7 Best Platforms to Stake Solana in 2024

As the decentralized finance (DeFi) landscape continues to grow in 2024, Solana (SOL) has emerged as a prominent contender, captivating the imagination with its promise of lightning-fast transactions and negligible fees. Yet, unlocking the true potential of this dynamic blockchain necessitates venturing beyond mere token ownership. The key lies in the act of staking your Solana tokens.

However, navigating the intricate web of available platforms and staking pools can be a daunting task for even the most seasoned investor. This informative blog post unveils the seven most compelling platforms for staking Solana in 2024. Through a meticulous analysis of factors like security, convenience, staking rewards, and platform reputation, we empower you to make informed decisions and maximize your returns within the dynamic ecosystem of Solana.

Best Solana staking platforms of 2024 

Let’s get straight to it and uncover the top platforms to stake your SOL.

1. Solflare

Maximizing SOL gains – Image via Solflare

Solflare is a popular non-custodial wallet tailored for the Solana blockchain. The platform boasts features like direct staking of SOL coins and support for both visual and audio non-fungible tokens (NFTs). It is accessible through web versions, browser extensions, and a mobile wallet, offering flexibility and convenience for users.

It is highly regarded for its security, as users are the sole holders of their private keys, ensuring no third-party access.  Additionally, Solflare offers transaction simulations. This allows users to see what leaves their wallet before confirming a transaction.

It also supports Ledger hardware wallets for increased safety. Moreover, it features anti-phishing measures to warn users about potentially malicious websites, ensuring a secure experience for interacting with Solana decentralized applications (dApps).

Solflare demonstrates its robust platform usage with $7.31 billion in value staked through it, involving 72.50 million in stake accounts. This showcases the platform’s significant role in the Solana ecosystem and user trust in its staking services.

Understand the future potential of your investment by exploring our latest Solana price prediction.

2. Marinade finance

Staking via Marinade – Image via Marinade finance

Marinade Finance is an automated staking platform. It stands out in the DeFi space with its unique approach to Solana staking. Users have the option to engage in traditional staking or liquid staking with Marinade, which pools funds into a collective of over 100 high-performing validators chosen through a formula geared towards maximizing performance and decentralization.

Opting for liquid staking allows users to receive mSOL, a token representing their staked SOL in liquid form, which can then be utilized within various DeFi applications. Notably, Marinade ensures security by limiting exposure to smart contract risks.

Marinade Finance offers a staking annual percentage yield (APY) of 7.05%. The platform has successfully attracted substantial interest, reflected in its $1.09 billion total value locked (TVL) and 10,788,875 SOL staked. Furthermore, Marinade boasts a user base of 107,548 accounts.

3. Kraken 

Crypto exchange for staking SOL – Image via Kraken

Kraken is a popular centralized cryptocurrency exchange known for its reliability and efficiency. With over 10 million clients across 190+ countries, it offers a user-friendly experience for both beginners and experienced traders.

Users can start trading with just $10 and access a wide range of over 200 cryptocurrencies. Kraken also supports staking, with 12+ assets available, offering potential yearly rewards of up to 24%. Solana staking, for example, provides an APY of 2-4%, with payouts occurring 1-2 times a week and no lock-up periods.

Kraken’s integrated exchange features allow users to manage staking, trading, and more with a single login. It also features a robust support center to answer common queries and a live chat feature to enhance customer satisfaction.

Expand your understanding of staking in the crypto world by learning about earning passive income through Ethereum 2.0 staking.

4. OKX

Staking SOL on OKX – Image via OKX

OKX is a prominent cryptocurrency exchange offering an annual percentage return (APR) of 7.34% on Solana staking. The platform has a TVL of $14.66 million in SOL. Moreover, it allows users to start staking with as little as 0.01 SOL, catering to a wide range of investors.

The platform streamlines the earning process by automatically distributing staking rewards after each period (2-3 days). This eliminates the need for users to claim rewards manually. This feature ensures a hassle-free and efficient staking experience for all users on the platform.

OKX is recognized for its comprehensive trading services, offering spot, futures, and margin trading, among other financial products. It supports a wide array of cryptocurrencies beyond Solana, providing users with a diverse investment portfolio. 

5. Coinbase

Top five centralized exchanges – Image via Coinbase

Coinbase is a prominent player in the cryptocurrency exchange market, holding the position of the second-largest exchange, according to CoinMarketCap. It has also established itself as a leading platform for staking Solana, offering users an APY of approximately 5.01%. This rate, however, is subject to change based on location and market conditions.

The platform is designed with ease and security in mind, enabling users to begin staking with as little as $1 and allowing for the flexibility to opt out at any time. However, it’s important to note that staked tokens are locked and cannot be traded or transferred until the completion of the unstaking process, which is governed by specific protocol-defined periods.

Additionally, Coinbase has gained significant trust within the community, serving over 110 million individuals and businesses worldwide for various crypto-related services. In addition to staking, it also offers a Visa debit card that allows users to earn crypto rewards.

Financially, Coinbase operates with substantial scale, featuring $76 billion in quarterly volume traded and $114 billion in safeguarded assets, extending its services across over 100 countries. Its commitment to trust and security is further exemplified by a robust compliance foundation, incorporating best practices from traditional financial services and innovative compliance technology. This rigorous approach extends to asset listing, service provision, and customer access, ensuring a high standard of operations and user trust.

Explore additional revenue streams in the crypto market with our guide on the top five ways to make money trading crypto in 2024.

