A Complete Guide to Understanding SolBlaze

Table of contents
- What Is Staking and Why It Matters in Proof-of-Stake Networks
- Challenges of Traditional Staking
- The Evolution of Staking
- Liquid Staking On Solana
- Liquid staking Vs. Restaking
- Why SolBlaze?
- The SolBlaze Advantage
- DeFi Integration
- Product Ecosystem Breakdown
- Community and Governance (BlazeStake)
- Security, Audits, and Reliability
- Comparative Ecosystem Impact
- Challenges & Recommendations
- Bonus: Strategies for Maximizing your LSTs.
Staking is one of the most commonly used, but often misunderstood concepts in the crypto ecosystem. While it’s frequently associated with passive income and yield generation, staking is fundamentally a consensus-layer mechanism that powers Proof-of-Stake (PoS) blockchain
This article breaks down what staking really means, why it matters, its role in the PoS model, the limitations of traditional staking, how liquid staking protocols aim to resolve them, and finally, provides a compelling coverage of SolBlaze as a user centric solution for users seeking capital efficiency and native yield in the Solana ecosystem.
What Is Staking and Why It Matters in Proof-of-Stake Networks
To understand staking, it’s helpful to revisit the origins of blockchain consensus and how Proof-of-Stake evolved in response to the limitations of Proof-of-Work (PoW).
The concept of staking was first introduced in 2011 by a Bitcointalk user named QuantumMechanic. He proposed it as a more energy-efficient alternative to Bitcoin’s Proof of Work (PoW), which relies on intensive computational effort to secure the network. Unlike PoW, Proof of Stake (PoS) allows users to validate transactions based on the number of coins they hold, rather than the amount of computing power they control.
Proof of Work (PoW) was popularized by Satoshi Nakamoto in the Bitcoin whitepaper, where it was used as the foundation for securing the Bitcoin network. While PoW had existed in theory before Bitcoin (notably in spam prevention systems), Bitcoin was the first to implement it in a decentralized monetary system. Early contributors like Hal Finney recognized both its strengths and limitations, particularly its energy intensity, and began exploring alternatives. This alternative aimed to address PoW’s inefficiencies, which include:
High energy consumption, leading to environmental concerns regarding its massive carbon footprints.
Limited scalability, as block production is tied to computational work.
Centralization risks, due to economies of scale in industrial mining.
As an alternative, Proof-of-Stake (PoS) was proposed. PoS addresses these inefficiencies by allowing validators to secure the network based on the amount of tokens they lock up (stake) rather than computational power. Validators are selected to produce blocks proportionally to their stake, which encourages participation, increases energy efficiency, and enhances scalability. Delegation mechanisms enable token holders to stake through validators, eliminating the need for users to run full nodes.
In addition to network security, staking serves as a pathway to yield generation, making it both an infrastructure component and an economic incentive structure. Yet, traditional staking comes with notable trade-offs that liquid staking protocols aim to resolve.
Challenges of Traditional Staking
While staking plays a key role in securing blockchain networks and maintaining their integrity, traditional staking isn’t perfect. In its most basic form, it comes with a few significant drawbacks. Here are some of the most important ones:
Illiquidity of Staked assets: In Proof-of-Stake (PoS) systems, staked tokens become illiquid, meaning they're locked and cannot be used elsewhere on the blockchain during the staking period. For example, staking SOL means the user can't access DeFi opportunities with that capital, leading to a significant opportunity cost for active participants.
Unbonding Delays During Withdrawals: In the PoS model, tokens being unstaked are subject to an unbonding period, during which they remain inaccessible. This period varies across blockchains and exposes users to price volatility during the waiting time.
Risk of Validator Centralization: Traditional staking can lead to validator centralization, where staking power and governance influence are concentrated in a few high-yield validators. This undermines blockchain decentralization and exposes the network to risks of manipulation or failure.
While not exhaustive, these drawbacks are the most consequential and set the stage for understanding how liquid staking differs from the traditional model, along with its several advantages.
What Makes Liquid Staking Game-Changing
Liquid staking is a mechanism that allows you to stake your tokens while still maintaining liquidity. It addresses several of the key limitations of traditional staking.
Figure: Liquid staking provides broader utility compared to traditional staking, including DeFi usage and improved liquidity.
Traditional staking is straightforward: tokens are locked to secure a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) network, and in return, participants earn rewards. It functions much like a fixed-term deposit, reliable and predictable, but with one trade-off: staked assets remain inaccessible during the lock-up period. You can’t use them, move them, or do much of anything with them until the lock-up period ends.
Liquid staking says: why choose between earning and using your tokens? Why not both?
Unlike traditional staking, where assets are locked for the duration of the staking period, liquid staking allows users to retain liquidity. Instead of having their staked tokens inaccessible, users receive a derivative token that represents their staked assets (e.g., stSOL). These derivative tokens act as proof of your stake and also function as interest-bearing assets. They can be freely traded, used as collateral, or integrated into DeFi protocols, providing users with greater flexibility while still benefiting from staking rewards. Depending on the protocol, your rewards may appear as a gradual increase in the token’s value or as periodic additions to your balance.
Moreover, liquid staking reduces unbonding periods significantly. In traditional staking, users face unbonding delays (often lasting several days or weeks), during which staked assets are locked and inaccessible. In contrast, liquid staking allows users to access their staked assets immediately via their representative tokens, meaning they aren’t limited by the waiting period, and staking rewards continue to accrue.
In essence: You stake. You keep earning. You stay liquid.
Additionally, liquid staking makes staking accessible to all by removing technical barriers. Users no longer need to manage validator nodes, which require substantial hardware resources, technical expertise, and ongoing maintenance. Liquid staking makes it easier for smaller holders or those with limited technical knowledge to participate in network security and earn staking rewards. A more in-depth breakdown of Liquid staking on will be provided in another section of this document.
The Evolution of Staking
In the early days of proof-of-stake networks, staking was a commitment that demanded more than just belief in a project. It required technical know-how, dedicated infrastructure, and a willingness to lock up assets for months or even years at a time. This meant most users simply didn’t participate. The process was too complex, the risks too high, and the opportunity costs too steep.
For instance, Ethereum stakers waited 862 days for the Shanghai/Capella upgrade. It was a long, uncertain stretch where their assets remained locked and untouchable. For many, it felt like staking was less a reward strategy and more a gamble on delayed liquidity. The upgrade finally enabled withdrawals in April 2023, but by then, the problem had already inspired a solution.
Liquid staking protocols emerged in response to this rigid, high-friction model.
Lido was the first to get it right.
