From Marinade Finance to Jito: An Overview of LSD Projects on the Solana Chain

Author: DeMan
After the FTX bankruptcy incident, Solana faced significant challenges. The price of the SOL token once plummeted to $8, a drop of over 95%. Nevertheless, the Solana ecosystem and its large community demonstrated remarkable resilience. During this period, the number of users surpassed one million, and the number of developers exceeded 2,000, with new DeFi and NFT projects continuously emerging in the ecosystem.
The rebound in Bitcoin prices has driven a strong recovery in Solana tokens, with a price increase of over 200% in just two months. The Grayscale Solana Trust saw a premium as high as 800%, reflecting the market's optimistic outlook on Solana's long-term prospects.
Currently, there are 295.7M SOL staked on the Solana network, but the application of liquid staking derivatives remains relatively limited. During the FTX incident, Solana's liquid staking TVL dropped from a peak of 12.8M SOL to a low of 5M SOL, but it has since recovered to around 12M+ SOL. The recently launched Jito staking service has accumulated over $44.86M (2.3M SOL) in TVL since its launch.

Changes in Solana's total market capitalization
These data indicate that, in the comparison of risk and return, Solana staking offers considerable potential. Liquid staking on Solana accounts for only a small portion of its total staking, indicating significant room for growth.
In this wave of recovery in the Solana ecosystem, Jito stands out particularly. In the past 30 days, its TVL has grown nearly 70%, becoming a highlight in the Solana staking ecosystem. Next, we will delve deeper into Jito and other important projects within the Solana staking ecosystem.

The innovation of Solana's liquid staking mechanism attracts industry attention, with impressive project data performance

The introduction of liquid staking tokens in the Solana ecosystem marks a deep exploration of the DeFi field. These tokens, as derivatives of Solana's native asset SOL, provide a unique staking strategy. Users can earn staking rewards without sacrificing asset liquidity, achieving the dual advantage of enjoying staking yields while participating in DeFi applications.
In traditional blockchain ecosystems, users often have to choose between staking rewards and other potential high-return opportunities. However, Solana's liquid staking tokens change this scenario. With this mechanism, users do not have to choose between staking rewards and participating in the DeFi market; instead, they can enjoy both simultaneously.
In addition to providing users with greater flexibility, this strategy also contributes to network security and decentralization. With the existence of liquid staking tokens, users' assets are no longer concentrated in a single validator, reducing the risk of fund loss and enhancing the degree of decentralization of the network.
Liquid staking projects in the Solana ecosystem each have their own characteristics, including different staking strategies and fee structures. Projects like Jito, Marinade, BlazeStake, MarginFi, and Jpool not only offer users diverse choices but also showcase the innovative spirit and development potential of the Solana ecosystem. Next, we will explore the specific details of these projects, including their strategies, advantages, and challenges faced.

Overview of LSD projects on the Solana chain: different models, mechanisms, and future potential worth investigating

Marinade Finance: Allows users to convert staked assets into liquid assets at any time
Marinade Finance stands out in the Solana ecosystem with the highest total locked value (TVL), focusing on providing convenient Solana staking solutions. The core service of this platform is "liquid staking," which allows users to convert staked assets into liquid assets at any time without undergoing a lengthy unlocking process.
To keep pace with the emerging protocols in the market, Marinade launched a reward program in mid-September. Although Marinade's TVL in SOL saw a slight decline during the quarter, it has rebounded since September 20. Additionally, Marinade Native, launched at the end of July as a supplement to its liquid staking service, is an automated platform that allocates staking to over 100 excellent validators, with the advantage of no performance fees and reduced smart contract risks.
Marinade recently launched the Marinade Native program, allowing users to easily delegate their staking rights while retaining the right to withdraw funds. Marinade also initiated the Marinade Earn reward program from October 1, 2023, to January 1, 2024, where participants will receive additional MNDE rewards, along with a referral system to incentivize users to recommend new users to join.

