In the ever-evolving world of blockchain technology, restaking has emerged as one of the most promising innovations for enhancing security, scalability, and economic efficiency. At the forefront of this movement on the Solana blockchain is Solayer, a protocol introducing a novel restaking standard optimized for Solana’s high-throughput environment.
Unlike traditional restaking solutions that support off-chain services, Solayer pioneers a new concept — endogenous Actively Validated Services (AVS) — services that operate natively within the Solana blockchain itself. This approach promises to redefine how applications interact with validators, blockspace, and users, laying the groundwork for a more performant, scalable, and decentralized network.
Restaking: Redefining Economic Security on Solana
Restaking allows existing stake (in this case, SOL or staked SOL derivatives) to be reused to secure additional services beyond Solana’s core consensus. This layered security model was popularized by Ethereum protocols, but Solayer adapts and improves upon it by deeply integrating restaking into Solana’s architecture.
Rather than relying on external oracles or rollups, Solayer enables endogenous AVS — these are Solana-native apps and protocols (like DEXs, stablecoins, or gaming engines) that can access validator performance and blockspace through restaked security. This tightly coupled model preserves Solana’s performance benefits while unlocking new yield opportunities and scaling pathways for applications.
Stake-Weighted Quality of Service (swQoS): A Marketplace for Blockspace
One of Solayer’s key innovations is the introduction of stake-weighted Quality of Service (swQoS). In simple terms, this system prioritizes access to Solana’s scarce resources — like transaction processing and block inclusion — based on how much restaked capital is delegated to support specific services.
Imagine Solana’s blockspace as a high-speed train. AVSs that have more "tickets" (in the form of restaked SOL) can board faster and get better seating — or in blockchain terms, faster confirmation times and greater execution priority. This model effectively turns blockspace into a marketplace, where stake becomes a medium of exchange for computational throughput.
Validators are rewarded not just for validating blocks, but for supporting AVSs that have earned stake delegation. This aligns validator incentives with network health and application utility, creating a virtuous loop of performance and economic security.
sSOL: Liquid Restaking Made Easy
At the user level, participating in this new economy is streamlined through sSOL — Solayer’s liquid restaking token. When users deposit SOL (or other staking tokens), they receive sSOL, which represents their position in the restaking protocol.
sSOL provides access to multiple yield streams:
Base staking rewards from Solana validators
MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) earnings captured through Solana’s execution layer
AVS incentive rewards, distributed by applications benefiting from restaked security
Users can use sSOL across DeFi protocols or hold it to earn yield passively, while Solayer handles the complexity of validator coordination, delegation, and AVS integration in the background.
Endogenous AVS: What It Means for Applications
Traditional restaking models secure off-chain services such as data feeds or rollups. Solayer flips this concept by focusing on endogenous services — AVSs built directly within Solana’s L1.
For example, an on-chain trading platform can register as an AVS and gain improved transaction speed and reliability by attracting stake from users. The more stake an AVS garners, the higher its position in Solana’s transaction prioritization queue. This leads to better user experience, higher throughput, and enhanced economic alignment between users, validators, and developers.
Some early AVS integrations include meme coin ecosystems, real-time gaming engines, AI/ML compute layers, and Solana-native rollups. All benefit from direct integration with Solana’s performance characteristics, including low fees and parallel execution.
Mainnet Launch and Traction
Solayer officially launched its mainnet in August 2024, bringing with it core functionalities such as:
Liquid restaking (sSOL)
AVS registration and delegation
MEV redistribution
Stake delegation mechanisms
Operator accountability through slashing and rewards
Within days of launch, Solayer saw tens of thousands of users and significant TVL, quickly cementing itself as the leading restaking platform on Solana.
By mid-2025, Solayer had processed hundreds of millions in restaked assets, with a growing ecosystem of AVS partners and operator nodes. The APY for sSOL holders climbed into double digits, as both MEV and AVS incentives ramped up.
sUSD: A Yield-Bearing Stablecoin
One standout product introduced through Solayer is sUSD, a self-rebasing, interest-bearing stablecoin. Pegged to the US dollar, sUSD grows in quantity rather than price — meaning that user balances increase over time as interest accrues, while the token remains stable at $1.
Built on Solana’s advanced token standards, sUSD is tailored for transparency, composability, and yield generation. Backed by institutional-grade assets and managed through a decentralized reserve, sUSD is quickly becoming a preferred stable asset across DeFi on Solana.
Developer Tooling and Architecture
Solayer's architecture is modular and designed for builders:
Stage 1: Manages restaking deposits and sSOL issuance
Stage 2: Allows users to delegate restaked capital to AVSs or operators
Stage 3: Distributes performance-based rewards to stakeholders
Developers can register new AVSs through a permissionless framework, supported by SDKs, command-line tools, and documentation. Operators are required to maintain performance SLAs and are subject to penalties for malicious behavior.
This design ensures that security, performance, and user incentives are aligned across all layers of the stack.
Why Solana is the Ideal Environment
Solayer’s restaking model works particularly well on Solana due to several unique features:
High throughput: Solana supports thousands of TPS without sacrificing decentralization.
Low latency: Transactions finalize in seconds, ideal for high-frequency AVSs.
Low fees: Minimal cost of participation for restakers and AVSs.
Parallel execution: Unlike Ethereum’s single-threaded model, Solana can process AVSs in parallel, improving scalability.
This synergy between protocol design and blockchain architecture positions Solayer as a best-in-class solution for restaking.
Looking Ahead: Risks and Opportunities
As with any restaking model, Solayer must navigate challenges related to stake fragmentation, validator incentives, and potential attack surfaces. However, ongoing research and adaptive economics (such as elastic restaking) are helping to mitigate these concerns.
Opportunities lie in expanding AVS categories, cross-chain integrations, and governance models that give users more say over how restaked capital is allocated. In time, Solayer could evolve into a full economic layer on top of Solana — not just securing services, but coordinating incentives across the entire L1.
Conclusion: Restaking, Reimagined
Solayer is not just porting restaking to Solana — it’s rethinking it from the ground up. By focusing on native, performance-driven AVSs, building a robust liquid staking ecosystem with sSOL, and introducing novel financial primitives like sUSD, Solayer is pioneering a new economic standard for blockchain applications.
It offers:
Performance for applications
Passive yield for users
Flexibility for developers
And a scalable path forward for Solana’s decentralized future
As restaking continues to reshape Web3’s economic landscape, Solayer is leading the charge — efficiently, natively, and powerfully.
