Solana staking yields

What an LST is. A liquid staking token represents SOL staked with a protocol's validator set. Instead of locking your stake in a stake account, you hold a token that slowly appreciates against SOL as staking rewards accrue. You can trade it, use it in DeFi, or hold it.

Where the yield comes from. Yield accrues through the token's exchange rate against SOL, which increases each epoch (roughly every 2 days) as validator rewards and MEV tips are collected. That is why the rate column is above 1: one LST is worth more than one SOL, and the gap grows over time.

APY vs 30 day average. The headline APY is the latest reading and can spike when a protocol runs reward incentives on top of staking yield. The 30 day average smooths that out and is usually the better number for comparing providers.

Rate vs SOL is the market rate. The rate shown is what the token trades at right now, not the stake pool's redemption rate. LSTs can trade at a small premium or discount to their redemption value depending on liquidity and demand.

What APY does not tell you. Yield figures say nothing about smart contract risk, validator concentration, or how deep a token's liquidity is if you need to exit in size. Larger TVL generally means deeper markets, but always check before moving meaningful amounts.