Staking is one of the numerous ways to earn money from crypto. Many choose the crypto investment method because it offers less risk and requires no active participation. Once you stake your asset in a pool, you can start earning passive income.
However, despite its low-risk and decent rewards, the typical staking process requires investors to lock up their assets for a specific period, usually a couple of months. After top exchanges’ recent tease about a partnership with Solana, the network’s liquid staking feature may bring a long-awaited transformation of crypto staking.
Binance and Bitget May Support Solana Liquid Staking
Binance and Bitget are two of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges by trading volume. As of the time of writing, both trading platforms boast a cumulative 24-hour trading volume of over $16.7 million and a combined average liquidity rating of 1,443.
However, their liquidity volumes may be poised for a significant increase after their recent tweets hinting at potential support for Solana staking by launching individual Solana-based tokens.
On August 29, 2024, Bitget tweeted “Something BG is coming” and added the hashtag #BGSOL. On the same day, Binance followed suit, with a tweet “BNSOL” and followed up with another post saying “Coming Soon.”
Other exchanges like Bybit also hinted at welcoming a new Solana token to their crypto ecosystems, causing excitement among Solana users and the broader cryptocurrency market.
Though there were no specific details about what the teased tokens would be like or their features, further research showed that the BNSOL token is live on Solana Compass. A search for the token on the Solana ecosystem’s analytical platform revealed that there’s an existing Binance Staked SOL product.
Moreover, exchanges need to keep Solana tokens within their platforms, and without liquid staking, these coins will be locked in decentralized finance (DeFi) pools or platforms for extended periods, which will impact their liquidity on centralized exchanges.
Solana Liquid Staking To Attract More Investors
The new approach that Solana liquid staking offers opens the door to more investments from retail and institutional investors. The conventional staking feature requires users to lock up a chunk of their crypto assets on proof-of-stake (PoS) platforms like Solana to secure the network.
However, with liquid staking, investors can leave their staked assets unlocked and access other DeFi opportunities that can earn them additional yields. That means they can put their cryptocurrencies to work and earn more passive income in the DeFi market even while still securing the Solana network.
Interestingly, Solana’s liquid staking ecosystem has grown massively over the past months, with a year-to-date total value locked (TVL) of over $4.9 billion as of September 29. According to data from DeFiLlama, the top protocols responsible for the surge in the SOL liquid staking ecosystem include Marinade, Jupiter, and Sanctum Validator.
With the potential involvement of top exchanges like Binance and Bitget in the Solana ecosystem via liquid staking tokens, there will be more awareness about the staking model. Ultimately, millions of customers across both exchanges will onboarded on the Solana staking pool.
Leaders Poised For the Largest Solana Staking Market Share
The liquid Solana staking market will likely continue to expand as more players access its possibilities. However, Bitget and Binance are pioneer exchanges looking to potentially add the product to their offerings.
Users of these exchanges will be the first users to access the liquid Solana staking market, suggesting that the bigger chunk of the sector will likely go to Binance and Bitget before other centralized exchanges accommodate the Solana product.
Moreover, these exchanges will rake in more revenues from customers’ fees on staking rewards. For instance, Binance currently charges a 10% fee on Ethereum staking rewards across its Ethereum liquid staking products. The fee contributes to the platform’s operational costs and is a significant part of its revenue.
In the same vein, onboarding more users on Solana via their liquid staking tokens will positively impact exchanges’ revenues, which is why they are becoming active players in Solana’s liquid staking ecosystem.