The Era of Staking 2.0: Why is Kyros's Decentralized Finance Matrix rewriting the yield rules of Solana?

Original Title: Kyros: The Rise of Solana Liquid Restaking

Original author: Austin Weiler

Original source:

Compiled by: Daisy, Mars Finance

Key Points

Kyros is a liquidity re-staking protocol built on top of Solana, using Jito's re-staking infrastructure to provide two types of vault products, kySOL and kyJTO.

As of April 1, the total locked value (TVL) of the Kyros Vault reached $36.3 million, with 84% being kySOL and 16% being kyJTO. The total number of holders of the two token types reached 15,000, including 10,800 on-chain holders and 4,200 users holding through the CeFi asset management company SwissBorg.

kySOL has been integrated into multiple Solana ecosystem DeFi platforms, including Kamino, Exponent, Sandglass, and RateX, supporting lending, liquidity provision, and yield trading functions.

The Kyros plan aims to expand the supported node consensus networks (including Squads and Ping Network), while exploring new types of vault products pegged to stablecoins.

Introduction

Kyros

Kyros is a liquidity restaking protocol built on top of Solana's Jito restaking infrastructure. Users can earn kySOL by staking SOL or JitoSOL, a liquid restaking token whose yield combines Solana staking rewards, MEV rewards (via JitoSOL), and additional restaking rewards generated by node operators (NOs) for securing Node Consensus Networks (NCNs). Node Consensus Networks (NCNs) is a service that provides cybersecurity for blockchain infrastructure such as validators, oracles, cross-chain bridges, and L2s. After kySOL deposits SOL or JitoSOL into the vault on behalf of the user, the assets are entrusted to the node operator responsible for maintaining the security of the NCNs. In return for financial security, NCNs offer potential additional rewards to the Kyros Treasury (e.g. 0.15% Jito tip on TipRouter is distributed to all JitoSOL restakers).

kySOL has been integrated with DeFi protocols such as Kamino Finance, Sandglass, and Exponent Finance, allowing users to utilize kySOL for liquidity provision, lending, and yield trading strategies.

In addition to kySOL, Kyros also offers a second vault product, kyJTO. This token is issued to users who stake JTO (Jito DAO governance token), and the Jito DAO is responsible for overseeing the operation of the Jito network.

Jito does not provide a user application interface but supports protocols like Kyros in achieving re-staking functionality through underlying infrastructure (particularly the re-staking program and vault program). Within this framework, staked assets are tokenized into vault receipt tokens (VRTs) (i.e., kySOL and kyJTO), which maintain liquidity and can be applied in DeFi. Kyros is responsible for the minting and burning of VRTs and entrusts vault assets to NCNs, aiming to optimize users' risk-return ratio in re-staking. Jito's infrastructure also supports flexible validator reallocation, customizable penalty conditions, and operator management functions, helping re-staking protocols optimize validator performance while maintaining liquidity.

kySOL has been integrated into multiple Solana-based DeFi platforms such as Kamino, Exponent, Sandglass, and RateX, supporting lending, liquidity provision, and yield trading.

The Kyros plan supports more Node Consensus Networks (including Squads and Ping Network), while also exploring new treasury products pegged to stablecoins.

Re-staking

The emergence of the re-staking protocol stems from the concept popularized by Ethereum's EigenLayer, with the goal of improving capital efficiency and enhancing security within the blockchain ecosystem. Re-staking allows for the reuse of the economic security provided by staked assets on the L1 blockchain, extending this security to other services, namely Active Verification Services (AVS). AVS refers to any blockchain application or service that requires continuous verification by a network of validators to maintain integrity, correctness, and availability, including data availability layers, oracle networks, sidechains, cross-chain bridges, or dApps. The Solana re-staking protocol built on Jito uses the same principles, but refers to these services as Node Consensus Networks (NCNs).

The design introduces a layered security model: the base layer blockchain (such as Solana) provides basic security through traditional staking, and further staking extends this security to external services, incentivizing validators to maintain reliability across all NCNs they support. If a validator behaves improperly or fails to meet performance requirements in a certain network, they may be penalized through a forfeiture mechanism across all associated services. This risk-sharing framework encourages validators to maintain reliable behavior and achieves incentive synergy in a multi-layer network.

The re-staking model has multiple advantages: NCNs can leverage the economic weight of the underlying chain to initiate their own security without the need to independently build trust or penalty mechanisms; for stakers, re-staking can secure multiple services through a single asset and obtain compounded returns, thereby improving capital efficiency.

However, re-staking also comes with risks. As restaking on Solana scales, supporting these services may require more complex cross-chain infrastructure or coordination mechanisms, potentially introducing new attack vectors. Centralization is also a pitfall—a small number of validators or re-staking protocols may gain disproportionate control. In addition, the re-staker and the re-staking agreement are subject to additional risk of forfeiture, as their collateral may be compromised due to third-party system failures.