Lido launched in December 2020 and introduced the concept of liquid staking on Ethereum with its stETH token. Users could stake ETH, receive stETH in return, and use that stETH freely across the DeFi ecosystem. The result was a dramatic shift in staking behavior. Now, ETH holders didn’t have to choose between securing the network and participating in DeFi. They could do both without needing validator knowledge or giving up custody.
And it worked. When the long-awaited withdrawals finally arrived, rather than triggering an exodus, they created a surge in deposits. Users now had confidence that staking was no longer a dead-end. The risks were lower, the liquidity higher, and Lido had become the dominant player. Today, it holds around 64% of liquid staking deposits and earns about 74% of associated fees within Ethereum’s ecosystem.
But Ethereum wasn’t the only network where staking needed fixing.
For example, Cosmos recently introduced its Liquid Staking Module while Polkadot and its parachains began experimenting with liquid staking derivatives, hoping to enhance liquidity without sacrificing network security. Avalanche and Tezos also explored or implemented liquid staking solutions, looking to resolve the same issue of illiquid staked assets.
However, the biggest challenge didn’t necessarily lie in the existence of staking solutions but in their execution, particularly when it came to liquidity. Liquid staking wasn't a given in all these ecosystems, and in many cases, users still had to wait for their funds to be unlocked after staking.
In contrast, Solana was slightly different. While Solana offered staking with withdrawals available from the start, it didn't initially require the complex solution liquid staking protocols provide. Solana’s DeFi ecosystem, although growing, didn’t possess the same scale or liquidity as Ethereum’s, so the demand for liquid staking derivatives wasn’t as pronounced in its early years. Despite its high throughput and efficient consensus model, Solana’s focus was on providing a fast, scalable environment, and this left little room for staking liquidity issues to surface as dramatically.
Still, as Solana’s DeFi space matured, so did the demand for flexibility in staking. The need for liquid staking derivatives started to gain traction as the ecosystem grew, bringing with it a need for more capital-efficient models that could allow stakers to earn yield while participating in Solana’s expanding decentralized finance sector.
Liquid Staking On Solana
Liquid staking on Solana works by routing SOL through a stake pool smart contract. In return, users receive a liquid staking token (LST) like bSOL (SolBlaze), mSOL (Marinade), or JitoSOL (Jito). These tokens represent your staked SOL, accrue staking yield, and remain usable across DeFi protocols.
The infrastructure powering this begins with stake pool smart contracts that manage delegation and reward distribution. When users deposit SOL, the protocol automatically delegates it to a selected set of validators. The user receives some LST, which represents their proportional ownership of the pool. As the validators earn staking rewards, the value of the LST either appreciates (via dynamic exchange rate models) or increases in quantity (via rebasing models), depending on the platform. Some platforms, like SolBlaze, push this further by allowing users to select specific validators for their delegation, creating a customized staking profile.
This results in yield stacking.
LSTs open the door to simultaneously earning staking rewards while leveraging the same tokens in other DeFi strategies. A user can deposit bSOL as collateral in lending protocols like Marginfi, enter LP positions, or use it in structured products without unbonding or unstaking. This is the power of composability: a core Solana design feature that allows protocols to interact seamlessly. Through this integration, liquid staking tokens become a DeFi-native primitive programmable, tradeable, and deeply embedded into Solana’s financial layer. It also fuels collateral efficiency, where one asset backs multiple positions, thereby maximizing capital productivity in a low-latency, high-throughput environment.
Security remains a critical component.
While the mechanics of delegation may seem straightforward, the added layers of abstraction in liquid staking introduce new risks. Smart contract vulnerabilities in the stake pool logic can be a vector for exploits. Protocols mitigate this through rigorous audits, formal verification, multisig control, and battle-tested codebases. For example, SolBlaze is built on the audited Solana Labs stake pool contract and maintains a distributed validator set exceeding 200 nodes. This validator diversity helps reduce slashing risk, one of the more underappreciated threats in staking. Validators that go offline or act maliciously can be penalized, reducing the staker's principal. Liquid staking platforms attempt to protect against this by selecting high-performance validators and distributing delegations to minimize correlated failure risks.
There's also the issue of depeg risk. Since LSTs rely on market dynamics to maintain parity with SOL, they can diverge in price during periods of market stress or protocol failures. This creates arbitrage opportunities but also exposes users to pricing risk if LSTs lose their peg. Protocols often manage this through liquidity incentives on decentralized exchanges and tight integration with money markets to ensure consistent demand and utility.
Liquid staking Vs. Restaking
Liquid staking is often compared with the rising trend of restaking, particularly on Ethereum via platforms like EigenLayer. However, while both involve reusing staked assets, the mechanics and risk assumptions are quite different.
Feature | Liquid Staking (Solana) | Restaking (Ethereum via EigenLayer) |
What You’re Doing | Access DeFi opportunities while staking | Reuse your staked ETH to help secure other services |
What Changes | You get a token (like bSOL) you can use elsewhere | Your validator takes on more responsibilities |
Main Risk | Smart contract bugs or token price drops | Bigger slashing risk if the validator messes up |
User Control | You decide where to use your LST | You rely on validator performance across multiple systems |
Focus | Make your SOL work in DeFi | Add extra security to new protocols |
Restaking builds on traditional staking by allowing users to reuse their staked ETH to secure additional services and protocols like oracles, data availability layers, or bridges. Think of it as extending your validator’s duties: instead of only helping Ethereum reach consensus, you opt in for that same validator (or a new restaking module) to also validate or guarantee external systems. The result is an extended security guarantee where your ETH is not just backing Ethereum, it’s also backing new layers of infrastructure.
Although this translates to your ETH doing more, it also means your slashing risk extends. If any of those additional systems fail, or if your validator misbehaves in their new roles, your funds could be partially or fully slashed even if Ethereum itself is perfectly secure. While you do have some control over what services to restake into, you ultimately rely on the validator’s behavior across multiple domains. It’s composable security, but with linked trust assumptions.
In contrast, liquid staking, especially on Solana, operates at a different layer. You are not reusing validator responsibilities; you're reusing the economic value of the stake. The validator just stakes, but you, the user, can take stSOL for DeFi activities.
So while Ethereum’s restaking pushes security guarantees outward, Solana’s liquid staking leverages economic utility inward. bSOL becomes a composable financial asset, used across DeFi to enable lending, borrowing, yield strategies, and more, without tying itself to additional validator duties or slashing vectors. There's no off-chain validation or new protocol-level risks; just economic stacking built on composability.
