move onto DeFi staking, and eventually finish it off with liquid staking.

Cryptocurrency wallets

The proper way to stake SOL is by downloading and installing a Solana wallet with staking support. 

By doing this, not only will you be earning anywhere from 7.2% to 8% APY, but you’ll also be securing the network. Now, there’s a range of SOL cryptocurrency wallets, but the ones we’ll be looking at today are well-known and trusted by the Solana community.

Phantom

Phantom is the most popular non-custodial cryptocurrency wallet for Solana, bar none. Why? Well, it has a polished user interface, is simple to use, compatible with Ledger and Trezor hardware wallets, and includes a list of validators of your choosing. 

Also, Phantom Wallet can be added as a Chrome, Firefox, Brave, or Edge extension, or you can download it on the App or Google Play store. Add on the built-in decentralized exchange (DEX) protocol for swapping your SOL for other tokens, and you have a powerhouse of a wallet that can connect to virtually any DeFi or dapp of your choice.

And for beginners, the ease of use is unparalleled—it literally takes a few clicks to start earning passive income on your SOL. 

If you’re struggling to swipe right on a validator, try validators.app and look for smaller validators with higher APY, lower commissions, and trusted websites with an abundance of information at your disposal.

Sollet

Sollet is the top pick for advanced Solana users and developers because of its open-sourced code. As a result, it provides valuable developer functionalities at the expense of an optimized user experience and customer support. 

Just check out their website and you’ll see what I mean. The first message that pops up recommends using other wallets like Phantom and Solflare. Guess you’ll only ever see this in web3 😂

What really gives Sollet a slight edge over its direct competitor, Phantom, is its DEX ecosystem called “Serum,” allowing users to not only interact with SPL tokens—crypto-assets created on the Solana network—but also with their ERC20 counterparts. With Phantom, you can only interact with the Solana ecosystem.

Solflare

Similar to Phantom, Solflare is a non-custodial wallet available on your browser or through a mobile application. It’s seen as the “all-in-one” package for beginners, as you can store, stack, swap, and send Solana without a hassle.

And again, just like Phantom, it has a built-in Ledger and Trezor integration, which is excellent if you want to use hardware wallets for added security.

Solong

Although it’s the newest entry on the list and thus the least popular alternative of all Solana cryptocurrency wallets, it’s a top contender for where to stake Solana. 

Simply put, it’s missing some of the robust features of its largest competitors, Phantom and Solflare. But for what it lacks, it makes up for in its early integration of features and functions once you’re onboarded.

So if you’re a first-time Solana user or don’t want all the complexities of Phantom and Solflare, Solong may be a great fit for you. Simple send, receive, buy, and sell buttons will facilitate your actions on the Solana blockchain.

DeFi staking

If you’re familiar with DeFi protocols on the Ethereum network, you’ll know that you can stake ERC20 tokens—tokens built upon the Ethereum Mainnet—for an additional stream of income. The same thing goes for the Solana network: instead of staking your SOL in your wallet, you can stake SPL (Solana-based) tokens via DeFi.

So what are the most trusted DeFi protocols to answer the age-old question of where to stake Solana, and even further, where to stake SPL tokens?

Raydium

If Phantom is the king of Solana cryptocurrency wallets, Raydium is a god of Solana’s DeFi world. Holding over $209M in Total Value Locked (TVL), you can bet your bottom dollar that Raydium is the most used and trusted DeFi platform for staking. 

It’s basically the equivalent of Uniswap, but on the Solana network. In this case, Raydium is the Automated Market Maker (AMM) for Serum, which is the DEX on Solana. The two protocols work hand-in-hand, as Raydium funnels liquidity to the limit order book of Serum in exchange for liquidity via the central order book. 

I wouldn’t hold it against you if you skimmed over that entire paragraph because of the nerd-talk. Stick with me here, though—you can stake Liquidity Pool (LP) tokens, which usually come in an SPL token-stablecoin pair (eg. RAY-USDC), for passive income in the form of RAY (the protocol’s native token).

On top of all this, RAY can be staked for 19.20% APR! So you can either sell off your RAY once deposited into your account or stake it for further rewards.

Saber

Next up: Saber. With over $134M TVL, it comes in as the sixth largest platform in Solana’s DeFi ecosystem. Impressive.

If Raydium is Uniswap’s brother from another mother, Saber is Curve Finance’s long-lost friend. It primarily functions as a stablecoin exchange, with cross-chain capabilities amongst Solana and Ethereum. 

If you’re a Market Maker, you can deposit your cold-hard cash into a Liquidity Pool to earn passive income. Dapps that use the liquidity in your Pool pay transaction fees and other costs for using your lent money.

Liquid staking

Do you despise the idea of locking up your tokens for months on end? Or maybe you only dislike not being able to use your tokens for trading. Good news, I’ve got the solution for you: liquid staking. In essence, you’re still staking your SOL on a protocol, but with far more convenience.

Essentially, not only will you be accruing staking rewards, but you’ll also receive a tokenized version of the staked SOL that you can use to buy, sell, swap, and trade with other tokens on a variety of DeFi protocols.

There’s also an added bonus: staking SOL in wallets can take days or weeks for you to receive your initial deposit back. However, with liquid staking, your OG deposit can be back into your hands in a matter of seconds without any hidden fees.

Marinade Finance

The Marinade protocol is one of the best options for where to stake Solana. In return for your SOL stake, you’ll receive a representative token: mSOL.

The price of mSOL is constantly being recalculated, adjusting to the amount of SOL staked. Therefore, since the protocol cannot issue mSOL without SOL being traded for it, the price of mSOL is dependent mainly on the total amount of SOL staked.

The beauty behind mSOL is its use cases. You can use it as collateral when borrowing crypto from exchanges, find an mSOL/SOL or mSOL/XXX pool to farm, stake it for more rewards, and trade it on DeFi protocols and DEXs like Raydium and Saber.

Although the APY for a SOL stake is lower than cryptocurrency wallets and DeFi protocols, the upside is there.

Conclusion

Where to stake Solana? The possibilities are endless. The list above entails the most trusted and well-known methods for staking the network’s native coin. 

If you want to dive deeper, go right ahead—but be warned. The more niche the cryptocurrency wallet, DeFi protocol, or liquid staking provider, the more risk there will be involved. 

Good luck out there!