Solana layer-2 blockchain Sonic has surpassed a significant staking milestone, announcing a new partnership to promote the growing restaking industry on the Solana network.
Sonic, the first gaming-focused Solana Virtual Machine (SVM) L2 network, has partnered with restaking platform Solayer and liquid restaking layer Adrastea, to enhance Solana delegator rewards.
The partnership comes as Sonic SVM surpassed $50 million worth of Solana (SOL) staked delegation on Solayer, according to an announcement shared with Cointelegraph.
This makes Sonic SVM the largest delegated AVS (Actively Validated Service) on Solayer.
The $50 million milestone highlights the growth potential of Solana’s staking and restaking ecosystem, according to Chris Zhu, founder and CEO at Sonic SVM. He told Cointelegraph:
“It highlights the growing sophistication and maturity of Solana’s decentralized services, like Sonic AVS, where liquid staking tokens now extend beyond basic staking to enhance security and value for a range of services including network extensions.”
Liquid staking grew into the largest protocol category on Ethereum, worth a cumulative $44 billion in total value locked (TVL), while restaking is worth $15 billion, as the fifth largest protocol category, according to DefiLlama data.
Ethereum by protocol categories. Source: DefiLlama
Some blockchain builders are expecting to see similar explosive growth from Solana-based restaking and liquid staking solutions.
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Can Solana restaking rival Ethereum’s growth?
Solana-based restaking could be poised for significant growth, potentially matching Ethereum’s ecosystem, according to Sonic’s Zhu.
The innovation from other Solana-based protocols like Jito, Solayer and Fragmetric could significantly contribute to the restaking ecosystem on the network, Zhu said, adding:
“Solana is setting the stage for a future where its ecosystem is both highly decentralized and capable of managing more complex, high-stakes applications. This dynamic approach could propel Solana’s staking ecosystem into a central role, potentially exceeding Ethereum's in versatility and adoption.”
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Others also see potential in the niche. Bybit Research expects Solana-based liquid staking to increase over fivefold due to sustained retail adoption.
Bybit Research told Cointelegraph:
“In our view, Solana has a huge potential for liquid staking due to its active staking community. Based on Ethereum’s LST market statistics, Solana’s LST market could potentially grow to $18 billion.”
Liquid staking TVL, Solana. Source: DefiLlama
Solana-based liquid staking is worth $5.9 billion in TVL at publication, DefiLlama data shows.
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