rkuSOL: a third yield source enters the Solana LST stack
Last week we launched rkuSOL with Sanctum, Kamino, Loopscale and Exponent.
rkuSOL is the first Solana liquid staking token whose underlying validators earn from three sources rather than two. Every LST in circulation today earns from the same two: staking rewards and MEV. Both move with market activity. When the network is busy, both yields go up. When it isn't, both go down.
"For forty years, TradFi venues have earned from a stack of revenue lines,” said Robin Nordnes, CEO and founder of Raiku. "Solana validators have only ever sold one, block production. With rkuSOL the validators behind it start selling a second: blockspace through Raiku's auctions, priced contractually before the trade happens. That revenue flows back to stakers. It’s the first expansion of the Solana LST yield base since MEV arrived."
Mechanically, the validators backing rkuSOL also sell compute capacity through Raiku's Ahead-of-Time (AOT) and Just-in-Time (JIT) auctions. Both run as first-price sealed-bid auctions; the difference is when they clear, AOT reserves slot inclusion up to 100 slots in advance, while JIT clears for same-slot inclusion. Revenue from these sales flows to stakers through the same proportional-stake distribution every other LST uses.
Why a third yield source matters now
The Solana LST market is mature enough that "more APY" isn't the interesting question any more. Every LST in the top tier converges in a narrow yield band because they all earn from the same two sources. The question that's been harder to answer: can you underwrite, lend against, or trade yield curves that don't all move together?
Three of our launch partners picked rkuSOL up for that reason.
Loopscale runs fixed-rate credit, which has to set rates in advance. Luke Truitt, co-founder of Loopscale:
"Most Solana LSTs price yield against staking and MEV, both of which swing with market activity and are non-differentiated. This makes it difficult to speculate on and build SOL lending markets purely on LST leverage. The validators behind rkuSOL earn additional yield through blockspace sold in Raiku's auctions, giving loopers an opportunity to speculate on demand in excess of the native staking rate."
Kamino ingests the widest range of yield-bearing collateral on Solana. Mark Hull, Core Contributor to Kamino:
"We're excited to integrate rkuSOL into the Kamino, continuing to expand the range of collateral available on Solana. rkuSOL introduces additional validator revenue through Raiku’s blockspace auctions, bringing a unique LST to the ecosystem. Looking forward to supporting the launch alongside Raiku and Sanctum."
Exponent splits principal from yield. Traders taking a view on yield need a curve with shape to it. Thomas Lefort, co-founder of Exponent:
"It is great to have a differentiated Solana LST that brings a new source of yield to Solana staking. This makes rkuSOL a strong asset to add to a DeFi portfolio, while holders can use Exponent to tailor their exposure depending on their goals, whether they want to fix its rate or leverage it. The Raiku SOL DeFi Vault is also an easier way to gain blended exposure to rkuSOL, while still accessing some of the best opportunities for it available on Exponent."
How rkuSOL works
rkuSOL behaves like any Solana LST. Holders deposit SOL with Raiku-integrated validators and receive rkuSOL at the prevailing exchange rate. The exchange rate adjusts over time as the underlying pool earns yield from staking, from MEV, and from blockspace sold through Raiku's auctions. There's no supply cap. The underlying stake pool and the Sanctum LST contracts are both unmodified Solana primitives, multi-audited.
Sanctum provides the LST infrastructure and routes rkuSOL through the Infinity liquidity pool from day one. FP Lee, co-founder and CEO of Sanctum:
"We're very happy to partner with Raiku to launch rkuSOL. rkuSOL is a first-class citizen of Sanctum's unified infrastructure; holders automatically earn autocompounding yields and can access instant liquidity via Sanctum. The relationships we have forged with partners in the space also allows rkuSOL to be integrated and used throughout the Solana ecosystem from day one."
The launch ecosystem
Six external validator partners are committed for mainnet, with further validators joining progressively through Q3 2026.
Kamino has integrated rkuSOL as collateral on its lending markets. Loopscale supports it across fixed-rate credit. Exponent has listed it on its yield trading platform. Phantom and Jupiter both support rkuSOL from launch, giving users of Solana's two largest consumer-facing applications direct access through their existing wallets.
Additional DeFi integrations are planned across the coming quarters.
The bigger picture
For Raiku, rkuSOL is the first time the revenue we generate flows back to the asset that secures the network we run on. Validators who reserve capacity through Raiku's auctions earn from a revenue stream the rest of the network doesn't see. Stakers in rkuSOL earn from that.
The bigger point sits underneath. Solana's LST yield base hasn't expanded since MEV. It's expanding now because validators are doing more than producing blocks - they're starting to sell a stack of revenue lines, the way TradFi venues have for forty years. The capital that backs them gets exposed to that shift.
rkuSOL is available from https://stake.raiku.com/
