If you’ve been in the Solana world for a while, you probably know the drill:
you stake your SOL, earn your ~7% APY, and that’s about it.
But what if that same staked SOL could also be working double-time — securing other protocols, boosting Solana’s own performance, and still staying liquid so you can use it in DeFi?$LAYER
That’s exactly what @Solayer is doing. It’s Solana’s homegrown restaking and liquid restaking protocol — think EigenLayer, but built for Solana’s speed and unique features.
The Core Idea (In Plain English)
When you restake, you’re taking assets that are already staked and using them to secure other services.
Imagine your SOL is a security guard for the Solana blockchain. Restaking is like hiring that same guard to also protect a few other buildings on the side — and getting paid extra for it.
Liquid restaking takes it a step further: you get a token back (in Solayer’s case, sSOL) that represents your restaked position.
This token grows in value as you earn rewards, and you can still use it in DeFi — lending it out, swapping it, or providing liquidity.
How Solayer Works (Without the Boring Bits)
Here’s the flow:
1. You deposit SOL or certain LSTs (like mSOL, JitoSOL, bSOL) into Solayer.
2. You get sSOL back. This is your ticket to DeFi while still earning staking + restaking rewards.
3. Your SOL gets staked to validators and delegated to secure extra services — these are called Actively Validated Services (AVSs).
4. You earn from multiple streams: normal Solana staking rewards, MEV boosts from validators, and any extra incentives from those AVSs.
And because Solana uses stake-weighted quality-of-service, those AVSs you’re helping secure get priority during network congestion. That’s huge for things like DEXes or payment apps.
What Are AVSs Anyway?
Think of AVSs as high-value Solana services that need muscle behind them.
They can be:
A Solana Layer-2 like Sonic
A big community validator like Bonk
Cloud validator setups like HashKey
Or in the future: oracles, sequencers, bridges
These services “rent” security from Solayer’s pooled stake instead of building their own from scratch.
You, the staker, get rewarded for lending that security.
The Token Trio
Solayer runs on three main tokens:
sSOL – Your liquid restaked SOL. Earns yield, works in DeFi.
LAYER – Governance and incentive token (max 1B supply). Community gets the biggest share.
sUSD – A U.S. Treasury-backed stablecoin launched with OpenEden Labs. Earns real-world yield and works with Solayer’s Visa card.
Safety First
Solayer’s been audited by Halborn and OtterSec — no critical issues found.
It’s got emergency exit features, custom unbonding periods, and so far, zero exploits.
The protocol started with permissioned deposits to keep risk low, and it’s moving toward fully permissionless operation.
Why People Are Paying Attention
Since going live in 2024:
$350M+ deposited by ~190,000 users
Average yields in the 10–12% APY range
Launch of Emerald Points program for on-chain rewards
Visa-powered Emerald Card to spend sSOL or sUSD anywhere
sUSD stablecoin added to the mix
And that’s before they even roll out their long-term plan: InfiniSVM, a Solana-compatible chain aiming for million+ TPS performance.
Why It’s a Big Deal
Solayer is more than a yield booster.
It’s quietly building a shared security layer for the entire Solana ecosystem — one where your staked SOL helps keep critical services fast, secure, and well-funded… while you earn more and keep your liquidity.
It’s not “just another staking protocol.”
It’s staking, supercharged — at Solana speed.
Links if you want to explore:
🌐 solayer.org
📜 docs.solayer.org
🐦 @Solayer _labs
💬 Discord