Sleeping Wallets on Solana: Why 2M Retail Holders Aren’t Staking

Solana is building the foundation for internet capital markets: fast, open, and accessible to anyone. The network already handles millions of transactions daily and powers real applications. But on-chain behavior points to a more complicated truth: a large part of retail is economically present on Solana, yet not meaningfully participating in staking.

This matters because staking isn’t a side feature on Solana. Instead, it’s a core mechanism that ties everyday holders into the network’s security and long-term trajectory. If Solana is in the in-run phase of building a global capital platform, retail participation is part of what determines whether the takeoff turns into a stable flight line or stalls before momentum builds.

What our Dune analysis shows

We ran a custom analysis on Dune to map where smaller SOL holders sit, specifically wallets holding roughly 1–100 SOL. The results were hard to ignore: over 2 million wallets in this range appear undelegated, while fewer than 560,000 in the same band are actively staking.

To be clear, Solana’s account model requires careful interpretation: wallet accounts and stake accounts are structured differently, and stake relationships don’t always map one-to-one. But the gap is too large to dismiss as a technical artifact. Even with conservative assumptions, the pattern holds: there’s a sizable retail segment holding SOL yet staying on the sidelines of staking.

Why standard staking rewards don’t move small holders

This data point reveals behavioral patterns. Standard Solana staking rewards currently sit around 5–7% APY. For a typical retail wallet with 5 SOL, at roughly $80–82 per SOL, that’s about $400–410 in value. Annual rewards come to roughly $26–28 in SOL, or $2–3 per month.

For many, that doesn’t feel like progress as there’s no strong reason to open the wallet, delegate, monitor validators, or track epochs. The effort feels disproportionate to the outcome, and the default becomes inactivity. This means leaving SOL to sit idle or shifting to ecosystems and products that deliver quicker feedback (often with added risk). 

Participation stalls when rewards feel marginal at small balances. Not because people don’t care. But because the system doesn’t deliver a clear psychological payoff for the right action.

How this ties to retail behavior from 2021 to 2025

Retail holders were repeatedly drawn to higher-risk paths. These include short-term narratives, leveraged exposure, and strategies promising fast outcomes. And they came with unpredictable results: volatility, losses, and eroded trust. After shocks like the FTX collapse and Terra’s UST depeg, many shifted to a more defensive stance. 

But rather than becoming more active, they became more cautious. Many now simply hold SOL without engaging further. When standard staking rewards feel too small to justify the mental load, opting out is the easy choice. 

The “sleeping wallets” issue has little to do with Solana’s tech. The core problems are incentives, confidence, and user psychology. The impact becomes substantial if even a fraction of those undelegated wallets start staking. More delegated stake strengthens the validator layer, increases long-term capital alignment, and supports healthier liquidity across the ecosystem. It also shifts the social layer: users become participants rather than spectators.

Solana’s mission goes beyond throughput. The project wants to build a credible foundation for open capital markets. That requires a broad base of everyday holders who can participate safely and consistently, not just sophisticated operators.

In ski-jump terms, Solana can have the hill size, speed, and conditions. But without broad participation, the jump doesn’t reach a record trajectory.

Staking as a savings behavior, not yield-chasing

The solution isn’t pushing retail users into more complex or riskier strategies. It’s reframing staking as a safe, savings-like behavior: native, simple, and aligned with capital preservation. 

What actually gets people to participate comes without additional complexity. It’s creating a system that feels genuinely meaningful, even starting with just 1 to 5 SOL, while keeping risk low and principal fully protected.

That means:

• Staying on standard protocol rails (native staking),
• Avoiding leverage and lending exposure,
• Keeping custody with the user, and
• Making reward allocation transparent and verifiable on-chain.

How Tramplin activates dormant wallets

Tramplin is built on a simple idea: turn staking from a one-off, purely yield-focused decision into an easy, repeatable saving habit that actually works for even small token amounts. 

We keep things straightforward: no leverage, no lending, no custody over your funds, plus a transparent, on-chain mechanism for reward allocation. This makes the experience feel more real and worthwhile, even when you're delegating just a little.

The focus is on behavior: cut down fear, remove unnecessary steps, and build a natural loop. At first, users start small and see if everything stays safe and stable. If they feel good about it, they add a bit more next time.

We see this pattern play out all the time. Someone starts with 1 SOL, everything goes smoothly, and they keep their principal protected, so they come back with 2 SOL, then 3. But flashy numbers aren’t what these people are after; they're staying because the system gives them solid, ongoing reasons to participate without ever breaking the core promise: keep your principal safe and grow participation over the long haul.

For Solana, that kind of retail re-engagement is how strong on-chain metrics turn into sustained network growth, a smoother flight line, and a cleaner landing, powered by everyday holders who finally feel participating is both safe and worth it.

Instead of fast money, Tramplin is about helping people build long-term saving habits in crypto without unnecessary risk. If, in a few years, thousands of families can say this helped them save, quietly, steadily, with a smooth landing, that’s real success.