Sanctum launched in 2024 as a liquid staking token (LST) aggregator on Solana, solving a fragmentation problem. With dozens of LSTs on Solana — mSOL, jitoSOL, bSOL, and many more — liquidity was scattered and users struggled to swap between them efficiently. Sanctum unified these into a single liquidity layer.
The protocol’s “Infinity Pool” allows any Solana LST to be swapped for any other with minimal slippage. Behind the scenes, all LSTs are backed by staked SOL with similar value, so the conversion math is straightforward. But without Sanctum, swapping mSOL for jitoSOL required going through SOL as an intermediary, incurring double swap fees.
Sanctum’s most innovative product was “Sanctum Profiles” (later rebranded) — personalized LSTs that anyone could create. A validator, community, or even an individual could launch their own LST backed by SOL staked with their chosen validators. This democratized liquid staking creation, spawning dozens of community LSTs.
The protocol’s points campaign in early 2024 attracted significant TVL as users deposited LSTs into Sanctum’s pools. The CLOUD token airdrop rewarded early participants, with allocations based on how much liquidity users provided and for how long.
For Solana’s staking ecosystem, Sanctum solved the “LST cold start” problem. Previously, new LSTs struggled to achieve liquidity — nobody would hold an LST they couldn’t easily swap. With Sanctum’s Infinity Pool, even a brand-new LST could be instantly converted to SOL or any other LST, removing the bootstrapping barrier.
Sanctum’s TVL grew to over $1 billion in SOL equivalents, making it one of the largest protocols on Solana. The protocol’s fee model — tiny swap fees on LST conversions — generated meaningful revenue from the high volume of staking-related activity on the network.
The project demonstrated that infrastructure plays in liquid staking can be as valuable as the LST issuers themselves. By becoming the “Uniswap for LSTs,” Sanctum positioned itself as essential plumbing for Solana’s staking economy — a layer that grows as the total staking market expands.
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