How to Stake SOL on Solana
Introduction
Staking SOL isn't just about earning yield—it's about improving network security and efficiency. Depositing your SOL with a Solana validator allows your stake to participate in Solana’s Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism and improve transaction landing through stake-weighted Quality-of-Service (swQoS).
This article will guide you through the process of staking SOL, starting with how to choose a validator, step-by-step guide to staking SOL, and why your participation is crucial for the network. By the end of the article, you should know how to stake Solana and the benefits.
Choosing a Validator
When staking SOL, you’ll find a list of validators ranked by their Annual Percentage Yield (APY). This is the percentage you will earn on your stake if you were to stake for a year. You can use the staking yield model to help estimate your rewards.
Understanding the staking yield model will help you choose a validator to stake with. The staking yield is the percentage yield you earn on the amount of SOL you stake. This is determined by the inflation rate, validator uptime, validator fee (commission), and percentage of network stake.
To choose a validator, you will want to pay attention to the following:
- Estimated APY
- Commission
- Total Stake
Validators will typically take commissions for staking. This fee is a percentage deposited in the validator’s account each time rewards are issued. The remaining rewards are proportionately deposited in all the stake accounts delegated to the validator.
The total stake of a validator is how much SOL is delegated to that validator, which impacts the staking yield. You want to choose a healthy validator by evaluating its uptime, slot success rate, and percentage staked across the network. You can check validator identities and vote accounts on SolanaBeach.
Staking SOL with a Wallet
You can stake SOL directly in your wallet. Whether using Phantom, Solflare, Backpack, or a multisig like Squads, you can use the wallet’s interface to stake SOL.
- Open your wallet of choice.
- Click on your SOL and pull up the token interface.
- Click the option to stake SOL.
- Pick the validator you chose in the previous step.
- Enter the amount of SOL you want to stake and double-check the information.
- Click stake and wait for your staking account to be created.
- Once the staking account has been created, it will start activating. You can expect it to be activated in the next epoch (i.e., the number of slots for which a leader schedule is valid, about 2.5 days).
- Click on your staking account to see stake details.
Check out this short video on staking SOL with your wallet:
Native Staking with Helius
The Helius validator charges 0% commission. Helius operates the validator sustainably with no fees because the goal is to increase our total stake to improve transaction landing on Solana. Using staked SOL for staked connections helps reduce network congestion and improve performance. With more total stake, Helius can make staked connections more widely available, attracting more stake and creating a positive feedback loop.
You can stake with the Helius validator using your crypto wallet or on the Helius staking site (coming soon). On the staking site, connect with any compatible wallet containing SOL. You can stake and manage your stake accounts here. Once you have SOL staked, you can click the manage stake tab to view all your staking accounts. Even if you stake using a wallet, you can still view and manage your Helius validator stakes.
On the same page, you can view the validator details such as identity, vote account address, active stake, and commission percentage. Check out the Helius Validator on SolanaBeach.
The stake accounts will be rewarded with SOL every epoch (once every two days). See more information about the current epoch using the Solana Explorer, including epoch progress and estimated time remaining in the epoch. If you deactivate a stake, you will need to wait till the end of the epoch for it to finish un-staking. In the following epoch, the staking account will be deactivated and the stake is withdrawn.
Liquid Staking with Sanctum
A Liquid Staking Token (LST) can be used in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications while the native SOL is staked to strengthen the network. In traditional staking, assets are tied up in a single utility, whereas LSTs enable users to spread their exposure across various platforms while liquid staking. Decoupling liquidity and staking allows users to maintain liquidity and maximize their capital efficiency while staking SOL to secure the network. Liquid staking supports the network and allows users to generate passive income through staking rewards and DeFi activity.
Helius is launching hSOL with Sanctum, a launchpad for LSTs. If you are natively staking with Helius, you can use Sanctum’s application to convert your existing stake to hSOL. You can also make a swap with native SOL to acquire the LST. Whenever you make the swap, you are converting to a yield-bearing token which will accrue staking yields according to its APY. Sanctum uses Infinity, a multi-asset liquidity pool that calculates a fair price for the LST based on the amount of stake a validator has. Find more information about validator LSTs from the Sanctum documentation.
Benefits of Staking with Helius
Highest Possible Native Yield: Since Helius has 0 commissions fees, our stake accounts have the highest possible native yield. As explained in choosing a validator, commission fees take a percentage of your staking rewards. Here’s a numerical comparison for the yield difference between 0% commission and 8% commission.
Liquid Staking Token: You can get hSOL for staking with Helius. This means you can trade, transfer, or use your hSOL in DeFi applications without unstaking your SOL. Swap native stake into hSOL for liquidity to participate in DeFi activities while supporting network performance.
Transaction Reliability: Stake-weighted Quality-of-Service (swQoS) is a networking concept that allows nodes with stake to receive proportional service for landing transactions. With swQoS, staked validators gain a higher probability of having their transactions seen by the network leader. This does not directly guarantee transaction inclusion but significantly improves the chances of timely processing, making the network more reliable for stakeholders.
Performance Prioritization: Remote Procedure Call (RPC) nodes can’t directly access stake-weighted benefits, but validator nodes can form a peering agreement with RPC nodes to provide swQoS. The validators prioritize transactions sent from peered sources to apply stake to their transactions, enabling the usage of swQoS with RPCs. By prioritizing transactions from staked validators, Solana can significantly reduce latency for high-stake transactions.
Network Inclusion: As RPC providers like Helius integrate swQoS, end-users benefit from enhanced service quality. On average, users interacting with applications on Solana experience faster and more reliable service, benefiting from the network stake. While 80% of connections prioritize staked validators, the remaining 20% are open for any transactions. This approach ensures that while stakeholders receive prioritized service for their contributions, the network remains accessible for everyone.
Conclusion
When you choose to stake with Helius, you are participating in our mission to improve the Solana network. Your stake helps to ensure higher transaction reliability, improved performance prioritization, and greater network inclusion, thereby contributing to a stronger, more secure, and community-driven network. For the latest updates on Solana development, stay connected through the Helius Discord and subscribe to our blog.
