Nansen and Sanctum have introduced a cutting-edge liquid staking framework on Solana aimed at simplifying the staking of SOL to the level of a simple token swap.
This system, referred to as the “universal staking router”, integrates various liquid staking tokens (LSTs) such as mSOL, jitoSOL, and bSOL into a singular standardized route.
Rather than having users select individual validators or navigate through multiple staking pools, Sanctum automatically channels deposits to the optimal mix of top-performing validators, while Nansen provides the analytics layer to monitor these transactions in real-time.
This launch represents a significant effort to unify Solana’s fragmented staking landscape, which, while substantial, has become disjointed. The blockchain holds $11.6 billion in total value locked (TVL), with $15.5 billion in stablecoins and approximately $1.34 million in daily chain revenue.
However, staking liquidity remains distributed across separate protocols: Jupiter ($3.44 b TVL), Kamino ($3.29 b), Jito ($2.94 b), and Sanctum ($2.53 b) each operate somewhat isolated pools that hinder capital reuse.
Solana’s new staking infrastructure
At its essence, Sanctum’s router transforms staking into a liquidity challenge rather than a governance issue. By linking pools under a united standard, the framework permits users to mint or interchange between LSTs using consolidated liquidity rather than fragmented order books.
This improvement also enhances Solana’s DeFi ecosystem, making DEXs like Raydium and Drift, perpetual contracts, and lending markets more effective, as LSTs can now traverse freely without the need for specific integrations.
Nansen’s responsibility is to quantify this network. Its dashboards illustrate validator performance, staking yield, and liquidity depth across the new infrastructure, empowering users to pinpoint optimal paths and enabling institutions to monitor flows with the same clarity they currently have for Ethereum’s LST markets.
This collaboration emerges during a tumultuous period for Solana DeFi. Among the leading protocols, 7-day TVL losses span from -4% to -27%, with monthly declines exceeding 10% in numerous significant pools.
Despite the network generating 2 million daily active addresses and $4.5 million in daily inflows, fragmentation has hindered staking progress. Sanctum’s router seeks to remedy this by consolidating liquidity within a unified infrastructure.
Can Solana attract liquidity from Ethereum?
The primary challenge is determining whether unified LSTs can rival Ethereum’s established ecosystem, where Lido’s stETH reigns supreme with over $30 billion in deposits. Solana’s advantage lies in its speed and low cost: swapping or minting an LST incurs costs of mere cents, while Ethereum L2s still depend on complex bridging and higher fees.
The new routing standard also boosts the competitiveness of Solana’s validator market: yields, instead of brand recognition, dictate where deposits are directed.
The yield calculations favor Solana. Liquid staking presently offers returns of 5-8%, in contrast to 3-4% on ETH, and simplified liquidity routing reduces the opportunity cost of remaining staked. Should adoption surge, this could redirect part of the capital rotation from Ethereum rollups towards Solana’s high-throughput base layer.
Even after a short-term downturn in DeFi, Solana’s network economics appear to be stabilizing. Its $197 price, coupled with its $107 billion market cap, indicates resilience despite the pressure on TVL. Sanctum’s launch could enhance this if it stimulates greater staking engagement. Liquidity routing encourages more SOL to remain within on-chain derivatives instead of shifting to centralized exchanges.
This feedback loop (staking → liquidity → DeFi reuse) closely resembles what transformed Ethereum’s stETH into a foundational pillar of on-chain finance. If Sanctum’s framework thrives, Solana could replicate this dynamic more quickly due to its unified execution layer.
An important distinction is that Solana’s validators and restaking mechanisms are inherently composable, facilitating future features like instant unstaking or cross-LST lending without the need for new token standards.
Why is this important?
Liquid staking has long been the missing link for Solana. Although the chain excels in NFT and DEX volumes, its staking liquidity has fallen short of its throughput narrative.
Sanctum and Nansen are working to address this by establishing a data-informed, interoperable LST network that functions like a protocol rather than merely a product. Numerous unanswered questions remain. How will liquidity shift between the older LSTs and Sanctum’s router?
Will protocols integrate their routing layer at the contract level or depend on front-end partnerships? And what impact will be felt on MEV distribution once routes converge under a few major pools?
Currently, the statistics exhibit promise. Even amid a market-wide contraction, staking-related protocols constitute nearly one-fifth of Solana’s $11.6 billion TVL. Binance Staked SOL possesses $1.95 billion, Bybit’s pool holds $358 million, and Sanctum has already amassed $2.53 billion within weeks of its inception.
If unified LST frameworks succeed in merging these flows, Solana could establish a structural liquidity advantage that Ethereum’s L2s may struggle to duplicate.
The new infrastructure is more focused on functionality than hype. In the world of crypto, friction determines adoption, and Sanctum has just eliminated one of Solana’s most significant sources of friction.