6. Atomic wallet

Non-custodial wallet for Solana staking – Image via Atomic Wallet

Atomic Wallet provides extensive support to SOL staking, ensuring users have 100% control over their funds. Trusted by over five million users worldwide, it’s accessible on various operating systems, including Windows, MacOS, Ubuntu, Debian, and Fedora.

With Atomic Wallet, users can earn up to 7% APY on staking SOL, with a maximum stake of 100,000 coins for periods ranging from 24 hours to 12 months. The interface makes it easy to track and manage the staked funds and start earning rewards promptly.

The wallet further streamlines the staking process by automating all background operations, including the creation of the stake account. However, each time a user initiates a staking or unstaking transaction for SOL, a network fee is required.

Additionally, to ensure future transactional activities are seamless, Atomic Wallet reserves 0.000038 SOL from the user address. The SOL deposits remain locked during the staking period. They are not counted towards the total balance and can’t be transferred or swapped.

Staking and unstaking take about three days each per epoch, and users start earning rewards approximately two epochs after the deposit is fully staked. Lastly, each additional SOL staking creates a new stake account on the blockchain, not combining with existing ones.

7. Jito

Liquid staking with Jito – Image via Jito

Jito is a liquid staking solution for Solana, offering users the ability to earn rewards through Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) powered staking. It enables users to unlock liquidity on their staked SOL and support network decentralization by spreading stakes across the network.

The process involves depositing SOL into the Jito pool to receive JitoSOL, which then gets delegated to MEV-enabled validators. These validators earn MEV rewards by auctioning off block space, and the rewards are redistributed to the stake pool as extra APY in addition to the regular staking rewards

The platform leverages state-of-the-art encryption techniques and multi-layered security protocols to safeguard users’ assets, ensuring peace of mind throughout the staking journey. Lastly, it boasts a TVL of 6.5 million SOL with an APY of 7.05%.

Compare your Solana staking options with Ethereum by discovering the 15 best places to stake Ethereum in 2024.

How to stake Solana: A beginner’s guide

Here’s a detailed step-by-step guide to help you through the process of staking SOL:

Step 1: Choose your staking method

When staking SOL tokens, there are several methods available. Here are some common ones:

• Solo staking: This is where you run your own validator node. It requires technical know-how, hardware investment, and continuous management but offers full control and potentially higher rewards due to not sharing them with others.
• Staking pools: Participating in a staking pool means you’re pooling your SOL with other token holders and staking it collectively. This is generally managed by a third party, reducing the technical barrier for individual stakers. Rewards are shared among participants based on their contributions.
• Exchange staking: Some cryptocurrency exchanges offer staking services where you simply stake your SOL through the platform. It’s user-friendly and doesn’t require technical knowledge, but you should be aware of the security and centralization risks of leaving your tokens in the custody of an exchange.
• Liquid staking: This method allows you to stake your tokens while receiving a liquid token in return, representing your staked value. This liquid token can often be used for other DeFi activities, providing liquidity while still earning staking rewards.

Each method has its own risk, reward, and commitment level, so it’s crucial to do your research and consider what fits best with your investment strategy, technical ability, and risk tolerance.

Step 2: Select a wallet that supports SOL

Choose a wallet that supports Solana and staking, like Phantom, Solflare, or Ledger. Download the wallet application and securely set it up. Remember to store your seed phrase safely.

Step 3: Buy SOL 

If you don’t already own SOL, you can purchase it from a cryptocurrency exchange such as Binance, Coinbase, or Kraken. After purchasing, transfer the SOL to your chosen wallet.

Step 4: Set up a staking account

Start by accessing the staking section within your chosen wallet. Then, create a new staking account, following the wallet’s prompts. Finally, transfer the desired amount of SOL from your wallet to the newly created staking account

Step 5: Choose a Solana validator

Validators are nodes that process transactions and run the blockchain. Look for a validator with a good track record, reasonable fees, and is geographically distributed to ensure network resilience.

Step 6: Delegate your SOL

To delegate your SOL:

• Identify the validator’s delegation address within your wallet interface.
• Select the delegation option and enter the validator’s address.
• Specify the amount of SOL you want to delegate.
• Review and confirm the transaction. Note that your SOL tokens will be locked up for a period.

Step 7: Earning SOL rewards

Your stake will need to go through an activation period. Once it is active, you’ll start earning rewards. These rewards are typically distributed every epoch and can be auto-staked or transferred to your wallet, depending on your settings.

Regularly check your staking status and the performance of your validator. You can unstake, restake, or add more SOL to your staking to adjust your investments.

Step 8: Unstaking SOL

If you decide to unstake your SOL:

• Initiate unstake: Go to your wallet and initiate an unstake transaction.
• Cooling-off period: There’s a cooldown period (usually another epoch) before your SOL becomes liquid again.
• Withdraw SOL: After the cooldown, withdraw your SOL to your wallet.

Gain perspective on cryptocurrency investments by reading about the outcomes of investing $1000 in the top 5 cryptocurrencies at the start of 2023.

Summing up

Staking your SOL tokens transcends the pursuit of mere passive income. It represents a conscious act of participation, a contribution to the robust infrastructure that underpins Solana’s revolutionary potential. By selecting the optimal platform, you not only secure attractive yields but also actively safeguard the network’s stability. In essence, you become a stakeholder in the future of DeFi itself.

So, cast off your hesitation, choose your platform, and stake your claim in the Solana sun. Remember, thorough research, strategic diversification, and prudent staking practices are the cornerstones of success in this ever-evolving arena.