Leveraged staking (the SOL loop)

Who it's for

You understand liquid staking and lending, you'll check your position weekly, and you want more than base staking yield on SOL you'd hold anyway.

How it works

Supply an LST (JitoSOL, JupSOL, INF), borrow SOL against it, convert that SOL to more LST and supply it again. Multiply vaults do the loop in one transaction. Your net yield is:

LST yield × leverage − SOL borrow rate × (leverage − 1)

With a 5.5% LST and a 4.5% SOL borrow rate at 3x: 16.5% − 9% = 7.5%.

Steps

1. Check the spread. Compare the LST's yield with the SOL borrow rate on the market you'll use. If the spread is under about 1%, looping barely pays.
2. Open Kamino Multiply or Jupiter Lend and choose an LST/SOL vault.
3. Pick 2 to 3x leverage. The app shows net APY and liquidation thresholds.
4. Deposit and confirm.
5. Set a weekly reminder to check the SOL borrow rate and your health.

What to expect

Net yields of roughly 6% to 9% at 3x when spreads are normal. When SOL borrow demand spikes (often during bull runs), the borrow rate can exceed the staking yield and your net APY turns negative until it normalizes.

Risks

• Negative spread: the most common loss. Every day the borrow rate is above the LST yield, you lose, and at high leverage it compounds quickly.
• LST depeg: if the LST trades below its SOL value, your LTV jumps. At 10x, a 2 to 3% depeg can liquidate.
• Stacked smart contract risk: lending market + LST + oracle + swap route.
• Exit costs: unwinding requires swaps; in a crisis, everyone unwinds at once.

Exit plan

Use the vault's withdraw/deleverage button, which repays debt and returns your LST in one step. If the spread turns negative, reduce leverage early rather than waiting.

Safer variations

• Use fixed-rate SOL borrowing (Kamino Fixed Rates, Loopscale) to lock the cost.
• Stay at 2x: half the extra yield, a fraction of the fragility.