How to Stake Solana — Complete Guide 2026
Earn 6–8% APY by delegating SOL to a validator. Solana staking is beginner-friendly with no minimum, near-instant delegation, and support in all major Solana wallets.
How to Stake SOL — Step by Step
Get a Solana wallet
Install Phantom (phantom.app) or Solflare (solflare.com). For maximum security, use a Ledger hardware wallet connected to Phantom or Solflare.
Fund your wallet
Purchase SOL on an exchange (Coinbase, Kraken, Binance) and send it to your wallet address. Keep a small amount un-staked for transaction fees (~0.1 SOL).
Navigate to Staking
In Phantom, click 'Solana' in your wallet → 'Start Earning SOL'. In Solflare, go to the Staking section.
Choose a validator
Select a validator with low commission (5–10%), high uptime, and low skip rate. Avoid validators with 0% commission (often unsustainable) or very high skip rates.
Delegate your SOL
Enter the amount to stake and confirm the transaction. A small network fee (~0.00025 SOL) will be charged. Your stake becomes active at the start of the next epoch.
Compound rewards
Solana staking rewards are automatically compounded each epoch. You can also manually add to your stake position to increase the compounding effect.
Top Solana Validators
| Validator | Commission | Est. APY | Skip Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Everstake | 5% | 7.1% | 0.2% |
| Chorus One | 8% | 6.9% | 0.3% |
| P2P.org | 7% | 7.0% | 0.2% |
| Figment | 10% | 6.7% | 0.4% |
| Stakefish | 7% | 7.0% | 0.3% |
Native vs Liquid Staking
Native Delegation
Delegate directly to a validator through your wallet. Your SOL stays in your wallet (non-custodial) but is locked during the epoch. APY: ~7%.
Recommended for most usersLiquid Staking
Protocols like Marinade Finance (mSOL) let you stake and receive a liquid token you can use in DeFi. Slightly lower APY due to protocol fees but maintains liquidity.
DeFi users