Re-staking marks an important evolution in blockchain design, providing new avenues for expanding economic security and rewarding participation, but it still requires careful attention to validator accountability, protocol governance, and infrastructure reliability.

How the Kyros protocol works

Kyros integrates Jito's re-staking infrastructure, relying on its management of the treasury's staking, delegation, and reward distribution. Its operational structure consists of three core components: Node Operators (NOs), Node Consensus Networks (NCNs), and Vault Receipt Tokens (VRTs). These components work together to redistribute economic security and facilitate the issuance and management of liquidity re-staking positions such as kySOL and kyJTO.

In the Jito framework, a "node" is defined as software that runs the NCN specified protocol. NOs are the entities that manage these nodes, responsible for validating transactions, maintaining online status, and ensuring the normal operation of the participating NCNs. NOs are critical for ensuring the performance and integrity of the re-staking infrastructure. Notable NOs participating in the Kyros ecosystem include Kiln, Helius, and InfStones.

NCN is a network composed of multiple nodes running the same software, providing specific on-chain or off-chain services through consensus. These networks rely on collective participation to verify information and maintain service reliability, with typical application scenarios including L2 networks, cross-chain bridges, and interoperability solutions.

Currently, Kyros only supports one NCN - TipRouter. Historically, Jito's MEV tip rewards were distributed through off-chain processes, while TipRouter replaces it with a transparent and verifiable on-chain mechanism: consensus on the distribution of MEV tips is reached by the NOs network. The TipRouter NCN charges a fixed fee of 3% on all distributed tips, of which 0.15% is allocated to the JitoSOL treasury operators, 0.15% to Kyros and other JTO treasury operators, and the remaining 2.7% goes to the Jito DAO.

Vault Receipt Tokens (VRTs) are liquidity representatives of users' re-staked positions. Kyros currently offers two types of VRTs: kySOL and kyJTO. These tokens provide security for NCNs while the underlying staked assets (JitoSOL, SOL, or JTO) are re-staked through Kyros' managed delegation, while still maintaining the liquidity of users' assets.

The above components are coordinated by two infrastructure programs provided by Jito:

Re-staking process: Handling the delegated staking assets (SOL/JitoSOL/JTO) to NCNs, evaluating NOs performance, and imposing penalties for misconduct according to the rules of different NCNs. NOs are motivated to remain honest, as the penalties will affect all networks supported by their re-staked assets.

Vault Program: Manages the minting and burning of VRTs, and handles the delegation of staked assets to NCNs. Its design goal is to allocate re-staked tokens to multiple NCNs based on the highest yield opportunities. Currently, all vault assets are delegated to this network as it only supports TipRouter. As more NCNs come online, the program will implement cross-network asset allocation to capture different yield opportunities.

Details of Kyros Vault Operations

kySOL Vault: Users deposit SOL or JitoSOL to get kySOL (current exchange rate: 1 SOL = 0.84 kySOL, 1 JitoSOL = 0.99 kySOL). SOL deposits will be deposited into the vault for re-staking after generating JitoSOL by internal staking. kySOL adopts a non-variable base design, continuously accumulating staking rewards, MEV yields, and NCN additional income, and all rewards are automatically compounded to make their value relative to SOL continue to grow, and maintain full liquidity for DeFi use.

kyJTO Vault: Users stake JTO to obtain kyJTO and share in the earnings generated by TipRouter NCN. kyJTO also adopts a non-fixed base design, with its value relative to JTO increasing over time.

Data performance

Since the kySOL treasury went live at the end of October 2024, both of Kyros's major treasuries have seen significant capital inflows. In the first quarter of 2025, Kyros's total locked value (TVL) increased by 145% quarter-on-quarter, rising from $14.8 million to $36.3 million. As of April 1, the kySOL treasury accounts for 84% of the TVL ($30.6 million), while the kyJTO treasury launched in early January 2025 has grown to 16% of the TVL ($5.8 million).

Ecological composition

Node Operators (NOs)

Currently, there are 9 active NOs collaborating with Kyros. Among them, 8 provide support for the NCNs of the kySOL treasury, and 9 (including Staking Facilities specifically serving kyJTO) provide support for the kyJTO treasury. The complete list includes: Kiln, Luganodes, Helius, Temporal, Laine, Pier Two, Everstake, InfStones, and Staking Facilities (only for kyJTO). Kyros strategically entrusts assets based on the performance and historical reliability of the NOs to maximize user returns.