Although Solana doesn't have a formal restaking framework like EigenLayer, the effect of liquid staking is similar in financial logic. Trust is recycled, value is reused, and yield is stacked, but without the added validator exposure. It’s economic restaking rather than consensus restaking.
Why SolBlaze?
Among the growing number of liquid staking platforms, SolBlaze stands out both for its features and the way it weaves flexibility, decentralization, and community into the staking experience. From custom validator selection to DAO governance, this section breaks down what makes SolBlaze unique and how it's turning staking into a richer DeFi experience.
- User-Friendly Interface and Experience
BlazeStake stands out for a number of reasons, the first being that it allows users to customize their staking experience by selecting specific validators to delegate their staked SOL to. This flexibility is a key differentiator, giving users the ability to optimize their staking rewards based on individual preferences. Whether it's prioritizing validators with lower fees, choosing validators known for strong security practices, or supporting smaller, decentralized validators, SolBlaze gives users a highly personalized staking experience.
In contrast, Marinade and Lido, two other significant players in the Solana liquid staking space, have more rigid staking pools. These platforms typically offer predefined validator lists with little to no room for customization by the user. Jito, another competitor, emphasizes maximizing staking rewards through enhanced validator selection and performance metrics. However, it does not offer the same level of control as BlazeStake, where users can directly choose their validators.
In this way, SolBlaze's BlazeStake model adds a further layer of personalization, not just by letting users select their preferred validators but also by factoring in individual risk tolerance and reward expectations. For users seeking a more hands-on approach, this allows them to refine their staking strategy to match their unique preferences, whether they prioritize higher yield potential or more security-focused validators. For those looking for a more passive experience, BlazeStake still offers an easily manageable interface without requiring in-depth technical knowledge, making it appealing to both experienced users and newcomers.
- Governance and Cross-Chain Potential
SolBlaze also integrates BlazeSwap, its decentralized exchange (DEX), and a DAO governance structure. SolBlaze actively involves its community in the decision-making process, and users who stake tokens also gain the ability to vote on key matters such as reward distribution, validator selection criteria, and potential platform upgrades.
While SolBlaze is a key player in the Solana ecosystem, one of its most exciting upcoming features is cross-chain staking support. This enables SolBlaze users to stake tokens from multiple blockchains, breaking down the silos between different DeFi ecosystems. As the blockchain world becomes increasingly multi-chain, this functionality allows users to diversify their staking strategies and participate in the most promising projects, regardless of their blockchain origin.
By supporting cross-chain staking, SolBlaze broadens its reach, enabling users from other ecosystems, such as Ethereum or Avalanche, to participate in Solana staking without needing to convert assets into SOL.
- Opportunities and Rewards
SolBlaze features a dynamic reward system that adjusts based on network activity, staking duration, and governance participation. This incentivizes users to stake for longer periods and participate in governance decisions, with higher rewards for active participation.
SolBlaze offers institutional-grade staking pools, providing additional benefits like lower minimum staking requirements, higher yields, and premium customer support. Moreover, security is a top priority for the platform, and it has undergone multiple third-party audits to ensure that its codebase is secure and its users' funds are safe. SolBlaze has built a reputation for being a secure platform within the Solana DeFi space, and providing transparency and assurance through its regular audits and vigilant security measures.
The SolBlaze Advantage
SolBlaze has rapidly established itself as a key player in Solana's liquid staking ecosystem, carving out a unique position thanks to its innovative features, flexible staking options, and emphasis on decentralization. While other players like Marinade and Jito have dominated the space for years, SolBlaze’s rise has been nothing short of remarkable.
Below, I will highlight the key advantages of SolBlaze.
Total Value Locked (TVL) Growth
Total Value Locked (TVL) is one of the most telling indicators of a protocol’s success and user trust. SolBlaze has achieved significant traction in this area, reaching over $300 million in TVL in early 2024. This marks a noteworthy rise and positions SolBlaze as one of the fastest-growing liquid staking platforms on Solana. While Marinade, a well-established player, holds a leading position with $1.8 billion in TVL, and Jito has surpassed $2 billion in TVL, SolBlaze’s growth, a 98.91% increase on a yearly basis, speaks volumes about its market momentum.
Smart Contract Security: Focused on Stability and Audits
In DeFi, smart contract risk is real, and SolBlaze takes that seriously.
Compared to Marinade and Jito, whose infrastructures are more complex (especially Jito’s MEV components), SolBlaze uses a simpler and more auditable system. This helps reduce potential vulnerabilities and improves reliability at scale. For instance, if Jito’s MEV strategies aren’t implemented properly, it could lead to slashing risks or delegation issues.
SolBlaze benefits from simpler but effective smart contract logic that minimizes vulnerabilities and ensures reliable performance under high volumes. Additionally, its validator diversity, combined with multisig governance, offers enhanced security over a system that could otherwise become vulnerable to attack due to centralization.
True DAO Governance
While Solana offers a high level of decentralization out of the box, liquid staking platforms can inadvertently introduce risks of centralization if too much stake is concentrated in a few hands.
Here’s where SolBlaze truly excels:
Marinade has made great strides in decentralizing stake distribution, but it still maintains some level of centralization due to its more limited validator pool.
Jito, focused on optimizing rewards, has been known to favor a smaller set of high-performing validators, which could potentially concentrate the network’s stake in fewer hands.
Figure: SolBlaze leads in decentralization by supporting a higher percentage of community validators.
SolBlaze, however, mitigates this risk by offering users the ability to choose from a wide variety of validators. This ensures that assets are spread out, preventing any single entity or validator from gaining too much control over the network. Moreover, SolBlaze’s DAO governance structure enables token holders to directly influence key decisions regarding the protocol’s future, including validator selection and reward models. This decentralized decision-making contrasts with the more centralized control seen in Marinade and Jito, where decisions are primarily made by core developers or a select group of stakeholders.
DeFi Integration
SolBlaze allows users to use bSOL tokens in yield farming, lending (e.g., Marginfi), and liquidity provision across multiple platforms such as Kamino, Orca, and several other options. This integration gives users the ability to optimize returns while still benefiting from staking rewards, something most staking platforms don’t offer. For anyone actively participating in DeFi, this is a significant advantage.
Built for Everyone - SolBlaze also shines when it comes to usability. Its clean user interface (UI) is designed for both beginners and experienced users.
Product Ecosystem Breakdown
SolBlaze is more than just a liquid staking platform, it’s a growing ecosystem with five core products. In this section, I’ll walk you through each one and break down how they work.
A. Blazestake: DeFi, Dao & Treasury Participation
SolBlaze staking platform is known as Blazestake. At this point, you already understand what liquid staking is and why it matters, but BlazeStake is where this knowledge becomes useful.
