If you hold SOL or use liquid-staked SOL (LSTs) on Solana, Solayer wants to put those tokens to work in more ways. In plain terms, Solayer is a protocol that lets people restake their SOL or LSTs so those same tokens can help secure extra services and earn extra rewards — without losing their original staking benefits. Think of it as letting your staked SOL do two jobs instead of one.
I’ll walk you through what Solayer does, the main pieces of its tech, who uses it now, the risks, and where it might go next.
What “restaking” means (quick and simple)
Staking normally means you lock SOL to help secure the Solana network and earn rewards. Restaking means you take that already-staked SOL (or a liquid token that represents staked SOL) and let it also secure other services — things like bridges, data availability layers, or special validator services. You earn extra yield for that extra work. Solayer is built to do this natively on Solana.
The big idea: more security, more yield, same tokens
Why do this? Because it can improve security and make capital more efficient. Projects that need extra trust (for example, a cross-chain bridge or a data service) can use restaked SOL as a security layer. Meanwhile, token holders get more rewards than staking alone. That’s the core trade-off Solayer sells: more utility from the same token.
Main building blocks of Solayer
Here are the main pieces you should know about:
• Restaking vaults / programs. These smart contracts accept SOL or approved LSTs and delegate them to operator groups that secure Actively Validated Services (AVS) and other systems. The docs explain how native SOL and LST restaking differ and how unstaking works.
• sSOL (or protocol liquidity tokens). Solayer describes a transferable liquidity layer (sometimes called sSOL in docs) that acts as the universal token inside the system — letting dApps and users move and use restaked value without constantly unlocking underlying SOL.
• AVS (Actively Validated Services). These are services that need active validators — e.g., bridges, collators, or data layers. Solayer allows restaked SOL to be delegated to help secure these AVS systems. That’s how the protocol ties restaking to real, useful services.
• Relay, infra, and docs. Solayer keeps code and docs public (GitHub + GitBook), and it’s gone through security reviews to help earn trust from users and integrators. You can find the restaking guides and implementation notes in their docs and repositories.
Which liquid staking tokens (LSTs) it supports
Solayer planned phased LST support. Early LSTs listed by Solayer include common tokens like Marinade (mSOL), Jito-SOL, Blaze (bSOL), and Infinity (INF) — with more to be added in phases. That means users who already hold LSTs from major providers may be able to restake them through Solayer. Always check the docs for the current list and timing.
Security and audits
Solayer has worked with security firms and published audits/assessments for core programs. For example, the team engaged Halborn to run a restaking program assessment. Public audits and open code are important steps, but remember security is ongoing — audits reduce risk but do not remove it.
Who is using Solayer today
Solayer has attracted attention from builders, validators, and liquidity providers in the Solana ecosystem. It competes with other restaking efforts (for example, Jito’s restaking) and appears to have meaningful TVL and integrations on Solana. Many developer resources and writeups describe Solayer as a leading Solana native restaking project. Check on-chain data (e.g., DefiLlama or protocol dashboards) for live TVL and usage numbers.
How earnings are shared (the basics)
When you restake through Solayer, rewards come from a mix of sources — the original staking yield, extra rewards paid by AVS services for security, and other protocol revenues. The protocol design aims to distribute those extra revenues to users who restake, while also incentivizing reliable operators. Exact splits and mechanics depend on the vault and the AVS being secured; read the vault terms and docs before participating.
The tech angle: InfiniSVM and scaling claims
Solayer talks about infrastructure innovations (some sources reference things like InfiniSVM and hardware-accelerated execution) aimed at boosting throughput and lowering costs for validator services. These are technical ambitions to improve scalability and service performance — useful for certain AVS workloads. As always, technical claims should be verified against published benchmarks and third-party tests.
Risks you must know (short and direct)
I’m honest about the downsides — here are the main ones:
1. Smart contract risk. Any protocol with staking and restaking code can have bugs. Audits help but don’t remove risk entirely.
2. Concentration of publishers/operators. If too much restaked value is controlled by a small group, that raises centralization risks. Watch operator distribution.
3. Cross-service dependencies. Solayer secures external services; if those services fail or misbehave, it can affect security assumptions and rewards.
4. LST and bridge risk. Using LSTs or cross-chain bridges adds layers — each layer can have faults. Check the specific LST and bridge mechanics.
Where Solayer might go next (the roadmap feel)
Based on public docs and community writeups, the likely next steps are:
Add more LSTs in phased rollouts to widen restaking options.
Grow AVS integrations so more services pay for security from restaked SOL.
Improve tooling — dashboards, developer APIs, and integrations so apps can tap restaked liquidity easily.
Focus on safety — more audits, clearer operator requirements, and staged decentralization so governance and control shift to a wider base over time.
Final, plain take — what I think
I like the simple idea: let staked SOL do more work while still letting users keep liquidity and yield. Solayer is one of the main projects pushing that idea on Solana, and it combines smart-contract design, operator infrastructure, and real AVS use cases. That can make the Solana ecosystem safer and more efficient — but it also layers new complexity and new risks on top of staking. If you plan to use Solayer, read the docs, confirm which LSTs are supported, review audits, and only stake what you can afford to lock up or risk.
If you want, I can now:
Make a short 150-word social post from this article,
Produce a developer one-pager with exact GitHub links and contract addre
sses, or
Create a Q&A that answers common user questions (fees, unstake time, how rewards split).
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