Why Aren't Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs) Popular on Solana? (Marinade)

In this episode, we chat with Brandon Tucker, head of comms at Marinade Finance, to dive into the world of liquid staking tokens on Solana. In theory, the value prop of LSTs is clear. In practice, only a tiny fraction of staked Solana uses LSTs. Throughout this conversation, we unpack why that is the case and what Marinade is doing to lean into this predominant user behavior on Solana that is much less common on chains like Ethereum.

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Time Stamps

1:43 - The rise of LSTs 

5:59 - Why LST adoption on Sol is so low

12:20 - Should epoch times be longer

15:18 - Marinade governance

20:23 - Marinade business model

16:44 - How to ensure accurate data gathering

25:47 - Centralisation vectors

33:28 - How to get more LST adoption into Sol dapps

39:04 - Competitive landscape from other providers

44:09 - Will Lido exit Sol ecosystem

47:44 - Competiton from centralised players

49:15 - How to bring liquidity back to Sol defi

53:07 - Future of LSTs

58:27 - Marinade roadmap

1:02:20 - What’s the next big thing in crypto

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Podcast Resources

Follow Sal: https://twitter.com/Sal_The_Bull

Follow Dave: https://twitter.com/SolBeachBum

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Clips on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@UnlayeredPod

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Episode Resources

Marinade Native Staking Referral Code : https://marinade.finance/app?ref=s7iob5by

Follow Brandon Tucker : https://twitter.com/BrandonTucker

Follow Marinade Finance :  https://twitter.com/MarinadeFinance

Marinade Website : https://Marinade.Finance