The Most Delightful Way to Earn Yields on Your SOL: Sanctum

Sanctum, the liquid staking infrastructure powering over $2 billion in total value locked, has unveiled a completely redesigned app that promises to transform how Solana holders earn yields on their staked assets. Presented by FP at Breakpoint 2025, the new Sanctum app focuses on delight-first design and introduces synchronized daily yields that give the entire Solana community something to look forward to together.

Summary

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The liquid staking landscape on Solana has evolved significantly, but user experience gaps remain. FP from Sanctum took the stage to address these challenges head-on, presenting a fundamental rethinking of what staking on Solana should feel like.

The presentation traced the evolution from native staking—which requires users to understand complex concepts like epochs, activation periods, and stake account management—to liquid staking tokens (LSTs) that offer a dramatically simpler experience. While LSTs have proven successful, FP highlighted that even they present challenges: users must calculate their actual returns by tracking their buy and sell prices over time, creating an unnecessary cognitive burden.

Sanctum's solution goes back to the drawing board entirely. Rather than iterating on existing designs, the team asked what the "cleanest and simplest Solana staking experience" could look like. The result is an app that puts delight at the center of the experience, featuring Sanctum's beloved blob characters prominently and introducing a novel synchronized daily yield mechanic that connects users across the ecosystem.

The company's track record speaks to its credibility in this space. Sanctum has already helped major players including Jupiter, Bybit, and various DeFi protocols manage their liquid staking needs, accumulating over $2 billion in TVL. This new app represents the next chapter in making that success accessible to everyday users.

Key Points

The Evolution of Solana Staking

Native staking on Solana, while crucial for network security, presents significant user experience challenges. Users must understand epochs—the time periods that govern when stakes become active and when they can be withdrawn. They also need to navigate concepts like splitting and merging stake accounts, which are essentially Solana internals that most users shouldn't need to think about.

Liquid staking tokens emerged as the solution to these friction points. By converting staked SOL into tradeable tokens, LSTs give users instant liquidity and eliminate the waiting periods associated with native staking. The token becomes a "first class citizen" in wallets—users simply buy to start earning yields and sell to exit. This simplicity has driven massive adoption across the ecosystem.

Sanctum's Market Position and Impact

Sanctum has established itself as critical infrastructure for Solana's staking ecosystem, supporting over $2 billion in total value locked. The protocol has partnered with some of the biggest names in the space, including Jupiter (Solana's leading DEX aggregator), Bybit (a major centralized exchange), and numerous DeFi protocols.

This infrastructure approach means Sanctum isn't just building consumer applications—they're enabling other projects to offer staking products to their own users. The new app represents a direct-to-consumer offering that leverages all the infrastructure expertise Sanctum has developed through these enterprise partnerships.

The Delight-First Design Philosophy

The new Sanctum app takes an unconventional approach by prioritizing emotional experience over pure functionality. The beloved blob characters that have become iconic within the Sanctum community take pride of place in the interface, creating an immediately recognizable and friendly experience.

FP emphasized that "there can always be more delight in the world" and that the team "goes the extra amount to delight." This philosophy manifests in careful attention to detail throughout the app, with the goal of making users "feel loved and cared for." In an industry often dominated by complex financial interfaces, this approach stands out as refreshingly human-centered.

Synchronized Daily Yields Feature

One of the most innovative aspects of the new app is the introduction of daily yields that synchronize across all users at the same time. Rather than yields accruing individually based on when each user staked, everyone in the Solana ecosystem can now look forward to a shared moment when yields are distributed.

This feature creates a sense of community and shared experience that's rare in DeFi products. It transforms the individual act of staking into something more social, giving users "something to look forward to" together. The ability to clearly see how much you've earned over time also addresses one of the main pain points FP identified with existing LST solutions.

Simplified Yield Tracking

A key problem with existing liquid staking tokens is the difficulty in understanding actual returns. Because token values appreciate relative to SOL over time, users must remember their entry price and calculate the difference when they exit. As FP illustrated, "I bought this amount of SOL at this point, and then I sold it at this point—11 months ago. So what's the APY? How much did I make? It's not entirely clear."

The new Sanctum app solves this by providing clear, ongoing visibility into accumulated earnings. Users can see exactly how much they've earned over time without needing to perform any calculations. This transparency makes the staking experience more satisfying and helps users make informed decisions about their positions.

Facts + Figures

• Sanctum currently manages over $2 billion in total value locked (TVL)

• The protocol supports liquid staking infrastructure for major partners including Jupiter, Bybit, and various DeFi protocols

• The new Sanctum app introduces synchronized daily yields for all users across the platform

• Native staking requires understanding epochs, activation/deactivation periods, and stake account management

• Liquid staking tokens allow users to simply buy to start earning and sell to exit, treating staked SOL as a first-class wallet token

• The app was designed with a "delight-first" philosophy, featuring Sanctum's signature blob characters prominently

• The app is currently available via waitlist for interested users

• The deliberately small initial scope focuses on simplicity and delight rather than feature breadth

Top quotes

• "I believe that Solana is the best asset in the world and everyone should hold and stake Solana."

• "How we hold and stake Solana really depends on the UX."

• "Liquid staking is this next evolution of earning yields on Solana—it's significantly better UX."

• "What is the cleanest and simplest Solana staking experience, given our expertise in this field?"

• "I believe that there can always be more delight in the world and we go the extra amount to delight."

• "We want people to feel loved and cared for. So we spend a lot of time and energy thinking of making a delightful experience for you."

• "Everyone in Solana can have something to look forward to, which I think is kind of cool."

Questions Answered

What is liquid staking and why is it better than native staking?

Liquid staking is an evolution of traditional Solana staking that addresses major user experience pain points. With native staking, users must wait through epoch periods for their stake to activate or deactivate, and manage technical concepts like stake account splitting and merging. Liquid staking tokens (LSTs) simplify this dramatically by converting staked SOL into a tradeable token. Users simply buy the token to start earning yields and sell to exit—the token behaves like any other asset in their wallet, making it intuitive for anyone familiar with cryptocurrency.

How successful has Sanctum been in the liquid staking market?

Sanctum has established itself as major infrastructure in Solana's staking ecosystem, with over $2 billion in total value locked. The protocol provides liquid staking services for prominent partners including Jupiter (Solana's leading DEX aggregator), Bybit (a major centralized exchange), and numerous DeFi protocols. This extensive partnership network demonstrates both the demand for liquid staking solutions and Sanctum's ability to deliver reliable infrastructure at scale.

What makes the new Sanctum app different from existing staking solutions?

The new Sanctum app distinguishes itself through its delight-first design philosophy and innovative features. Rather than presenting a typical financial interface, the app prominently features Sanctum's beloved blob characters to create a friendly, approachable experience. The synchronized daily yields feature allows all users to receive their earnings at the same time, creating a shared community moment. Additionally, the app provides clear visibility into accumulated earnings over time, solving the calculation problem that plagues existing LST solutions.

How does the synchronized daily yield feature work?

The synchronized daily yield feature ensures that all Sanctum users across the platform receive their staking rewards at the same time. Instead of yields accruing individually based on when each person staked, the entire community experiences a shared moment when earnings are distributed. This creates a sense of collective participation and gives users "something to look forward to" together, transforming staking from a solitary financial activity into a more social experience.

How can I access the new Sanctum app?

The new Sanctum app is currently available through a waitlist system. Interested users can sign up to be notified when they can access the platform. The team has intentionally kept the initial feature scope deliberately small to ensure a refined, delightful experience, with additional features planned for future releases.