When you stake SOL through BlazeStake, you get bSOL. BlazeStake is fully non-custodial, decentralised, and secure.
Once you receive bSOL, you can:
– Earn staking rewards as bSOL appreciates over time
– Use bSOL in DeFi, lend it, LP it, or deploy it in structured yield strategies
And because BlazeStake actively integrates with the top protocols on Solana, the APR opportunities are competitive. For example, bSOL can earn:
– Dual yield through liquidity mining (e.g., bSOL-SOL pools on Kamino)
– Lending interest on Marginfi
– Extra rewards via the BlazeRewards program
You can check out the several DeFi opportunities here.
LSTs has been well explained in the section above. I will further discuss the Dao and treasury participation in this section.
Through this platform, users have access to staking benefits alongside its unique DAO treasury and airdrop system, which acts to incentivize participation and converts users to active contributors in the overall ecosystem’s growth.
How BlazeStake funds Ecosystems projects
There have been several projects funded by the BlazeStake's DAO, ranging from validator incentives to DeFi integrations and developer partnerships, among others. These projects were in sync with the mission of BlazeStake to promote staking activities within the Solana's DeFi landscape. Below are some of the projects funded by the DAO & Treasury:
- Kamino Finance Liquidity Program
Funding Nature: DeFi Integration & Liquidity Mining Incentives
BlazeStake partnered with Kamino Finance, an automated liquidity vault platform, to incentivize liquidity provision in the bSOL–Solana liquidity pool on Kamino Finance by providing BLZE rewards. This collaboration positioned Kamino as a primary platform for bSOL trading pairs, such as bSOL-SOL and bSOL-BLZE, and enhanced liquidity for bSOL in the DeFi ecosystem.
- Jupiter Integration (JUP-bSOL Liquidity Incentives)
Funding Nature: DeFi Liquidity Mining
BlazeStake made BLZE rewards available to users who provided liquidity to the JUP-bSOL pool on Kamino Finance. This partnership with Jupiter, Solana’s major DEX aggregator, aimed to boost liquidity for both JUP and bSOL tokens. The incentive program supported cross-platform integration, making it easier for Solana users to access liquid staking tokens while participating in decentralized exchanges. Around early 2024, the Kamino vault for JUP-bSOL was boosted with ≈8 million BLZE per week in combined rewards.
Other notable ones include the $50,000 post-breakpoint builder event sponsorship focused on supporting developer tools, workspace provisions, and community initiatives. Also, the validator incentive program via the Blazeboost system which increases the number of validators and improves the network’s security.
B. Blaze Rewards
BlazeRewards is a program within the SolBlaze ecosystem that rewards users and promotes staking participation. Through the BLZE token, users are rewarded for activities involving SOL staking, liquidity provision through bSOL, and participation in DeFi protocols. It incentivizes the following:
SOL Staking by provision of staking rewards in the form of BLZE tokens
bSOL DeFi Integration by encouraging users to utilize their staked SOL on DeFi platforms as collaterals or for liquidity provision, and increase their BlazeScore, making them earn more rewards
Community participation via the Referral program, whereby if one refers others to stake with BlazeStake, they gain 10% of each referral’s BlazeScore added to their own score. This form of promotion serves to grow the ecosystem.
BlazeRewards also boosts liquidity by rewarding users who contribute to bSOL liquidity pools on decentralized exchanges (DEXs). Rewards are distributed to liquidity providers in the form of BLZE tokens.
You can read further to better understand how BlazeRewards works.
C. Bliq
Bliq is a protocol that allows for the creation of custom Liquid Staking Tokens by users backed by their SOL holdings. It provides complete flexibility and liquidity, and users can integrate these custom LSTs into DeFi protocols to participate in various financial activities without losing staking rewards.
Who’s using it?
Currently, Bliq is being utilized primarily by DeFi projects, Yield farmers, individual stakers to unlock more capital efficiency, and by Solana Developers to give users of their decentralized applications customizable staking options and access to governance features.
Bliq Launch Campaign
In late 2024, the DAO earmarked 200 million BLZE (20% of its treasury tokens) as locked rewards for the Bliq launch campaign. The goal was to rapidly drive Bliq to over 1 million SOL in staked TVL. The BLZE incentives are distributed as Bliq grows, and any unutilized portion would return to the treasury if targets aren’t met. The Bliq incentive program went live in early 2025 after the proposal passed.
D. Solana Remote Procedure Call Status Page
The Solana RPC Status Page is a tool that provides real-time monitoring of the network’s RPC endpoints, which are essential for interacting with the Solana blockchain. It offers users critical information on the network's health, including downtime and performance issues. This tool is vital to the Solana ecosystem, as occasional downtime and instability can disrupt services for both validators and developers, affecting the overall network reliability.
E. Token Minter: Mint Your Own Token in Minutes
The SolBlaze ecosystem also includes a simple token minter that allows you to create your own SPL token on Solana, no code needed. You just fill in a few details, customise your token's metadata, and mint directly.
It’s built on Metaplex, so your token is registered properly on-chain with all the right metadata. You can set things like name, symbol, supply, and more, making it ideal whether you're experimenting or launching something more serious.
F. SolPay SDK
SolPay SDK makes crypto payments within the Solana ecosystem seamless by enabling integration for both merchants and web3 apps. It allows developers to easily add SOL-based payment options to their platforms without hassle.
This is particularly useful in projects like Web3 SaaS tools, NFT platforms, pay-to-access apps, or any service that wants to charge users in SOL directly, while keeping everything non-custodial and trustless.
Integration Overview
Integrating the SolPay SDK into your project is simple and direct.
To begin, you’ll need to add the SDK script to your project:
<script src="https://solpay.solblaze.org/sdk.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
Where should this go?
In a React application, this line can be added to the public/index.html
file. For standard HTML websites, it can go inside the <head>
or at the bottom of the <body>
in index.html
.
Once integrated, the SDK exposes a global SOLPay
object that handles wallet connection and payments.
Example: Connecting a Wallet
To connect a Phantom wallet:
(async () => {
let wallet = await SOLPay.connectWallet(SOLPay.adapters.PHANTOM);
console.log(wallet.address); // Connected wallet address
})();
This abstracted approach removes the need to manually handle wallet logic or Solana RPC calls in your app.