Marinade's data performance
Since its launch in 2021, Marinade has been a mature DeFi protocol, with its TVL exceeding $1.5 billion during market peaks. Although it has declined compared to its peak, Marinade still ranks first in TVL within the Solana ecosystem. Its token mSOL has strong liquidity in the market and is listed on exchanges such as Coinbase and Kraken.
Marinade Finance currently maintains a dominant position in the Solana liquid staking market, with over 5.47M SOL staked. Its project TVL reaches $613 million, with a monthly growth rate of 78%, showcasing its strong influence in the Solana ecosystem and indicating its future development potential.
Jito: Early layout in the Solana MEV (Maximum Extractable Value) field
In November 2022, just before the FTX collapse, Jito Labs officially announced the launch of its Jito staking service, marking its active progress in the liquid staking (LSD) protocol field. After users delegate SOL to validator nodes, they receive JitoSOL as a liquidity certificate, which increases in value as node validation rewards accumulate. Jito Labs' early layout in the Solana MEV field allows it to distribute MEV earnings to stakers, thereby enhancing overall staking returns.
However, the launch of Jito coincided with the collapse of FTX, and the closely related Solana also faced significant liquidity loss. Initially, Jito's total locked value (TVL) did not grow significantly due to a lack of market confidence and liquidity demand.
As the Solana ecosystem gradually recovered in the second half of 2022, Jito's TVL began to grow steadily. Notably, in August, Jito launched a points incentive program to encourage users to participate in Jito staking, hold JitoSOL, engage in DeFi activities, and refer new users, rewarding their contributions to the Jito community in the form of points, which significantly boosted Jito's TVL growth.

