Solana’s Sanctum Announces $1B in Deposits and Token Airdrop

Solana’s Sanctum protocol is launching its CLOUD token distribution to the community.
The airdrop comes amid a $1 billion deposit milestone and key protocol advancements.

Solana’s liquid staking protocol Sanctum has announced deposits of $1 billion and plans to distribute its CLOUD token via an airdrop. Within the last 24 hours, Sanctum recorded trading volumes of over $490,000, according to data from DefiLlama.

CLOUD Token Distribution

“Crazy inflated FDVs” is how Sanctum co-founder FP Lee described the launch strategies of some past projects in an X space stream. Sanctum is taking the opposite approach, aiming for a modest launch with room for organic growth. Lee emphasized their commitment to the project’s longevity, stating, “We don’t want that. We want to start low and go up.”

The project has outlined a distribution plan that prioritizes rewarding early adopters and the community. Sanctum said 30% of the token will be set aside for its community, with an additional 10% distributed to early adopters, and 8% will be sold on a public on-chain.

Additionally, Sanctum disclosed that it had previously reserved 25% of its token for team members and sold 13% of it to investors. This is a negligible proportion in comparison to other projects that have launched recently.

Kasper Vandeloock, CEO of crypto trading firm Musca Capital, praised Sanctum’s tokenomics. He sees it as a sign that the team is in it for the long haul, building a sustainable project rather than a quick cash grab.

Sanctum’s core functionality revolves around liquid staking, allowing users to stake SOL tokens and receive placeholder tokens in return. These tokens can be seamlessly used across various DeFi applications. Sanctum takes a unique liquidity approach by pooling over 32 liquid staking tokens, offering traders superior swap rates. This enhanced liquidity benefits the entire DeFi ecosystem on Solana.

The upcoming launch of the CLOUD token will empower holders to participate in governance, similar to a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). Additionally, the CLOUD tokens can also be used as collateral, opening doors for future partnerships.

Sanctum Draws Inspiration from Jupiter

Sanctum’s token launch strategy draws inspiration from the successful launch of Jupiter, a decentralized exchange aggregator. Similar to Jupiter, Sanctum prioritizes community distribution, allocating a huge portion of tokens through airdrops. Reiterating Crypto News Flash’s earlier reports, early users who participated in Jupiter’s airdrop had the opportunity to receive 640,000 WEN tokens, worth approximately $112.

For its token sale, Sanctum has opted for Jupiter’s launchpad, a popular alternative to Centralized Exchanges (CEXs).

“I would much rather those tokens go to the Sanctum community,” Lee said in a post announcing the CLOUD token. However, there is a 1% allocation for the launchpad operator LFG, but this is considered small compared to the fees demanded by CEXs.

Introducing $CLOUD, the @sanctumso token

Thank you all for the outpouring of comments and suggestions on my first tokenomics proposal. I am floored by the power of our community. There are dozens of forum posts, hundreds of comments, and thousands of thoughtful Discord messages.… pic.twitter.com/1xabYEg9P3

— FP Lee (@soleconomist) June 5, 2024

When compared to giants like Uniswap (60% airdrop) and Ethereum Name Service (25% airdrop), Sanctum’s 10% allocation might seem modest. However, Sanctum said it is committed to fairly rewarding “true believers” and avoiding attracting mere airdrop hunters.

The boom of Sanctum is a positive boost for Solana overall. At press time, Solana’s native token SOL was trading at $171.46, down by 0.65% in the past 24 hours, with a market cap standing at $79.9 billion.