Example: Sending Payments in SOL
To initiate a transfer of SOL (in lamports):
(async () => {
let address = "RECIPIENT_ADDRESS_HERE"; // Replace with recipient's Solana address
let lamports = 10000; // 1 SOL = 1,000,000,000 lamports
let payment_details = await SOLPay.sendSolanaLamports(address, lamports);
console.log(payment_details.from); // Sender's wallet address
console.log(payment_details.to); // Recipient's wallet address
console.log(payment_details.lamports); // Amount sent (in lamports)
console.log(payment_details.signature); // Transaction signature
})();
Behind the scenes, SolPay handles transaction creation, signing, and broadcasting, making it ideal for lightweight web apps or donation flows.
If you want to explore more of what you can do with the SolPay SDK, check the SDK Reference.
For details on using the API, see the API Reference.
Example Use Case
A Solana-based premium content platform could use SolPay to let users unlock content after paying 0.1 SOL. Once the transaction is verified using the endpoint above, access is granted all without the app ever needing to handle private keys or build a backend.
Why It Matters
SolPay is significant because it lowers the barrier for Solana developers to accept payments. In contrast to other chains where payments often require backend services or custodial APIs, SolPay’s frontend-only model aligns perfectly with Web3’s decentralised ethos.
Community and Governance (BlazeStake)
Community and Governance is critical in shaping the growth of any ecosystem. Moreso, in a setting where decisions are made off votes and contributions from members of the Community. In the BlazeStake ecosystem, there are several components that make up the community, and this section will provide a comprehensive look into the most relevant components.
Decentralization in BlazeStake Government
The BlazeStake's governance structure functions as a Decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) with the BLZE token serving as its governance and utility token. Decision making in the ecosystem is put to a community vote, only eligible to BLZE holders, meaning only the holders have control to decide every decision in the ecosystem, from validator selection criteria to treasury funds allocation.
Solana's Realms platform serves as the on-chain venue for governance voting to ensure transparency and top-level execution, while participation and long-term investment in the community is rewarded via a vote escrow model which incentivizes long-term stakeholders by giving them a higher voting power.
Here’s how it works: BLZE tokens can be locked for up to 5 years to boost voting power (1 BLZE locked for the maximum duration yields 1.0 “veBLZE” voting power, versus 0.1 for a token with no lock). This method rewards long-term participation and limits the influence of whales who can marshal large volumes of the token but only intend to hold them briefly.
The process of introducing new ideas or changes in the ecosystem, as earlier mentioned, is decided by a voting process, and this process is transparent and recorded on the Solana Blockchain. These new ideas, called proposals, are typically available to be voted on within a stipulated period based on the DAO rules, which cover quorum requirements and approval thresholds. The voting system is designed such that a simple majority of yes votes with minimum quorum satisfaction is sufficient to decide on a proposal. Once the vote is completed, the proposed changes can be effected via parameter change or programmatic instruction, meanwhile a rejected proposal is dropped.
BlazeStake Proposal Types
When it comes to proposals in the BlazeStake DAO, they generally fall into categories, namely: Protocol configuration and Treasury allocations.
Protocol Configuration: This type of proposal relates to the adjustment of BlazeStake’s parameters or design, ranging from change of validator delegation strategy, modifying fees, or correction of BLZE emission schedules.
Treasury Allocation Proposals: This usually involves proposals that suggest how to allocate SOL or BLZE in the treasury to fund new purposes such as grants for new projects on the Solana Blockchain or to support acquisition of tools for community projects. BlazeStake regularly encourages new projects to request for funding from the DAO treasury.
Review of Major Proposals in the Past
In this subsection, let’s highlight one of the most impactful proposals in the BlazeStake ecosystem in recent times.
Introduction and Expansion of Validator Gauge Voting in the Stake pool: This proposal essentially delivered the community with the power to make stake delegation decisions and further deepened the decentralization of the BlazeStake ecosystem. This was a two-step process enacted via two proposals namely:
SBGP-0001 (Stake Gauges): This was proposed by the team in 2023, Introduced in late 2023, this proposal allowed 10% of BlazeStake’s total staked SOL to be allocated based on votes from BLZE holders. Before this, 90% of stake was delegated algorithmically, and 10% via the BlazeBoost program.
With SBGP-0001, BlazeStake launched a gauge system where users could vote for validators using their locked BLZE (veBLZE). Votes are tallied weekly, and the protocol adjusts that 10% allocation based on the results. The proposal passed with strong support, marking a big step toward community-driven staking.
SBGP-0002(Increase Stake Gauges): Following the success of the initial system, SBGP-0002 proposed increasing the gauge-controlled portion from 10% to 20%, reducing the algorithmic portion to 80%. The goal was to expand community influence and strengthen decentralization even further.
This proposal also passed, and today, 20% of BlazeStake delegations are directed by the community, reinforcing the DAO’s growing authority in shaping the protocol’s future.
Airdrop system for Community Support
BlazeStake operates an active airdrop system that rewards users with its governance token, BLZE. According to the team, the project has a fixed total supply of 10 billion tokens, with 30% allocated to an initial airdrop. The remaining 70% is distributed over time as staking rewards to the community. To date, nearly 6 billion BLZE tokens have been distributed, underscoring BlazeStake’s community-focused approach, and more airdrops are still coming.
Eligibility for airdrops is based on the SolBlaze Score, which takes into account factors such as the amount of SOL staked, the level of DeFi participation with bSOL, and referral bonuses (where 10% of each referral’s score is added to your own). Users are required to opt into the airdrop program through the BlazeStake interface to start receiving rewards.
Security, Audits, and Reliability
Security is one of the most critical aspects of any dApp, and SolBlaze has made it a priority to ensure that its liquid staking protocol is secure, reliable, and resilient against potential attacks. By focusing on audit transparency, validator distribution, and best practices, SolBlaze has created a system that safeguards user funds and minimizes risks associated with staking on the Solana network. Below, we explore the measures SolBlaze takes to ensure security, audit integrity, and overall reliability within its ecosystem.
Audit Status of BlazeStake and SDKs
One of the first and most important steps in ensuring the security of a decentralized protocol like SolBlaze is smart contract auditing. BlazeStake, SolBlaze’s liquid staking protocol, has undergone rigorous third-party audits to ensure that its smart contracts are free from vulnerabilities that could expose users to risks such as asset loss, delegation errors, or malicious exploits.
