SOL Strategies launched STKESOL, a liquid staking token for Solana that had over 500,000 SOL staked at launch on January 20.
The publicly traded company (CSE: HODL, NASDAQ: STKE) integrated the token with major DeFi platforms including Orca, Squads, Kamino, and Loopscale.
STKESOL represents SOL Strategies' effort to create new revenue streams beyond its existing validator operations, which manage approximately 3.3 million delegated SOL across multiple validators.
What Happened
STKESOL allows SOL holders to stake their tokens while receiving a tradable liquid staking token that can be used across decentralized finance applications.
The platform uses an automated delegation strategy based on SOL Strategies' "Wiz Score" from stakewiz.com to distribute stake across dozens of validators.
The company charges deposit fees and takes a percentage of staking rewards earned by the underlying stake pool.
SOL Strategies operates validators acquired through three major acquisitions: Cogent Crypto (November 2024), OrangeFin Ventures (December 2024), and Laine (March 2025).
The firm rebranded from Cypherpunk Holdings on September 12, 2024, marking its strategic shift toward the Solana ecosystem.
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Market Context
Solana's liquid staking market has grown to approximately 63.8 million SOL, representing 14.06% of all staked SOL on the network, according to SolanaFloor Data Analytics.
That percentage has increased from roughly 10% in January 2025, indicating growing adoption of liquid staking tokens over traditional native staking.
Existing competitors include JitoSOL with 14.3 million SOL staked, Marinade's mSOL with 148,663 holders, and exchange-backed tokens like Binance's BNSOL.
DeFi Development Corp launched dfdvSOL in May 2025 using similar infrastructure from Sanctum.
In June 2025, SOL Strategies established a Strategic Ecosystem Reserve by acquiring 52,181 JTO tokens, signaling its broader strategy to invest in foundational Solana projects beyond validator operations.
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