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TLDR 
Liquid staking is a crucial component of proof-of-stake blockchains, and the landscape on Ethereum vs Solana differs significantly. While Lido dominates Ethereum’s liquid staking, Solana has a more decentralized approach with protocols like Sanctum rethinking the entire ecosystem.
Key Points 
- Lido’s dominance on Ethereum raises concerns about centralization, while Solana’s liquid staking landscape is more diverse.
- Sanctum is a novel protocol on Solana that is democratizing liquid staking by providing instant liquidity, enabling smaller validators to compete, and fostering innovation.
- Sanctum’s Reserve, Router, and Infinity Pool products are revolutionizing the Solana liquid staking space.
In-depth Summary 
The article explores the liquid staking landscape on Ethereum and Solana, highlighting the key differences. On Ethereum, Lido has become a dominant player, controlling a significant portion of staked ETH. This has raised concerns about the centralization of power and the potential risks it poses to the decentralized nature of the network.
In contrast, the Solana ecosystem has taken a different approach. Staking on Solana is more decentralized, with users able to stake directly with validators without the need for third-party protocols. This has resulted in a lower adoption of liquid staking tokens (LSTs) on Solana compared to Ethereum.
However, a new protocol called Sanctum is rethinking liquid staking on Solana. Sanctum’s innovative products, such as the Reserve, Router, and Infinity Pool, are aimed at democratizing liquid staking and fostering a more diverse ecosystem. The Reserve provides instant liquidity for LST redemptions, the Router enables frictionless swaps between different LSTs, and the Infinity Pool maintains a balanced allocation of LSTs, making it easier for smaller validators to compete.
These initiatives have led to a surge of innovation in the Solana liquid staking space, with individual validators, infrastructure projects, and even social influencers launching their own LSTs. Sanctum’s approach is aimed at preventing Solana from following the same path as Ethereum, where a single dominant player emerges.
ELI5 
Liquid staking is like a way to earn extra money by locking up your crypto coins. On Ethereum, one company called Lido has become really big and powerful in this space, which some people think is not good for the network.
On Solana, the liquid staking system works a bit differently. There’s a new protocol called Sanctum that is trying to make it easier for anyone to create their own liquid staking tokens and earn rewards. Sanctum has some cool tools that help with things like instantly converting between different liquid staking tokens and making sure no single player gets too dominant.
This is helping to create a more diverse and decentralized liquid staking ecosystem on Solana, which is important for the overall health of the network.
Writer’s Main Point 
The main point of the article is to highlight how Sanctum is rethinking the liquid staking landscape on Solana, in contrast to the dominance of Lido on Ethereum. Sanctum’s innovative products and approach are aimed at fostering a more decentralized and diverse ecosystem, preventing a single player from becoming too powerful.
