@Solayer is a groundbreaking protocol built on the Solana blockchain that lets users earn significantly more from their SOL tokens or liquid staking tokens such as mSOL and jitoSOL. It goes beyond standard staking by offering restaking, so your staked tokens can be used again to power additional services and earn yet more rewards. This article explains everything about Solayer in straightforward language.
WHAT SOLAYER ACTUALLY IS
Solayer is the first native restaking protocol on Solana. Staking means locking your tokens to support network security and earn rewards. Liquid staking adds liquidity by giving users tokens such as LSTs that represent the staked assets. Restaking takes this further by using the same staked tokens again to support additional services on the blockchain, called Actively Validated Services or AVSs. Solayer enables restaking so that a single stake can yield from multiple sources without needing more tokens.
Solayer automates this process through a Restaking Pool Manager, which handles conversions such as turning SOL into an intermediate restaking token called sSOL-raw and then into sSOL, a liquid staking token issued within the Solayer system. This is non-custodial, values user custody, and integrates with validators who may also employ MEV (maximal extractable value) boosting to optimize earnings. Users who deposit SOL or LSTs into Solayer receive sSOL in return, giving them a staked representation of their assets that remains liquid.
Solayer supports various liquid staking tokens like mSOL, jitoSOL, BNSOL, and others, allowing holders to enter the restaking ecosystem through their existing LSTs. The Delegation Manager portion of the system then allocates these restaked assets to validators or AVSs on behalf of users and issues redeemable validator tokens that closely mirror 1-to-1 staking positions.
Solayer also introduces sUSD, a yield-bearing stablecoin pegged 1-to-1 with the U.S. dollar and backed by U.S. Treasury Bills, currently generating about four to five percent annual yield. Holding sUSD allows users to passively earn this yield just by keeping it in a wallet and also use it within restaking setups to earn additional AVS-based returns. As of late, sUSD boasts a total value locked (TVL) in the tens of millions of dollars.
WHY SOLAYER EXISTS AND WHAT IT WANTS TO DO
Solayer emerges from a need to improve capital efficiency and broaden the utility of staked assets on Solana. Traditional staking yields are limited to simple PoS rewards, typically around six to eight percent annually. That leaves out avenues like MEV strategies and validation services. Solayer combines proof-of-stake revenue with MEV earnings and additional AVS rewards to produce higher total yields, often in the range of ten to seventeen percent annually.
Solayer also aims to solve liquidity fragmentation. In traditional setups, users must re-stake across different chains to engage various DeFi protocols. Solayer enables cross-chain liquidity by keeping staked assets anchored on Solana while creating synthetic versions like stLAYER for use in Ethereum or other environments, enabling a “single-stake, multi-chain” leverage model.
Solayer includes hardware acceleration through its InfiniSVM infrastructure. This architecture moves execution tasks into hardware layers such as FPGAs and SmartNICs, with interconnects like InfiniBand and RDMA for high-speed communication. This allows the system to scale to millions of transactions per second and massively increase throughput and bandwidth well beyond software-only limitations.
Solayer’s broader mission is to create a shared security layer for decentralized applications and networks—rather than having each app bootstrap its own validators. Developers can tap into Solayer’s validator network for consensus, bandwidth, and blockspace, boosting security while simplifying their build process. Applications benefit from stake-weight quality of service, permissioned mempools, optimized MEV strategies, and localized state support.
WHO FOUNDED SOLAYER
The founding team behind Solayer includes prominent figures in the Solana ecosystem. Co-founders include Anatoly Yakovenko and Raj Gokal, who also help lead the Solana blockchain. Alongside them, Rachel Chu is noted as a co-founder, Jason Li serves as a co-founder and head of engineering, and Joshua Sum takes on the role of head of product. The team combines deep technical expertise with ecosystem knowledge and support. Solayer has also secured funding from major backers like Polychain Capital, Binance Labs, and even Anatoly Yakovenko himself, demonstrating strong institutional confidence.
