Pye Finance Raises $5 Million for Liquid Solana Staking

Key Highlights

• Pye Finance has announced the closing of a funding round of $5 million, led by popular companies like Variant and Coinbase Ventures
• It converts locked Solana staking positions into tradable assets, addressing a multi-billion dollar liquidity gap
• The platform directly targets the over 379.5 million Solana currently staked on Solana, much of it illiquid, and tokenizes these positions

On December 8, Pye Finance announced that it had successfully raised $5 million in seed funding. The funding round was led by popular companies like Variant and Coinbase Ventures, with additional participation from Solana Labs, Nascent, and Gemini. 

The main purpose behind this fundraising is to resolve a major problem in the world of proof-of-stake blockchain, which is a lack of liquidity for staked assets. Pye Finance is preparing to develop an on-chain marketplace to make locked Solana staking positions into tradable financial instruments.

Pye Finance to Build a Platform to Reduce Solana’s Liquidity Gap

At present, more than 379.5 million Solana tokens, which are currently worth around $59 million, are staked on the Solana network to run its operations in a safe way. A very big portion of these staked tokens is locked in basic staking accounts with an unbonding period of up to 21 days. It means that these locked tokens can not be moved or traded during that time. 

Pye Finance’s platform allows users to tokenize these locked stakes. By converting a staking position into tradable digital assets, stakers will be able to gain immediate liquidity. Simultaneously, validators and other investors can purchase these tokenized positions to access yield-generating assets.

Pye Finance’s co-founder, Erik Ashdown, said, “Validators have become the underbanked layer of Web3. We’re building the financial infrastructure that lets them operate like asset managers — offering structured products, predictable returns, and better transparency for stakers.”

The newly raised fund of $5 million will be used to speed up Pye’s development ahead of major upgrades on the Solana blockchain for 2026, like Alpenglow. This fund is expected to be used for expanding the team, improving compliance features for institutional clients, and scaling the marketplace to attract more of Solana’s staked assets. 

The participation of Coinbase Ventures shows the confidence of major crypto platforms in Solana-based platforms. 

Staking Gets Popularity with Regulatory Clean Chit

The concept of staking is gradually becoming popular across all blockchains. In 2025, staking has become a preferred method for investors to generate yield, with average returns of 5% networks have grown 45% year-over-year, reaching $200 billion by November. 

The approval of spot Ethereum ETFs in 2024 opened the door for the new wave of staking-enabled funds. BlackRock filed for an Ethereum Staking Trust in October 2025, and on Solana, Bitwise’s Solana Staking ETF attracted $1 billion in its first week after launching in late October. 

“It is the Division’s view that “Liquid Staking Activities” (as defined below) in connection with Protocol Staking do not involve the offer and sale of securities within the meaning of Section 2(a)(1) of the Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) or Section 3(a)(10) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”). Accordingly, it is the Division’s view that participants in Liquid Staking Activities do not need to register with the Commission transactions under the Securities Act, or fall within one of the Securities Act’s exemptions from registration in connection with these Liquid Staking Activities,” stated in the press release. 

Solana Soars 9% Amid ETF Inflows

After the back-to-back approval of new ETFs, Solana has soared 9% on a weekly chart, soaring over $135 with an impressive market capitalization of $76.31 billion, according to CoinMarketCap. 

Solana’s price is once again testing a major downward resistance line around $140 on shorter-term charts. This level has capped every rally attempt since October. While this marks the third time the price has pushed up to this barrier in just two weeks, indicating persistent buying pressure, it continues to meet strong selling interest.