In the kySOL vault, the two NOs with the highest allocation of underlying assets (JitoSOL) are Kiln and Laine, each receiving 26,000 JitoSOL delegated (accounting for 16% of the total amount of 162,000). The next four in order of delegation volume are Helius, Pier Two, Luganodes, and Everstake.

In the kyJTO vault, Helius, Laine, Pier Two and Luganodes each received 362,000 JTO orders (14.5% of the total 2.5 million JTO).

DeFi applications

Source: Kyros DeFi

Kyros has integrated kySOL and kyJTO into multiple protocols within the Solana ecosystem, breaking through the limitations of passive income accumulation:

Lending: Users can mortgage kySOL in the Kamino lending market to borrow JitoSOL, implementing basic leverage strategies.

Liquidity Provision: Developed kySOL-JitoSOL and kyJTO-JTO liquidity pools in collaboration with Jito and Raydium.

Structured Income:

Exponent supports buying and selling future yield streams by minting/trading yield tokens like YT-kySOL, providing fixed income or leveraged exposure.

The Sandglass developed by the Lifinity team implements a fixed-income trading system based on SOL/kySOL positions.

RateX supports leveraged exposure and fixed APY strategies with kySOL as the underlying asset.

Example explanation: On the Exponent platform, PT-kySOL represents the certificate token for the underlying kySOL principal. Users can exchange kySOL for PT-kySOL maturing on June 14 with an implied APY of 15.9%, and then deposit it into Loopscale to earn up to 4x position leverage.

In addition to DeFi, Kyros has also partnered with the CeFi asset management platform SwissBorg to provide custodial restaking services for retail users with kySOL and kyJTO. According to internal data from SwissBorg, there are 3,900 holders of the kySOL wallet and 300 holders of the kyJTO wallet.

Community incentives and holding conditions

Kyros has established two major initiatives, "Village" and "Warchest", to promote users' continuous engagement with the platform and the interaction with the associated DeFi ecosystem.

Village is a task-based engagement system where users earn experience points (XP) by completing on-chain or community tasks and are promoted in a tiered ranking system. These quests (called "quests") are divided into three categories by complexity: offensive (strategic action), defensive (ecological support), and loyal (long-term commitment). Accumulated XP increases the user's level, and while the current rewards are non-monetary, higher levels may have additional benefits in the future.

Warchest is a point reward program based on the duration of holding tokens, where holding kySOL allows for linear accumulation of points (calculated based on holding size and duration). Using kySOL in integrated DeFi protocols provides a points multiplier effect. The program operates in a non-custodial manner, with points automatically tracked and displayed in the Kyros interface, requiring no active claims. These two programs aim to guide users' long-term behavior in alignment with the protocol's development, while simultaneously strengthening the adoption of kySOL in Solana DeFi.

As of April 1:

There are 8,400 holders of kySOL on the chain, with the top two addresses holding a total of 51% (105,900 kySOL). The CeFi asset management platform SwissBorg is the largest holding address, and its internal data shows that the number of custodial users has reached 3,900.

There are 2,400 holders of kyJTO on the chain, with the top two addresses holding a total of 46% (1.3 million kyJTO). The number of users with SwissBorg's kyJTO wallet custodianship is 300.

competitor

In addition to Kyros, the active protocols based on Jito re-staking infrastructure include Renzo and Fragmentic, which provide the same Solana re-staking vault services as Kyros.

Kyros accounts for 14% of the SOL staking market in the Jito ecosystem (204,700 coins / total of 1.5 million coins)

In the Jito re-staking JTO market, it accounts for 32% (2.9 million pieces / 9 million pieces in total).

Development Roadmap

In the coming year, Kyros plans to expand its business in the following directions:

New NCN Integration: Connecting with NCNs such as Squads, Ping Network, and Nozomi to create more revenue opportunities for treasury assets.

Expanded DeFi support: Integration with protocols like MarginFi (lending) and Astrol (lending) to enhance kySOL utility.

Develop new vault products: including re-staking services for assets such as stablecoins.

Summary

As one of the first liquidity re-staking protocols on Solana, Kyros utilizes the kySOL/kyJTO vault built on the Jito infrastructure to enable users to capture Solana staking yields, MEV, and re-staking incentives while maintaining asset liquidity. Integration with DeFi protocols such as Kamino and Exponent further enriches the options for yield strategies.

Since its launch at the end of 2024, Kyros TVL has exceeded $36 million (kySOL is the main force), and currently entrusts 9 node operators to support TipRouter as an active NCN. It occupies a 14% share in the Jito ecological re-pledge SOL market, and the JTO market accounts for 32%, showing a strong momentum of development. As the Solana restaking ecosystem evolves, Kyros is expected to play a key role in connecting user funds to decentralized infrastructure, expanding market share in the liquid restaking space.