Sanctum

Introduction

Sanctum is a liquidity protocol built on the Solana blockchain that makes staking SOL more flexible and accessible for everyone. When you stake your SOL, normally, it will be locked up with a validator. This is to help secure the network and earn rewards.

The challenge is that traditional staking can limit flexibility, you can’t easily move or use your stake tokens until you go through an unstaking process. Sanctum finds a solution by creating Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs), which represent your stake SOL but can still be traded, transferred, or used in other DeFi applications.

This means you get the security and rewards of staking while also keeping your tokens usable across Solana’s ecosystem. Whether that’s lending, trading, or providing liquidity in DeFi. Sanctum helps improve Solana’s decentralization and gives users more freedom to manage their assets without missing out on rewards.

Key Features

Here are the key features of Sanctum:

Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs)

When you stake SOL through Sanctum, you don’t just lock it away, you receive an LST that represents your staked SOL. This token still earns rewards but can also be used in trading, lending, or DeFi apps without waiting for the unstaking period.

Super Aggregator for LSTs

Sanctum brings together many different LSTs across Solana into one place. Instead of choosing just one validator or one token, you can access a wide range of LSTs and easily swap between them. This makes staking more flexible and user-friendly.

Instant Liquidity

Normally, unstaking takes time. With Sanctum, you can quickly swap your LSTs back into SOL or other LSTs, giving you fast access to your funds whenever you need them.

Boosts Solana Decentralization

By spreading SOL across multiple validators through its LST system, Sanctum helps make the Solana network more secure and decentralized, reducing reliance on only a few validators.

DeFi Integration

Because LSTs are liquid, they can be used across Solana’s DeFi ecosystem, whether that’s providing liquidity, borrowing, lending, or farming. So your staked tokens can work for you in more ways than one.

How It Works

The process is designed to feel simple and beginner-friendly when users interact with Sanctum. Instead of locking SOL directly with a validator, users deposit their SOL into Sanctum and instantly receive a Liquid Staking Token (LST) in return.

This LST represents their staked SOL, continues to earn staking rewards, and can be freely used across Solana’s DeFi ecosystem.

If a user ever wants their SOL back, they can either swap the LST for regular SOL right away through Sanctum’s liquidity pools or choose to unstake it the traditional way. This makes staking more flexible because your assets never feel trapped. You are always able to move, trade, or put them to work in other protocols while still benefiting from staking rewards.

Why It Matters (for Solana Users)

Sanctum matters for Solana users because it removes one of the biggest barriers to staking liquidity. In traditional staking, users have to lock up their SOL and wait through an unstaking period before they can access it again.

This can be inconvenient for traders who want flexibility, stakers who want to maximize rewards, or explorers who want to experiment with different DeFi opportunities. Sanctum solves this problem, users can keep their SOL stake while still having the freedom to use Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs) across Solana's ecosystem.

For stakers, this means you don’t have to choose between earning rewards and keeping your funds available, you can do both. For traders, it opens up new strategies, since LSTs can be swapped instantly or used in liquidity pools.

And for explorers, it creates more ways to participate in DeFi without sacrificing staking rewards. On a bigger scale, Sanctum also strengthens Solana’s decentralization by spreading stake across multiple validators, which improves the overall health and security of the network.

How to Use It

Here’s a simple beginner-friendly walkthrough on how to use Sanctum:

Step 1: Get a Solana Wallet

Install a wallet like Phantom, Solflare, or Backpack and fund it with some SOL.

Step 2: Visit Sanctum

Go to the official Sanctum app through its website.

Step 3: Connect Your Wallet

Click on “Connect Wallet” and choose your wallet provider. Then confirmed the transaction in your wallet.

Step 4: Stake Your SOL

Enter the amount of SOL you want to stake, click on “Stake”, then confirm the transaction in your wallet.

Step 5: Receive LSTs

You will instantly get Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs) that represent your staked SOL and continue to earn rewards.

Step 6: Use Your LSTs

You can hold them for staking rewards, trade them, or use them in DeFi apps like lending, liquidity pools, or farming.

Step 7: Unstake Anytime

If you want your SOL back, swap your LSTs for SOL instantly through Sanctum or choose the regular unstake option.

Remember, to earn rewards you need to hold your stake at about 2-3 days (one epoch). If you unstake your tokens on the same epoch, then you won’t earn any rewards.

Milestones