BlazeStake Smart Contract Audits: SolBlaze has partnered with trusted blockchain security firms such as Neodyme, Halborn, OtterSec, Quantstamp, and Kudelski to conduct comprehensive audits on the BlazeStake smart contracts. SolBlaze utilizes the open-source stake pool program developed by Solana Labs, and has undergone multiple audits to guarantee the safety of user funds. The security firms have reviewed the program thoroughly at various stages of development, with each audit focusing on vulnerabilities such as reentrancy attacks, gas inefficiencies, and unexpected behaviors. For example, Neodyme conducted the fourth audit of the stake pool program, reviewing commit hash 6ed7254, with the full report available for transparency here. These audits, conducted using a combination of static analysis, manual code review, and formal verification, ensure that SolBlaze’s smart contracts are battle-tested and free from exploitable flaws. By employing these rigorous methodologies, SolBlaze provides users with the confidence that their funds are being managed with trusted, secure code. Additionally, audit reports from reputable firms like Quantstamp, Halborn, and OtterSec offer transparency and ensure the protocol is constantly monitored and updated for security improvements. Solblaze has been audited seven times by five separate organizations, and never recorded a hack since its launch.
Blaze SDKs
The SolPay SDK undergoes the same rigorous third-party audits as the core SolBlaze platform to ensure its security and reliability. Trusted blockchain security firms review the SDK’s codebase for vulnerabilities and focus on ensuring that the SDK’s payment processing, wallet integration, and transaction management features are free from exploits. The same techniques used for the SolBlaze smart contracts, including static analysis, manual code reviews, and formal verification, are applied to the SDK to guarantee it meets high security standards. These audits provide developers with confidence that the SolPay SDK is secure, reliable, and safe for integrating Solana payments into decentralized applications.
The audit process isn’t a one-off event. SolBlaze commits to ongoing audits, ensuring that any new code additions or updates are continuously scrutinized by third-party security experts. Regular audits help identify new vulnerabilities and safeguard the protocol against emerging risks.
Validator Distribution and Slashing History
Another important component of SolBlaze’s security model is the distribution of validators. The goal is to ensure that staking rewards are distributed across a diverse set of validators, thereby reducing the risk of centralization and increasing the resilience of the network.
Validator Distribution: One of the standout features of SolBlaze’s design is the flexibility it offers users in selecting validators. SolBlaze allows users to choose specific validators from a wide pool, which not only enhances decentralization but also ensures that no single validator or group of validators controls a disproportionate share of the staked assets. This approach helps prevent risks associated with the centralization of power within the Solana network, such as censorship or collusion.
Slashing History: Slashing refers to the penalty imposed on validators who fail to perform their duties properly or engage in malicious behavior, such as double-signing or going offline for an extended period. While slashing events are relatively rare, they are critical in maintaining the integrity of the network. SolBlaze has a track record of avoiding significant slashing incidents, thanks to its well-vetted validators and smart contract mechanisms designed to minimize slashing risk.
In comparison to other liquid staking platforms:
Marinade, for example, has seen its mSOL tokens suffer from slashing incidents in the past. While Marinade has put in place safeguards to minimize these risks, the slashing of a large portion of staked assets remains a concern for users relying on a smaller pool of validators.
Jito, similarly, focuses on maximizing rewards through MEV, but its validator pool selection is more concentrated, making it more vulnerable to slashing risks if any of the high-performance validators misbehave.
For users, this means increased security and reliability when staking with SolBlaze. By spreading assets across a diverse range of validators, SolBlaze ensures that even if one validator faces issues, the risk to your staked funds is minimized. This approach significantly reduces the likelihood of slashing incidents, where a validator's mistake could impact your rewards. As a result, users can expect a more stable and consistent staking experience, with a higher level of protection for their assets.
Best Practices Followed by SolBlaze
SolBlaze follows a number of best practices to enhance its security, reliability, and overall protocol integrity. These best practices focus on ensuring the platform is both resilient to attacks and user-friendly. Some of the key practices include:
Distributed Validator Selection: By allowing users to choose their validators, SolBlaze prevents centralization and mitigates the risk of large validators taking control of the network. This distributed approach increases the security of the platform, reducing the impact of any single failure or attack.
Multisig Governance: SolBlaze follows multisignature (multisig) governance best practices, requiring multiple parties to sign off on critical decisions regarding protocol upgrades, validator selection, and other key platform actions. This adds a layer of accountability and security in the decision-making process, preventing malicious actors from controlling the platform through a single point of failure.
Continuous Code Audits and Bug Bounties: Since SolBlaze utilizes the same core Solana auditors, it benefits from the bug bounty programs organized within the Solana ecosystem. These programs incentivize ethical hackers and developers to identify vulnerabilities before they can be exploited, ensuring that the platform remains secure. The Solana Bug Bounty Program offers rewards up to $1 million for the identification of critical vulnerabilities. This initiative encourages continuous improvement in the platform's security and plays a vital role in maintaining the long-term safety of SolBlaze and its users.
Validator Performance Monitoring: SolBlaze’s approach to validator performance monitoring ensures that only the highest-quality validators participate in the BlazeStake pools. SolBlaze aims to strike the right balance between high-rewarding and high-scoring validators, while also promoting decentralization by including smaller validators.
Validators are chosen based on automated systems that monitor their performance, including APY (Annual Percentage Yield), validator scores, and their contributions to decentralization. Validators with higher APY and performance scores are assigned higher stake coefficients, which determines how much stake they receive in the pool. The automated system tracks factors like missed slots, voting success rates, and commission percentages, ensuring that only the best-performing validators are selected. In the event that any validator exhibits suspicious behavior, a human review is triggered. This means that even with automated processes in place, real human oversight ensures that no faulty validators remain in the staking pool. If necessary, validators can be removed, or adjustments can be made to the stake distribution. This human-in-the-loop system provides an additional layer of reliability and ensures that the pool remains secure.
SolBlaze has established itself as a trusted and secure platform within Solana’s liquid staking ecosystem. As liquid staking becomes a more integral part of the DeFi landscape, SolBlaze’s commitment to security, audit transparency, and decentralization ensures it will remain a reliable and safe choice for users looking to stake on Solana.
Comparative Ecosystem Impact
The liquid staking landscape has evolved significantly, with platforms offering various features designed to improve user experience, decentralization, and integration with the broader DeFi ecosystem.
In this section, I will compare SolBlaze with established protocols like Lido (Ethereum), Stride (Cosmos), and Acala (Polkadot). By focusing on key factors such as speed, user experience, decentralization, and developer adoption, we will examine how SolBlaze stands out as a major player in Solana’s staking ecosystem and how it compares to its competitors in other networks.
Ethereum: Lido
Lido is one of the most established platforms in the liquid staking space, particularly for Ethereum. Since its launch, Lido has become the dominant player in Ethereum’s proof-of-stake (PoS) ecosystem, holding nearly 64% of the liquid staking market share. Lido introduced the world to stETH, Ethereum’s first liquid staking token, and has since facilitated billions in Ethereum staking.
