Liquid staking on Solana has become a mature market. Most staking tokens compete on the same basic principles: validator performance, staking rewards, and MEV revenue.
Raiku believes there is another source of revenue hiding in plain sight.
The company has launched rkuSOL, a new liquid staking token that allows stakers to earn not only traditional staking rewards, but also revenue from the sale of Solana blockspace through Raiku’s coordination auctions. The launch is supported by several of Solana’s largest infrastructure and DeFi players, including Sanctum, Kamino, Loopscale and Exponent.
The result is what Raiku describes as the first Solana liquid staking token directly tied to blockspace auction proceeds.
Turning Blockspace into a Revenue Source
For years, Solana validators have earned their revenue primarily through block production and, more recently, MEV-related activities.
Raiku’s argument is that validators sit on another valuable asset: access to blockspace itself.
Raiku’s reservation system allows validators to sell transaction inclusion rights through Ahead-of-Time (AOT) and Just-in-Time (JIT) auctions. Merchants and applications bid for guaranteed execution, while validators receive revenue from those auctions.
With rkuSOL, those earnings are passed on to strikers in addition to traditional staking rewards.
“For forty years, TradFi locations have been building a pile of revenue,” said Robin Nordnes, founder and CEO of Raiku.
“Solana validators have only ever sold one: block production. With rkuSOL, the validators behind it are starting to sell a second one – blockspace via Raiku’s auctions. That revenue flows back to stakers.”
The model introduces a new variable into Solana’s strike economy. Rather than relying solely on staking emissions and MEV activity, validator revenues can increasingly be tied to demand for transaction execution and blockspace access.
Built on the existing Solana infrastructure
From a user perspective, rkuSOL functions just like any other liquid staking token.
Users deploy SOL with validators integrated into Raiku’s network and receive rkuSOL in return. The token represents a claim on the underlying betting pool, with the exchange rate increasing over time as rewards accumulate.
Raiku says that both Sanctum’s stake pool architecture and liquid staking infrastructure rely on existing Solana primitives and controlled contracts rather than custom staking mechanisms.
That compatibility helped ensure the project launched with broad ecosystem support from day one.
Sanctum provides the underlying infrastructure for liquid staking and routes rkuSOL through its Infinity liquidity network. Kamino has integrated the asset as collateral into its credit markets, Loopscale is supporting it in fixed-rate credit products, and Exponent has listed rkuSOL on its yield marketplace.
A dedicated RockawayX yield vault has also been launched to provide users with managed exposure to the asset.
A new asset class for Solana DeFi?
Several launch partners believe that the significance of rkuSOL goes beyond just offering another staking token.
Most existing liquid assets derive their returns from largely identical sources. As a result, the distinction between assets may be limited.
Loopscale co-founder Luke Truitt says rkuSOL introduces something new to the market: exposure to the demand for blockspace itself.
“Most Solana LSTs price yield versus staking and MEV,” Truitt said. “The validators behind rkuSOL earn additional revenue from blockspace sold on Raiku’s auctions, giving users the chance to speculate on demand above the initial stake percentage.”
If demand for blockspace continues to grow alongside institutional trading, automated execution systems and onchain applications, the model could create an entirely new category of yield generation within Solana’s staking economy.
Expand access throughout Solana
The project will launch with six external validator partners already participating, with more validators expected to join over the course of the year.
Importantly, rkuSOL is also available through two of Solana’s largest consumer-facing applications.
Both Phantom and Jupiter will support the asset from launch, giving users direct access to rkuSOL through interfaces they already use today.
The launch comes as competition within Solana’s wagering ecosystem continues to increase. Liquid staking has become one of the most important infrastructure layers of the network, with protocols increasingly looking for ways to differentiate returns beyond traditional staking rewards.
For Raiku, the answer may be simple: treat blockspace like a product and let validators sell it.
If the model gains traction, rkuSOL could mark the beginning of a new asset class where returns are tied not only to the security of the network, but also to the growing economic value of access to the network itself.