HOW SOLAYER PROMOTES ITSELF
Solayer promotes itself through multiple channels. It forms partnerships with liquid staking providers like Marinade or Jito, allowing holders of their LSTs to enter restaking easily. It also integrates with decentralized apps and infrastructure layers that need added consensus or bandwidth, making staking useful across many services.
The Solayer platform features an intuitive user interface with wallet-agnostic integration across popular wallets like Phantom. Users can deposit SOL or LSTs and see their rewards and stake status in real time. Using Restaking Pool Manager and Delegation Manager, the platform simplifies the entire process.
Solayer markets growth through community campaigns, liquidity incentives, and airdrops. For example they ran retrodrop programs between mid-2024 and early 2025, rewarding early participants. Their TVL exceeded hundreds of millions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of users deposited, and it became one of the top DeFi protocols on Solana with extensive influencer marketing and public relations campaigns.
Solayer also expands into vertical infrastructure with products like sUSD savings mechanisms and even a non-custodial debit card that connects on-chain balances to real-world spending, increasing practical utility and ecosystem stickiness.
ADVANTAGES FOR USERS NOW AND IN THE FUTURE
Today Solayer offers tangible advantages for users. The restaking system enables significantly higher yields on the same initial staked assets. Liquidity remains intact via sSOL, so you can use your staked positions in DeFi applications or trade freely while reward accumulation continues.
The protocol’s architecture into MEV strategies and AVS delegation strengthens ecosystem security and decentralization. Developers get a powerful shared security layer, lowering the barrier to create performant apps, while stakers earn from multiple revenue streams simultaneously.
For the future, Solayer stands to become core infrastructure on Solana—similar to EigenLayer on Ethereum. As restaking becomes integrated into more dApps, bridges, oracles, DePIN systems, or L2 layers, Solayer’s validator-backed power may become a backbone of Solana’s expanding ecosystem. Cross-chain restaking and synthetic asset issuance like stLAYER offer further promise to connect capital flows across ecosystems seamlessly.
InfiniSVM’s hardware acceleration could transform blockchain performance by breaking TPS limits, enabling new ultra-low latency use cases, financial systems, or widespread high-speed transaction environments.
Solayer’s growing product stack, including sUSD yield and real-world payment tools, also suggests a future where staking, earning, spending, and transacting merge into smart, convenient, integrated services—all decentralized and user-controlled.
INVESTMENT CONSIDERATIONS AND HOW MUCH TO USE
Solayer does not sell tokens in exchange for profits; instead value accrues through restaking participation. Users stake SOL or LSTs to earn sSOL and other rewards. Early participants benefit from high incentive yields and airdrops. But cryptocurrency remains volatile and protocols can evolve, so any investment needs careful thought.
If you believe in Solana's long-term growth and the value of shared security models, then allocating a portion of your holdings to Solayer restaking could make sense. Monitor reward rates, adoption levels, competitive restaking rivals, and ensure you maintain liquidity and risk tolerance. Because the platform frequently offers incentives, participating early can yield higher rewards—but always balance that against potential market downturns or shifts in protocol design.
OVERALL SUMMARY
Solayer is a pioneering restaking protocol built on Solana that layers staking, liquid staking, and restaking together with advanced hardware infrastructure to offer a powerful, capital-efficient, ecosystem-boosting system. Founded by key leadership from Solana, backed by major investors, and driven by a mission to accelerate security, performance, and decentralized application growth, Solayer positions itself as foundational infrastructure for the future of Solana.
Its advantages for users include increased yields, retained liquidity, and ease of use today. In the long term it could redefine scalability and decentralized infrastructure, with cross-chain functionality, hardware acceleration, synthetic asset issuance, and real-world product integration.
For those interested in maximizing the productivity of their SOL or LST holdings, Solayer presents a compelling option—provided risks are understood and the ecosystem continues to mature.
