Kinetiq Overtakes Sanctum to Become Third-Largest Liquid Staking Protocol
According to DefiLlama (decentralized finance data tracker), Hyperliquid-based Kinetiq moved ahead of Solana-based Sanctum in the liquid staking (tokenized staked-asset model) market.
SOL
HYPE
Fact Check
Per individual DefiLlama protocol pages (https://defillama.com/protocol/kinetiq at $1.194b TVL and https://defillama.com/protocol/sanctum-validator-lsts at $1.189b), Kinetiq has narrowly surpassed Sanctum, making it the third-largest liquid staking protocol behind Lido and Binance staked ETH. The DefiLlama category index lagged slightly behind this transition but is consistent with a very recent flip. The two TVLs are nearly identical, so the ranking is unstable and could oscillate, hence medium confidence.
Summary
Kinetiq, a liquid staking (tokenized staked-asset model) protocol built on Hyperliquid, has surpassed Sanctum, which is built on Solana, to become the third-largest liquid staking protocol, according to DefiLlama (decentralized finance data tracker). The update points to a ranking change within the crypto staking sector, where liquid staking lets users lock tokens for network participation while keeping tradable receipt assets that can still be used across decentralized finance applications.
Terms & Concepts
- Liquid staking: A method that lets users stake crypto assets while receiving a transferable token that represents the staked position.
- DefiLlama: A crypto data platform that tracks decentralized finance activity, including protocol rankings and total value metrics.
- Hyperliquid: A blockchain ecosystem associated with on-chain trading infrastructure and related decentralized finance applications.