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Phantom How To

Solana: Using the Phantom Wallet for DeFi

A Step-by-Step Guide for Solana Users: The Gateway to DeFi Awaits

Picture this: a world where you hold the keys to your financial future, managing your assets seamlessly while exploring the boundless possibilities of decentralized finance (DeFi). Sounds enticing, right? In this lesson, you will embark on a journey to harness the full power of the Solana ecosystem through the Phantom Wallet—a hot wallet that brings your crypto ambitions within arm’s reach.

In today’s dynamic landscape, understanding how to optimize wallet utilities like Phantom is crucial, especially as cryptocurrencies gain traction and DeFi applications flourish. This lesson packs in comprehensive insights on setting up Phantom Wallet, transferring assets, staking Solana, and leveraging DeFi platforms, equipping you with skills that will empower you to manage and grow your crypto portfolio effectively. Here’s what you are going to take away:

  1. Set up your Phantom Wallet efficiently across multiple devices.
  2. Acquire and transfer Solana tokens with ease.
  3. Stake Solana to earn blockchain-based rewards.
  4. Swap tokens seamlessly through integrated decentralized exchanges.
  5. Dive into DeFi applications leveraging Phantom Wallet’s capabilities.

Let’s dive in and unlock the features of the Phantom Wallet!

Overview: Features in Phantom Wallet

The lesson begins by introducing the Phantom Wallet as the most popular choice for managing assets within the Solana blockchain. To set up Phantom Wallet, you can smoothly navigate through your desired web browser, such as Chrome, or download the mobile version. The steps are relatively straightforward: after downloading the wallet, you’ll create a password and generate a 12-word recovery phrase—these words are fundamentally your wallet’s identity, so safeguarding them is paramount.

The video articulates the essential aspects of using Phantom Wallet, emphasizing its ability to support multiple blockchains—Solana, Ethereum, and Polygon—under a single wallet. Importantly, it highlights the option to connect a hardware wallet, ensuring layered security for your assets. Key functionalities include adding multiple accounts within the same wallet environment and using the wallet for staking, trading, and accessing DeFi applications directly.

Steps to Follow: Setting Up Your Phantom Wallet

  1. Download Phantom Wallet: Access the Chrome App Store or mobile application and install Phantom Wallet.
  2. Initialize the Wallet: On first-time setup, select ‘Create a new wallet’ and generate a password unique to the device.
  3. Secure Your Recovery Phrase: Write down your 12-word recovery phrase and store it securely.
  4. Adding Accounts: Use the wallet to manage multiple accounts under the same phrase.
  5. Connecting to Exchanges: Transfer assets through exchanges like Binance to your Phantom Wallet.
  6. Staking SOL: Choose a validator for staking Solana through the wallet interface.
  7. Swapping Tokens: Utilize the integrated swapping feature within Phantom Wallet to trade tokens easily.

The above steps outline a foundational approach to using Phantom Wallet effectively.

Deeper Analysis: Strengths of the Lesson’s Core Message

The lesson effectively emphasizes the following strengths of the Phantom Wallet:

  1. Easy Setup Process: The user-friendly interface provides an accessible path to wallet initialization. Setting it up across multiple devices ensures a seamless experience of managing funds consistently.

  2. Multi-Blockchain Support: By accommodating Solana, Ethereum, and Polygon, the wallet allows for versatile interactions with diverse assets. This feature positions it as a flexible tool for users looking to explore multiple avenues within the crypto space.

  3. Staking Opportunities: The option to stake Solana directly through Phantom Wallet and earn rewards makes it an attractive platform for holders looking to capitalize on their investments. Despite current challenges regarding the nature of rewards, it positions users to embrace deeper engagement with the ecosystem.

  4. Integrated DeFi Capabilities: Phantom Wallet’s ability to interact with DeFi applications without leaving the wallet’s framework presents an efficient and secure way to trade and access financial products.

Exploring the DeFi Landscape

Understanding how Phantom Wallet interacts with DeFi is pivotal. The Solana blockchain’s promise of low transaction fees and high-speed operations perfectly complements the DeFi space, where scalability is often a concern. The wallet simplifies interactions with decentralized financial applications while ensuring security—a critical concept as users embark on a crypto journey.

