How To Unstake Solana LSTs: The Complete Guide To Instant And Delayed Unstaking

TLDR: You can unstake any Solana LST with Sanctum at app.sanctum.so/unstake. Just connect your wallet, select your LST, choose instant or delayed unstaking, and confirm. You'll receive SOL in seconds (instant) or 2-3 days (delayed).

When you stake SOL through a liquid staking protocol, you receive an LST (Liquid Staking Token) like JitoSOL, mSOL, or JupSOL. These tokens represent your staked position and accumulate rewards over time.

The problem comes when you want your SOL back.

Traditional unstaking on Solana requires waiting for the current epoch to end. That's a 2-3 day wait. And if you're holding an LST from a smaller protocol, finding liquidity to swap back to SOL can mean high slippage and bad prices.

Sanctum solves both problems. Its Reserve pool holds liquid SOL ready to swap for your LST instantly, no epoch wait required. And because Sanctum aggregates liquidity across all LSTs through its Infinity liquidity pool and Jupiter integration, even obscure tokens get access to deep liquidity and fair pricing.

For a deeper understanding of how liquid staking works, check out our complete guide to Solana liquid staking.

Sanctum operates the largest LST liquidity infrastructure on Solana. The platform combines two liquidity sources to find you the best unstaking route:

The Infinity liquidity pool — A multi-LST liquidity pool that holds a basket of different liquid staking tokens. When you unstake, Sanctum can tap into this shared liquidity instead of relying on a single LST's trading pair.

Jupiter Integration — Sanctum routes through Jupiter's DEX aggregator when it offers better pricing. The platform automatically compares routes and picks the one that gives you more SOL.

This dual-source approach means you're not stuck with whatever liquidity exists for your specific LST. Sanctum finds the best path, whether that's through its own pools or Jupiter's exchange routes.

Unstaking with Sanctum is easy and takes about 30 seconds.

Step 1: Go to the Unstake Page

Navigate to https://app.sanctum.so/unstake

Step 2: Connect Your Wallet

Click "Connect Wallet" and approve the connection. Sanctum supports Phantom, Solflare, Backpack, and other major Solana wallets.

Step 3: Select Your LST and Unstake

Choose the LST you want to unstake from. Enter the amount. Select either instant or delayed unstaking. Review the quote and confirm the transaction.

That's it. Your SOL arrives in your wallet.

Sanctum offers two unstaking methods with different tradeoffs.

You receive SOL immediately, and the transaction settles in seconds.

Fee: Variable, typically around 0.1% (10 basis points). The exact fee depends on how much liquidity is available in Sanctum's reserve pool. During normal conditions, fees stay low. During heavy demand periods when many users are unstaking, fees can rise to incentivize liquidity providers.

Best for: Users who need SOL now and don't want to wait, or users not unstaking whale amounts.

You receive SOL after the current Solana epoch ends, usually 2-3 days.

Fee: Fixed 0.1% (10 basis points) of your total unstake amount.

Best for: Users who aren't in a hurry and want predictable, low fees. Large unstakes where even small percentage differences matter.

For most users, instant unstaking makes sense. The fee difference is minimal during normal market conditions, and you get your SOL right away.

Consider delayed unstaking if you're moving a large amount and the instant fee is elevated, or if you simply don't need the SOL urgently.

Sanctum shows you both options with exact pricing before you confirm. Compare them and pick what works for your situation.

Sanctum supports over 1,300 LSTs on Solana. If an LST exists, Sanctum can probably unstake it.

The major tokens with deep liquidity include:

• JitoSOL — The largest LST on Solana, issued by Jito. Includes MEV rewards.
• mSOL — Marinade Finance's liquid staking token. One of the original Solana LSTs.
• INF — Sanctum's own LST, backed by a diversified basket of other LSTs. Learn more about INF.
• JupSOL — Jupiter's liquid staking token.
• bSOL — BlazeStake's LST.
• Validator LSTs — Tokens representing stake with specific validators (laineSOL, daoSOL, and hundreds of others).

The unstaking process works the same regardless of which LST you hold. You can also swap between LSTs if you want to switch to a different token instead of unstaking to SOL.

Instant unstaking converts your LST to SOL immediately, within seconds. Instead of waiting for Solana's epoch to end (2-3 days), you receive SOL right away by tapping into existing liquidity pools. You pay a small variable fee for this convenience.

Yes. Sanctum is one of the primary instant unstaking providers on Solana. The platform maintains a reserve pool of SOL specifically to service instant unstake requests for any supported LST.

Delayed unstaking follows Solana's native unstaking timeline. When you choose delayed unstaking, your LST is converted to a stake account that deactivates at the end of the current epoch. You receive your SOL in 2-3 days, depending on where you are in the epoch cycle.

Use instant if you need SOL now or if market conditions might change. Use delayed if you're patient and want to guarantee a fixed 0.1% fee regardless of market conditions. For most everyday unstaking, instant works fine since fees are typically similar to delayed during normal periods.

Instant unstaking has a variable fee based on reserve pool utilization, typically around 0.1% (10 basis points). Delayed unstaking charges a fixed 0.1% fee. Exact fees display before you confirm any transaction.

Sanctum's contracts have been audited by Sec3, OtterSec, and Neodyme. The protocol is open-source and controlled by a multi-sig wallet with members from across the Solana ecosystem. Sanctum has processed billions in LST transactions since launch.

Sanctum supports over 1,300 LSTs, including all major tokens like JitoSOL, mSOL, JupSOL, and INF, plus hundreds of validator-specific LSTs. If the LST exists on Solana, Sanctum likely supports it.

Instant unstaking settles in seconds. Delayed unstaking takes until the end of the current Solana epoch, roughly 2-3 days maximum.

Need to unstake a Solana LST? Use Sanctum for the best prices and fastest unstaking. Ready to stake again? Explore LST options.