If you’ve been around Solana for a while, you know the drill: you stake your SOL, you earn staking rewards, and that’s about it. Safe, reliable… but a little boring.
Now imagine if that same staked SOL could do more. Not just sit there securing the network, but also power oracles, cross-chain bridges, and even services that make Solana faster and more reliable. All while still earning you rewards.
That’s exactly what Solayer is trying to pull off.
What Makes Solayer Different?
Normally, staking is a one-job gig. Your SOL helps secure Solana’s validators, and you get a yield for it. Done.
Solayer flips that script with something called restaking. Here’s the idea:
You stake SOL (or Solana liquid staking tokens like mSOL, JitoSOL, or bSOL).
Instead of just sitting idle, that security gets “re-used” to back Actively Validated Services (AVSs) — things like oracles, bridges, and even Solana-native speed boosts.
You earn rewards not just from staking, but also from helping secure these extra services.
So, one deposit = multiple reward streams.
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The Magic Ingredient: Liquid Restaking
Here’s where it gets interesting. When you restake with Solayer, you don’t just lock your SOL away forever. You get a token back called sSOL.
Think of sSOL as your “receipt” — proof that you restaked your SOL. But unlike a boring paper receipt, sSOL is alive. You can use it across DeFi:
lend it,
borrow against it,
or drop it into a liquidity pool.
And while you’re busy putting sSOL to work, your original restaked SOL is still earning. It’s like getting paid twice for the same deposit.
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Endogenous vs. Exogenous (Without the Jargon)
Solayer often throws around big words like “endogenous” and “exogenous AVS.” Let’s humanize those:
Endogenous AVS = services that live inside Solana. Think of them as speed-boosters — Solayer uses Solana’s stake-weighted QoS so that services with more stake get smoother, faster transactions. It’s like priority boarding at an airport.
Exogenous AVS = outside services, like oracles or cross-chain bridges, that still need security. Instead of starting from scratch, they borrow Solana’s muscle (your restaked SOL).
Either way, your SOL is working overtime.
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Tokens in the Mix
sSOL → your liquid restaking token, usable in DeFi.
LAYER → governance token connected to the Solayer Foundation. This is what gives the community a voice in how Solayer grows.
Down the road, Solayer hints at more — like sUSD, a stablecoin tied into their ecosystem — but the star of the show right now is sSOL.
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Campaigns & Rewards
To spark adoption, Solayer runs reward programs. One standout: Binance Wallet’s Solana Restaking Season in 2025, with $1M in incentives across Solayer and Fragmetric. If you restaked SOL or BNSOL, you were in the mix.
These campaigns aren’t just marketing fluff. They help push restaking into the mainstream and give early users a nice boost.
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Security First
Of course, whenever you’re locking assets into a new protocol, the question is: is it safe?
Solayer has been audited (Halborn did a review in 2024), and the team emphasizes security. But no protocol is bulletproof — smart contract bugs, validator issues, or DeFi risks with sSOL are all real considerations.
The golden rule? Start small, learn the ropes, and scale up only when you’re comfortable.
---Why Solayer Feels Like a Big Deal
Here’s the bigger picture: Solayer isn’t just about chasing higher APYs. It’s about transforming SOL from a passive staking asset into an active force that secures the broader Solana ecosystem.
For users, it means more rewards. For developers, it means stronger infrastructure. And for Solana as a whole, it could mean faster adoption and sturdier foundations.
If Solana is the engine, Solayer might just be the turbocharger bolted on top.
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Final Word
Solayer makes staking on Solana feel exciting again. Instead of “set it and forget it,” you get to restake, earn more, and even play in DeFi with your liquid restaking tokens.
It’s early days, but if restaking on Ethereum was a glimpse of what’s possible, Solayer shows that Solana isn’t just keeping up — it’s ready to lead.
@undefined labs