However, Lido’s speed and user experience can be hindered by Ethereum’s scalability issues, which often lead to slower transaction speeds and higher gas fees, especially during periods of network congestion. On the decentralization front, Lido’s governance has faced scrutiny due to the large concentration of staked ETH under a few validator nodes, raising concerns about centralized control. Meanwhile, Lido is well-integrated within the Ethereum ecosystem, offering stable APIs and extensive support for decentralized applications (dApps), but its relatively rigid staking pools don’t offer the same flexibility as newer protocols.
Cosmos: Stride
Stride is a liquid staking protocol built within the Cosmos ecosystem, offering staking derivatives for Cosmos-based assets. It supports interoperability, enabling users to stake assets across various Cosmos zones while maintaining liquidity. As of early 2024, Stride's Total Value Locked (TVL) was approximately $100 million, and it held over 90% market share in liquid staking for key Cosmos tokens.
Stride leverages Cosmos' interoperability and fast block times, which are essential for quick staking withdrawals and efficient liquid staking. While its transaction speeds are generally fast, Cosmos’ ecosystem still experiences some congestion, which can affect the user experience. In terms of decentralization, Stride offers a decentralized validator set within the Cosmos Hub but still faces risks from validator concentration within certain zones, which can lead to centralization in the long term. Stride has made significant strides in developer adoption within the Cosmos SDK ecosystem, providing staking services with an emphasis on cross-chain interoperability.
Polkadot: Acala (A Parachain for Staking and DeFi)
Acala is a Polkadot parachain that offers decentralized liquid staking through its Acala Dollar (aUSD) token and LDOT. Its currently has $1.51M TVL but peaked at $166M in early 2024, and it is designed to integrate Polkadot’s staking assets into DeFi.
Polkadot offers a multi-chain architecture that brings significant advantages in terms of scalability and customization, allowing different chains to operate within a unified ecosystem. This flexibility is enhanced by its parachains, each of which can operate independently while sharing security and governance features via the central relay chain. However, this multi-chain setup can introduce complexity when interacting with DeFi services like Acala, where users may experience friction due to the intricate nature of cross-chain interactions. Additionally, Polkadot's block times are slower compared to Solana, which affects both transaction speed and overall user experience. This leads to longer waiting times for transactions and can result in higher user friction, particularly in times of network congestion.
In terms of decentralization, Acala operates within Polkadot’s centralized relay chain. While Acala’s governance is decentralized, Polkadot’s centralized relay chain means that multiple parachains share the same set of validators, creating potential risks of concentration of power. This arrangement can limit the diversity of validator sets and lead to centralization of control over staking rewards, which could pose a long-term risk to network security and decentralization.
Developer adoption in Polkadot is significant, especially with Acala, which plays a vital role in the Polkadot DeFi ecosystem. Acala’s staking services have contributed to the growth of Polkadot-based DeFi applications, but Polkadot’s developer tools and infrastructure tend to be more focused on cross-chain interoperability. This can be a double-edged sword, as it requires developers to work within the more complex multi-chain environment of Polkadot, which can present challenges compared to ecosystems with more streamlined solutions.
Contrasting SolBlaze
In comparison to other liquid staking protocols like Lido on Ethereum, Stride on Cosmos, and Acala on Polkadot, SolBlaze stands out by offering superior speed, user experience, decentralization, and developer adoption. Built on Solana’s high-throughput blockchain, SolBlaze provides near-instantaneous transaction speeds and low fees, making it more efficient than Lido and Stride, both of which suffer from slower speeds and higher fees, particularly during network congestion. SolBlaze’s design ensures users get immediate liquidity and can easily interact with a wide range of DeFi platforms, like Kamino, Orca, and Marginfi, ensuring a seamless experience.
In terms of decentralization, SolBlaze provides greater flexibility by allowing users to select specific validators from a broad pool, promoting true decentralization. This contrasts sharply with Lido, where a few large validators control most of the staked ETH, and Stride, which, while decentralized, still faces risks from validator concentration within certain Cosmos zones. SolBlaze’s model further supports decentralization by integrating with multiple Solana-based DeFi protocols, ensuring distributed rewards and enhancing the overall network security.
For developer adoption, SolBlaze offers developer-friendly SDKs and seamless integration with Solana's DeFi ecosystem, giving developers greater flexibility compared to Lido's rigid staking pools or Stride's Cosmos-focused ecosystem. SolBlaze’s ability to cater to high-throughput, low-cost staking solutions makes it a more attractive choice for developers building staking-enabled DeFi applications, as it allows for customizable and cost-efficient staking features, a distinct advantage over Stride and Acala, which cater to specific ecosystems with more limited flexibility.
In summary, SolBlaze offers a faster, more flexible, and decentralized staking solution, with better developer support, making it the ideal choice for anyone looking to stake on Solana and participate in the DeFi ecosystem.
Challenges & Recommendations
As earlier covered in other sections of this document, the SolBlaze's BlazeStaking feature offers liquid staking options on Solana, thereby unlocking liquidity and addressing other major challenges usually observed with traditional staking. Below are two major challenges in the ecosystem:
1.Centralization Risks in Validation Distribution
In traditional staking on Solana, it's common for users to delegate their SOL to a few well-known validators. Over time, this behaviour concentrates decision-making power in the hands of just a handful of validators, those with the most stake. SolBlaze tackles this issue head-on by distributing stake across a wide range of validators, deliberately excluding the top 32 “supermajority” validators from its pool. This approach helps to strengthen the network's decentralization and avoids reinforcing existing power structures.
That said, the risk of centralization isn’t entirely off the table. As BlazeStake grows and commands a larger share of the total staked SOL, there’s a valid concern that governance power could become concentrated among a smaller group of BLZE holders, especially if token distribution becomes uneven or if voter participation remains low. Community members have raised this issue in various discussions, pointing out that while SolBlaze’s delegation strategy is currently sound, it will need to keep evolving as the protocol scales.
Ensuring that no single validator or group of validators can dominate the network will require continued transparency, thoughtful governance rules, and active community involvement.
2. Liquidity constraints for bSOL
Liquidity has become a recurring topic in discussions about bSOL, especially in community forums and on Twitter. One of the key benefits of liquid staking is that bSOL can be swapped for SOL instantly on decentralised exchanges (DEXs), bypassing the usual 2–3 day unbonding period. However, this flexibility depends entirely on the availability of deep liquidity in bSOL trading pools.
In practice, the bSOL–SOL price peg is maintained through arbitrage. When liquidity is healthy, users can swap bSOL for SOL at or near a 1:1 ratio. But during periods of low liquidity or heavy sell pressure, the peg can temporarily break. A well-known example of this risk occurred in December 2023 when a large sell-off of ~68,000 mSOL (Marinade’s liquid staking token) caused its market price to drop roughly 15% before recovering. A similar scenario could impact bSOL large holders looking to exit quickly may face slippage and have to accept less than the full value of their tokens.
