Solayer Core
Aug 15, 2024
As we write this, the team has just gathered at our San Francisco base and is working hard to integrate all AVS on time, performing final load testing checks, and sipping coffee at 9:15 p.m.
Almost three months ago, we publicly released the vision for Solayer and set a new standard for restaking on Solana, innovating on both endogenous and exogenous systems. We worked with the community and partners, listened to feedback, and iterated on our designs. Today, we are excited to introduce a Solana-native restaking solution with our inaugural endogenous AVS: BONK, AltLayer, HashKey, and SonicSVM.
The most asked question: Why restaking on Solana? Why you?
Restaking was first introduced by EigenLayer. The name suggests additional avenues to utilize staked assets. In EigenLayer’s case, the use case involves securing off-chain systems by bootstrapping shared economic security. We refer to them as exogenous systems for this reason.
To bring the concept of restaking to Solana requires its own unique approach. Solana has a distinct consensus design and set of challenges. Initially designed with a focus on vertical scaling, Solana has become a household name for being “faster, cheaper, better.” Between 2023 and 2024, total transaction fees paid by users, including both base fees and priority fees, surged by 1,073.0%, skyrocketing from $25.33 million to $297.07 million. The vertical stack faced significant congestion issues, with over 70% of transactions being dropped at one point. The rise in congestion, coupled with the influx of users and developers, presented a unique set of infrastructure-level challenges that required solutions focused on horizontal scalability.
Introducing Solayer
Solayer launched on May 31st and since then has amassed over $160MM in TVL, the backing of top crypto builders, and investment from Binance Labs. Our mission from day one has been to contribute to Solana and beyond.
Outside of focusing on economic security like restaking protocols found in other ecosystems, we proposed the concept of endogenous AVSs whereby staked SOL could be re-used to secure network bandwidth for Solana applications and systems.
This is uniquely possible thanks to Solana’s Stake-Weight-Quality-of-Service (SWQoS), which allocates network resources, such as blockspace and transaction processing capacity, based on the amount of stake that is delegated to validators or associated with certain services or applications. What Solayer does is to create a decentralized cloud marketplace on top.
Endogenous AVS
Today, the SOL you’re holding has a lot of uncovered power and utility. Now, you can native/liquid stake your SOL to decentralize the Solana network and participate in proof of stake consensus. As a validator accrues more stake, it would have a higher possibility of being selected to produce blocks and validate transactions.
Solayer adds an additional layer to first level staking: restaking. You can restake your SOL after securing Solana L1, to secure Solana applications and systems. The SOL that is restaked is delegated to an endo AVS that natively interacts with Solana blockchain, and secure network bandwidth (in another word, blockspace) for the transactions routing through the endo AVS.
Every unit of SOL is a unit of blockspace, meaning the more stake an application has delegated to it, the more its transactions are likely to be accelerated.
The higher the probability for the dApp to have a user transaction processed and included by the network
Similar to deploying a virtual cluster on AWS, Solayer’s restaking platform allows applications and systems to have reserved, localized network bandwidth with higher customizability around blockspace and throughput.
SOL is supplied by users interested in securing the network and putting their capital to efficient use and return. On the other hand, decentralized systems in need of network bandwidth can offer additional incentives for SOL stakers to delegate their stake weight to them. This leads to improved capital efficiency for stakers (multi-yield and multi-utility), while Solayer itself helps decentralize stake at the app level.
So what is mainnet?
Mainnet for Solayer means three things: Restaking, Delegating, and e-AVSs.
Restaking: Natively stake SOL with our restaking vault to receive sSOL, our token which includes SOL’s base staking yield (8.12%) + MEV boost + AVS yield when delegated to one or multiple e-AVSs.
Delegate: After restaking you receive sSOL to delegate to your e-AVSs of choice. Certain e-AVSs will provide yield in the form of their native token or other incentives.
Note: Our reward module will be live shortly, enabling you to view e-AVS yield in real-time.
e-AVS: Endogenous AVSs are systems that receive stake on Solayer. The stake ration translates into transaction acceleration in the network, meaning higher throughput for the dApp. For projects, this unlocks new performance and engagement opportunities.
Upcoming protocol features
Mainnet is only the beginning. Keep an eye out for more features, including our protocol reward module, off-chain AVS support, stake-weight attestation, and more partner integrations. Follow us on X or join our Discord to stay up to date on all future releases.
Help us build the future of Solana Restaking
Endogenous AVS is only step one. Solayer restaking unlocks infinite possibilities from network resource optimisation to shared economic security. Today’s release is an important step in achieving our vision of becoming the backbone of Solana, and bringing the chain to the people. This is only the very, very beginning.
A final word
Solayer was founded with a goal to focus on the fundamentals of the Solana network. We present a different flavor of restaking on Solana, one that is going to feel better, last longer, and taste better. We can’t wait for novel systems, applications, and programs to be introduced to Solana, and one that is refreshing in the world of blockchain.
PS: The team is going to head to mtnDAO soon. Say hi if you are going!
Enjoy.
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