SOL Token Distribution and Circulation Analysis

Recently, some people have become curious about the distribution of SOL tokens. This article will explore the circulation status of SOL tokens and their main holders.

Currently, 88% of the total supply of SOL is in circulation. There is no supply cap for SOL, and the current inflation rate is 4.395%, decreasing by 15% each year, eventually stabilizing at 1.5%.

It is worth noting that 71% of the circulating supply of SOL is in active staking, a figure that is much higher than the 30% for ETH. However, there are some inconsistencies in the data regarding locked tokens. Reports indicate that 6.7% of the staked amount is locked SOL, but according to information from certain data platforms, 99.88% of SOL tokens have been unlocked, with only about 600,000 SOL remaining locked.

In terms of major holders, a certain trading platform holds 4.7% of the total supply of SOL, worth approximately 5 billion USD. Other major holders include another large trading platform (3.97%), Jito (1.61%), Upbit (1.28%), among others. The total holdings of the top holders account for over 20% of the circulating supply.

To promote network decentralization, the Solana Foundation has entrusted 35.6 million SOL (accounting for 6.6% of the circulating supply) to 542 validators. It is estimated that validators need to stake 50,000 to 75,000 SOL to be profitable.

It is worth noting that only 14.3% of staked SOL comes from liquid staking tokens (LST), which somewhat limits the growth potential of DeFi on Solana. If more native staked SOL is transferred to LST, the scale of Solana’s DeFi ecosystem could significantly increase.

In terms of individual holders, data shows that the distribution of SOL is somewhat concentrated: about 0.33% of wallets control 54% of the SOL supply, but this includes institutional holders such as centralized exchanges and custodians. On the other hand, 97.4% of wallets hold less than 1000 SOL, collectively holding 24.8% of the supply, indicating a considerable level of retail participation.

Overall, the holding structure of SOL shows characteristics of coexistence between institutional and individual investors, with a high staking rate and a relatively low proportion of liquid staking, which are noteworthy features. As the ecosystem continues to develop, the distribution of SOL may continue to evolve.