Lido Staked SOL (STSOL)

Staking and Rewards

Lido Staked SOL lets you stake your SOL tokens to earn daily staking rewards without locking your tokens. When you stake SOL with Lido, you receive stSOL tokens that increase in value as rewards accumulate. You can unstake anytime with no waiting or unbonding periods.

Liquidity and Trading

stSOL tokens provide liquidity by allowing you to trade or sell your staked SOL on decentralized exchanges instantly. This means you keep your tokens working for you while still having the freedom to use or sell them whenever you want.

DeFi Integration

You can use stSOL as collateral or participate in other DeFi activities on the Solana network, such as farming or lending, to earn additional rewards. This expands the ways you can benefit from your staked assets beyond just staking rewards.

Network Security and Validator Diversification

By staking through Lido, your SOL is distributed across multiple trusted validators chosen by the Lido DAO, helping secure the Solana network while reducing risks associated with staking on a single validator.

Governance

Lido operates under a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) model, where LDO token holders make decisions about the protocol, including validator selection and fee structures.

Advantages

• Lido Staked SOL allows users to earn staking rewards while keeping their SOL tokens liquid and usable in the Solana ecosystem.
• Users receive stSOL tokens that represent their staked SOL and automatically increase in value as rewards accumulate.
• The staking process is simplified and user-friendly, requiring no technical knowledge or managing multiple validator accounts.
• stSOL tokens can be traded or used as collateral in DeFi protocols, enabling additional yield opportunities.
• Lido smart contracts are audited by reputable firms, and the protocol uses experienced node operators.
• Supports popular wallets like Phantom, Solflare, Ledger, Trust Wallet, and MetaMask.
• No lock-up or unbonding periods; users can unstake anytime.
• Lido DAO governs the protocol, providing decentralized control and regular upgrades.

Disadvantages

• Lido for Solana has been discontinued as of late 2023, with no new staking accepted and frontend support ending in early 2024.
• The protocol delegates stake mostly to large validators, which some users feel centralizes rewards to the richest operators.
• Lido charges a 10% fee on staking rewards, shared between node operators and the DAO treasury.
• Users must unstake via command line interface after frontend support ends, which may be less convenient.
• The product faced financial losses and low market share in the Solana ecosystem, leading to its shutdown decision.
• Some community members recommend alternative Solana staking options that support smaller validators and potentially better decentralization.

In summary, Lido Staked SOL offered easy, liquid staking with daily rewards and DeFi integration but is no longer active for Solana staking and had some centralization and fee considerations.

Founders and Key People

Lido was co-founded by a group of experienced professionals in blockchain and finance, including Konstantin Lomashuk and Anatoly Yakovenko. Other early supporters and investors involved in the project include Semantic Ventures, ParaFi Capital, Terra, Rune Christensen (MakerDAO creator), Stani Kulechov (Aave CEO), and Kain Warwick (Synthetix founder).

Background

The project started in December 2020 to provide liquid staking solutions for Ethereum and later expanded to other blockchains like Solana. The team has strong backgrounds in software engineering and cryptocurrency, focusing on decentralized staking solutions.

Summary

• Konstantin Lomashuk (co-founder)
• Anatoly Yakovenko (co-founder)
• Early investors and supporters: Semantic Ventures, ParaFi Capital, Terra, Rune Christensen, Stani Kulechov, Kain Warwick

Investors in Lido Staked SOL

Lido has raised funds through several investment rounds with notable investors including:

• Andreessen Horowitz (a16z): Participated in a $70 million funding round.
• Dragonfly Capital: Invested $24 million in treasury diversification.
• Paradigm, Coinbase Ventures, 3AC, Jump Trading, Alameda Research, DCG: Participated in a $73 million private token sale.

These investors support Lido's liquid staking solutions for Ethereum, Solana, and other blockchains, helping the project grow and expand its offerings.

Halal Status

Yes, Lido Staked SOL is generally considered halal.

Reasoning

Lido Staked SOL is a liquid staking token representing staked SOL on the Solana blockchain. Staking SOL through Lido involves delegating tokens to validators to support the network and earn rewards. This process is similar to earning profit from a service rather than interest (riba), which is typically considered halal. The staking rewards come from network participation and are distributed to token holders. Discussions in Islamic finance communities lean towards considering staking services like Lido halal because they provide a legitimate service without involving interest-based transactions.