Solana staking guide 2026: native, liquid, and exchange options

How to stake SOL in 2026 — native delegation, liquid staking (Jito, Marinade), and exchange staking. Yields, risks, and how to choose.

By Eric Nkando, senior writer · 2 min read · Updated 14 Sep 2026

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Answer first

Three ways to stake SOL in 2026: native delegation (any amount, non-custodial, ~6-7% yield), liquid staking via Jito or Marinade (any amount, get a tradable receipt token, roughly the same yield minus protocol fee), and exchange staking (any amount, easiest, largest fee).

Native delegation

Solana native staking is the most straightforward: from any Solana wallet (Phantom, Backpack, Solflare, or a hardware wallet), select a validator and delegate. SOL stays in your wallet. Rewards accrue automatically each epoch (~2-3 days).

Yield: ~6-7% APY minus a small validator commission (typically 5-10%). Effective ~5.5-6.5%.

Unstaking: Initiate an unstake and wait for the next epoch (~2-3 days) to receive your SOL back.

Choosing a validator: Look for high uptime, moderate commission (5-8%), and no history of slashing or missed blocks. Marinade Finance publishes a good validator scorecard.

Liquid staking (Jito, Marinade)

Deposit SOL into a liquid staking protocol; receive jitoSOL (Jito) or mSOL (Marinade). These tokens accrue staking yield and can be used in Solana DeFi.

Jito additionally captures MEV rewards from Solana's validator ecosystem, resulting in slightly higher yield than pure staking.

Marinade was the original Solana liquid staking protocol; broadly integrated across Solana DeFi.

Yield: ~6-7% raw, minus ~4-6% protocol commission. Effective ~5.5-6.5%.

Risks: Smart contract risk. jitoSOL/mSOL price occasionally trades slightly below SOL — usually recovers.

Exchange staking

Coinbase, Kraken, Binance, and others offer SOL staking. Simple to set up. Larger commission (15-25%). Effective yield ~4.5-5.5%.

Risks: Counterparty risk. Regulatory restrictions in some jurisdictions.

Which should you pick?

You want maximum yield and hold long-term → native delegation
You want yield + DeFi flexibility → Jito or Marinade
You want maximum simplicity and already hold SOL on an exchange → exchange staking

Frequently asked questions

How much can I earn staking SOL?

Native SOL staking yields ~6-7% annualized in 2026. Liquid staking (Jito, Marinade) is roughly the same yield minus a small protocol fee. Exchange staking is meaningfully less due to higher commissions.

What's the minimum to stake SOL?

There's no minimum for native delegation on Solana — you can stake any amount. Liquid staking (Jito, Marinade) and exchange staking also have no minimum.

Is Solana staking safe?

Native delegation is non-custodial (your SOL stays in your wallet). Slashing on Solana is rare — the network's slashing implementation is limited compared to Ethereum. Liquid staking adds smart-contract risk. Exchange staking adds counterparty risk.

Sources

Solana staking documentation — accessed Sep 14, 2026