Pye Finance has secured $5 million in seed funding as institutional demand for programmable staking accelerates on Solana.
The round was led by Variant and Coinbase Ventures, with participation from Solana Labs, Nascent, Gemini and others.
The startup is building what it describes as the first onchain marketplace for time-locked staking positions on Solana.
Pye aims to turn roughly 414 million SOL, worth about $75 billion, into an active and tradable yield market.
Staking on Solana has largely remained a passive “set-and-forget” activity using basic stake accounts.
These accounts were introduced years ago and offer limited liquidity, customization, or reward control.
At the same time, validator economics are tightening as institutions seek higher reward shares.
Pressure has also intensified as the Solana Foundation gradually reduces its stake-matching delegation subsidies.
Pye’s system upgrades native stake accounts to support time locks, granular reward control, and tokenized positions.
Each staking position is split into a principal token redeemable for locked SOL and a rewards token linked to yield.
The structure is designed to let validators offer fixed-term products with predictable cash flows.
Stakers gain the ability to trade or manage future rewards through secondary markets.
Pye describes these positions as “transferable locked stake” that remain active while becoming liquid.
The approach targets a shift in staking from basic delegation into a programmable financial layer.
Institutional users increasingly demand transparent terms, predictable returns, and balance sheet flexibility.
Pye was founded by Erik Ashdown and Alberto Cevallos.
Cevallos previously co-founded BadgerDAO, a Bitcoin yield protocol on Ethereum that exceeded $2 billion in peak total value locked.
Ashdown previously worked on structured products in traditional finance and crypto infrastructure.
The company says the new staking model could help validators avoid churn as users chase short-term yield.
Without term-based agreements, validators often face sudden outflows during reward cycles.
Pye argues its structure allows loyalty incentives, reward forwarding, and improved accounting for operators.
Dan Albert, executive director at the Solana Foundation, said validators must now compete on more than price.
He said fixed-term, tradable validator positions could improve rewards discovery and capital efficiency.
Brian Long, CEO of Block Logic and Triton, said stake trading addresses a major gap in validator revenue tools.
Alana Levin, an investor at Variant, said the model aligns validator and staker preferences through flexible lockups.
She added longer commitments could support higher yields and better risk pricing.
Pye completed a closed alpha earlier this year with a limited group of validators.
The company plans to launch a private beta in the first quarter of 2025.
Validators and staking providers can apply for early access through Pye’s platform.
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