JTO price chart
Additionally, Lido DAO decided in October 2022 to no longer support new SOL staking, and its operators began to gradually exit the SOL staking market starting in November. Lido's exit left nearly 6M stSOL needing to find new staking venues. Jito, with its dual advantages of staking and MEV rewards, along with its points incentive program, successfully attracted a large amount of stSOL, significantly increasing its TVL and quickly becoming one of the top two LSD protocols on Solana.
Jito's liquid staking protocol delegates users' SOL to validators that support MEV, with MEV earnings distributed as additional rewards to stakers. At the end of August, Jito launched a referral program, followed by a points system in mid-September, and announced an airdrop on November 28.
Compared to Marinade, Jito is gradually narrowing the gap in terms of ecosystem composition, degree of decentralization, and simplicity of staking models. Jito's core competitiveness in MEV value capture and distribution will continue to expand with the prosperity of the Solana network. Therefore, we hold extremely optimistic expectations for Jito's future development, as it is likely to become the largest LSD protocol in the Solana ecosystem.
Jito's project TVL currently stands at $412 million, with a monthly growth rate of 90%, fully demonstrating Jito's strong momentum in the Solana liquid staking market. As Jito continues to develop, we look forward to its playing an increasingly important role in the Solana ecosystem.
BlazeStake: Committed to promoting the decentralization of Solana nodes
BlazeStake, as a newly emerging liquid staking protocol in 2023, is dedicated to promoting the decentralization of Solana nodes. On the BlazeStake platform, stakers have two options: to join a standard delegation pool or to choose any validator for SOL staking. In either case, stakers receive bSOL as proof of their liquid staking rewards.
BlazeStake has been hinting at an airdrop for bSOL holders since last year. In August 2023, BlazeStake launched a points system and its own token BLZE, conducting an airdrop based on user points. This strategy not only incentivized users to participate and hold bSOL but also increased the project's attractiveness and visibility.
As of November 30, 2023, BlazeStake's SOL locked value achieved an astonishing growth rate of 1,234%, with a total locked amount of 678,560 SOL, approximately $40 million. This achievement significantly reflects BlazeStake's rapid growth in the Solana ecosystem and the positive market response.
The project's total locked value (TVL) reached $50.33 million, with a monthly growth rate of 124%, fully demonstrating BlazeStake's strong momentum in the Solana ecosystem. Although BlazeStake has not yet issued a token, its airdrop plan has been clearly mentioned in the white paper, although specific details have yet to be disclosed.
This series of actions by BlazeStake indicates that it is rapidly becoming an important force for decentralization and innovation in the Solana staking ecosystem. As the project continues to develop and solidify its market position, we can expect BlazeStake to play an even more critical role in the Solana ecosystem.
MarginFi: Completed $3 million in seed round financing
MarginFi, as one of the leading lending protocols in the Solana decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem, stands out in the market with its innovative strategies. On July 3, 2023, MarginFi launched a points system to incentivize more user participation by rewarding users for deposits, loans, and referrals.
This strategy has achieved remarkable results, with a total locked value (TVL) annual growth rate of 743%, elevating MarginFi to sixth place in the Solana DeFi TVL rankings. This achievement not only reflects MarginFi's strong growth in the market but also highlights its important position in the Solana DeFi ecosystem.
At the end of the quarter, MarginFi further expanded its business scope by launching its own liquid staking token LST. This move made MarginFi one of the platforms with the highest natural yields among all liquid staking (LST) options on Solana. This initiative further solidified MarginFi's leadership position in the Solana staking market.
As of now, MarginFi's project TVL has reached $149 million, with a monthly growth rate of 153%, emphasizing its rapid growth and market appeal in the Solana ecosystem. Although MarginFi has not yet issued its own token, its business model and market performance have attracted widespread attention.
In terms of funding, MarginFi completed $3 million in seed round financing on February 23, 2022, providing a solid financial foundation for its future development. Given MarginFi's innovative strategies and significant growth in the Solana DeFi market, we can expect it to continue playing an important role in driving the development of the Solana ecosystem.
JPool: Uses an intelligent allocation mechanism to automatically distribute users' staked assets based on overall yield
JPool stands out in the Solana ecosystem with its liquid staking protocol. The characteristic of this protocol is that it does not support users directly choosing validator nodes. Instead, JPool employs an intelligent allocation mechanism that automatically distributes users' staked assets based on overall yield. This approach simplifies the decision-making process for users while aiming to optimize the overall performance of staking returns.
As of the latest data, JPool's total locked value (TVL) has reached $40.35 million, showing a monthly growth rate of 62%. This significant growth indicates that, despite adopting a relatively unconventional staking method, JPool has still received a positive response in the market.
It is worth noting that JPool has not yet issued its own token. This means that JPool's growth and attractiveness are primarily based on the advantages of its staking service itself, rather than the short-term appeal brought by token incentives. This strategy reflects JPool's confidence in the quality of its service and user experience.
JPool's success highlights the potential of the liquid staking model in the Solana DeFi ecosystem, particularly in optimizing and automating staking strategies. JPool's model provides an attractive option for users in the Solana ecosystem seeking simplified and efficient staking solutions.
JPool is gradually developing with its unique intelligent liquid staking model in the Solana ecosystem, and its future performance may further reflect the effectiveness and appeal of intelligent staking strategies in the DeFi field.

The Solana chain ecosystem continues to expand, looking forward to more innovative applications emerging continuously

As the Solana ecosystem continues to mature and expand, its staking ecosystem also shows trends of diversification and innovation. From Jito's strong performance, Marinade Finance's steady growth, to MarginFi's innovative strategies and JPool's intelligent staking model, each project contributes to the overall prosperity of the ecosystem in its unique way. These projects not only reflect the dynamism and diversity of the Solana ecosystem but also showcase the spirit of continuous exploration and innovation in the decentralized finance field.
Although the projects differ in growth rates, strategic choices, and market positioning, they collectively drive the overall development of the Solana ecosystem and provide users with rich choices. As the market evolves and technology advances, we can expect the Solana ecosystem to continue attracting more participants, continuously promoting innovation and development in decentralized finance.