In short, while bSOL is always redeemable for SOL over time, its instant market value isn’t always guaranteed to match the underlying SOL 1:1, especially in volatile or illiquid conditions. It’s something users, especially large ones, need to keep in mind when using liquid staking products.
Possible Recommendations on the Challenges Listed Above
1. Strengthen Decentralization
To keep BlazeStake aligned with its mission of supporting decentralization on Solana, it’s important to continue expanding the validator set and improving how stake is distributed. One practical step would be to set a cap so that no single validator can receive more than a certain percentage of the total pool. This would prevent the concentration of power and help maintain a healthy balance across validators.
SolBlaze already avoids staking with the top 32 “supermajority” validators which is a great start. But it could take this even further by using its gauge voting system to actively support smaller, independent validators, especially those operating in underrepresented regions. This adds more diversity to the network, both geographically and technically, which improves overall resilience.
Another great way to push this forward is by getting the community involved in selecting and supporting new validators. This could be done through periodic governance votes or even grant-style programs to help bootstrap promising, lesser-known validators. Not only does this strengthen decentralization, but it also gives the community a hands-on role in shaping the future of the network.
2. Make Liquidity Swap Smoother
One of the biggest strengths of liquid staking is flexibility, but that only works well if bSOL is easy to swap back to SOL when users need it. To keep things running smoothly, SolBlaze could do more to strengthen liquidity in key trading pools, especially on stable-swap platforms. Offering extra BLZE rewards or fee discounts to liquidity providers would encourage more people to add bSOL–SOL liquidity, which in turn helps everyone by reducing price slippage during trades.
Another helpful idea would be to create an “instant unstake” reserve. This means the protocol could set aside a pool of SOL that’s always available to buy back bSOL during high-demand periods. That way, users trying to exit quickly wouldn’t have to worry about massive price swings or poor exchange rates. A few other staking platforms already do this, and it’s proven to be a smart way to reduce panic and keep confidence high.
SolBlaze should also continue building strong relationships with lending platforms and DEXs, but always with caution.
3. More Focus on Community Designed Solutions
SolBlaze already supports developers in the Solana ecosystem through grants, which is a great start. But there’s a bigger opportunity here to turn some of the most talked about challenges on the platform into open calls for solutions, designed with the community, not just for them.
Instead of only funding technical tools or integrations, SolBlaze could invite the community to pitch ideas that tackle real issues whether that’s improving bSOL liquidity, making governance more accessible, or enhancing validator diversity. These pitches could come in the form of research-backed proposals, community voting contests, or collaborative hackathons focused on real protocol pain points.
Not only would this give SolBlaze a richer set of information and solutions to work with, but it would also build a stronger sense of ownership and unity within the community. People are far more likely to stick around and contribute when they feel heard and involved.
Over time, this approach can help create solutions that are not just technically sound, but also grounded in the lived experiences of the users themselves. And that’s exactly the kind of foundation needed for long-term, sustainable growth.
Bonus: Strategies for Maximizing your LSTs.
If you’ve made it this far, thank you.
We’ve discusssed staking, demystified liquid staking, and shown how SolBlaze stands out in the Solana DeFi ecosystem.
Now here’s your cherry on top: a few practical staking strategies you can try out for your knowledge level in DeFi.
For the Noob (New to DeFi)
If I were completely new to the game, my goal would be to stay safe, earn passive rewards, and build confidence. Here’s an excellent strategy to do just that:
Take 20–30% of your SOL bag (e.g., 2–3 SOL out of 10), and stake it via SolBlaze to get bSOL.
Hold 100% of that bSOL in your wallet for a month and just watch it earn rewards.
Create a simple routine of checking dashboards weekly to see your staking APY grow.
If you feel like taking it up a notch, swap 10% of your bSOL for mSOL or JitoSOL on Jupiter. Compare how they behave over time. This move will help you build comfort with LSD mechanics without adding risk.
Low-risk, low-fuss. You're learning by doing.
For the Average Guy (Comfortable with DeFi, Wants Better Yield)
The goal here is simple: Start compounding your yield across multiple protocols.
Portfolio Strategy:
Start with 50% of your SOL staked for bSOL.
Then divide your bSOL like this:
30% → Lend on MarginFi, auto-harvest yield every 2 weeks
30% → Provide bSOL/SOL liquidity on Kamino or Meteora (auto-compounding vaults help)
20% → Stake bSOL in a Jupiter Vault for auto-optimized returns
20% → Hold in wallet, vote on SolBlaze gauges, and earn BLZE
Use tools like Step Finance to track everything in one place.
Make a routine of reviewing performance every week, and rebalance your strategy every month based on performance.
For the OG (You’ve Been Here, But Let’s Talk Anyway)
The goal is to maximise capital efficiency, avoid slashing risk, and stay agile. Try this:
Stake 70–80% of your SOL stack via SolBlaze for bSOL.
Slice bSOL like this:
25% → Borrow against it on Drift or MarginFi to go long on SOL
25% → Enter bSOL/SOL LP positions in Kamino, but cap exposure to avoid impermanent loss
20% → Delegate votes toward high-performance validators on SolBlaze and claim BLZE
15% → Actively rotate between JitoSOL, mSOL, and stSOL depending on market conditions
15% → Keep unallocated for high-yield farms or as buffer for slippage and rebalancing
As an advanced user, keep in mind that looping more than 2x leverage using bSOL as collateral can expose you to liquidation volatility, so tread carefully. While validator slashing on Solana is rare, delegating to underperforming validators can still impact your gauge rewards, so use tools like Validator.app or Stakewiz to stay ahead.
If any of your vaults underperform for three to four weeks, don’t hesitate to migrate; there are no loyalty penalties in DeFi. Maintain a sharp routine: check yield dashboards and Drift health metrics daily, vote and claim SolBlaze rewards weekly, and run a full performance audit on your bSOL positions monthly to assess returns, risk exposure, and overall portfolio health.
No matter where you are, staking doesn’t have to be boring or confusing.
With SolBlaze and liquid staking on Solana, you’ve got the tools, and now, you’ve got the plan.
Go test it. Optimise it. Make it yours.
And if this deep dive helped, share it with someone who's still stuck at the basics.
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Written by

Victoria
Victoria
I am a Fullstack Developer and Technical Writer with love for coding and a talent for breaking down complex technical concepts for audiences of all ages.