Tokens such as GTO Sol provide liquid staking alternatives, enhancing usability within DeFi, enabling users to deploy their staked assets for further financial opportunities. This integration speaks volumes about how traditional banking structures might face disruption in the near future, by shifting financial control back to individuals.

Moreover, the potential for decentralized exchanges (DEXs) on the Solana blockchain, such as Orca or Raydium, allows users to swap tokens effortlessly while harnessing the benefits of liquidity pools and yield farming options. These concepts reflect ongoing trends in crypto and finance, where users maintain more control over their assets, contrasting sharply with conventional banking paradigms.

Wider Outlook and Impact: The Future of Finance

As you navigate these waters, one can’t help but ponder the broader significance of adopting technologies like the Phantom Wallet and engaging with the DeFi ecosystem. The proliferation of decentralized finance not only fosters a financial system that champions inclusivity but also challenges traditional financial institutions. Individuals like you who adopt smart wallet technology can significantly influence how value is created and shared in the financial landscape.

As decentralized protocols further evolve and innovate, expect an influx of diverse DeFi applications that cater to a wider range of financial products and services. The possibilities are limitless! Moreover, advancements in blockchain technology pave the way for new revenue models moving beyond current paradigms.

Personal Commentary and Insights

Reflecting on my own experiences within the cryptocurrency realm, I find the journey of learning and engaging with wallets like Phantom exhilarating yet challenging. By actively engaging with tools that facilitate DeFi mechanisms, I’ve witnessed firsthand how these solutions can enhance portfolio growth and financial independence.

The allure of generating passive income through staking might attract many into cryptocurrency, but remember, the intricacies of DeFi come with responsibility. It’s essential to stay informed about the projects you’re participating in, monitoring risks, and adapting based on evolving market trends.

Conclusion: Seizing Your Financial Future

Navigating the depths of cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance can initially seem overwhelming. Through this lesson, you have gained the insights necessary to set up and utilize the Phantom Wallet effectively while adapting to the nuances of the Solana ecosystem. You are now equipped to stake, swap, and manage assets with greater control than ever before.

As we look toward the exciting developments within blockchain technology, the future beckons with transformative potential for individuals like you. Dive into the crypto space with confidence!

Quotes:

  • “These 12 words help set up the wallet that you have and own.”
  • “You are staking Solana with this validator. What you can do is click that and it will say, do you wanna withdraw?”
  • “Once you own the token, you get the rewards that GTO Sol pays.”

 

 

Solana Phantom Wallet Guide

Getting started with cryptocurrency can seem like a daunting task, but fear not, because it’s much like learning to ride a bike; once you grasp the basics, the ride becomes smoother. In this lesson, we’ll delve into the Solana Phantom Wallet, a widely-used hot wallet in the crypto space that allows you to buy, send, receive, stake, and swap SOL (Solana’s native token). Understanding wallets is critical for anyone looking to navigate both traditional finance and the world of cryptocurrencies, making it essential for your journey in the Crypto Is FIRE (CFIRE) training plan.

Unlock the Power of Solana: How to Utilize the Phantom Wallet for Staking, Swapping, and More

  1. Hot Wallet
    A hot wallet is an online wallet connected to the internet, allowing for quick access to your crypto assets. In the crypto world, hot wallets, like the Phantom Wallet, enable you to transact easily but are more susceptible to hacks. Understanding hot versus cold wallets is crucial to safeguarding your investments.

  2. Recovery Phrase
    Also known as a seed phrase, this is a series of 12 to 24 words generated when you set up your wallet. This recovery phrase is a key that unlocks your wallet; losing it can lead to irreversible access loss. In traditional finance, it’s akin to having a bank account number combined with the importance of a physical key to your safe.

  3. Staking
    Staking is the process of participating in transaction validation on a blockchain by locking up a certain amount of cryptocurrency. It rewards you with additional coins. While staking has its roots in traditional finance (think interest on savings), in the crypto world, staking directly supports network operations and governance.

  4. Gas Fees
    Gas fees refer to processing fees that need to be paid to conduct transactions on the network. On Solana, these fees are significantly lower compared to traditional finance transaction fees. Familiarizing yourself with these can help you manage transaction costs better.

  5. DeFi (Decentralized Finance)
    This encompasses a wide range of financial services (like lending, borrowing, or trading) that occur directly on the blockchain without intermediaries like banks. This starkly contrasts with traditional finance, which typically relies on a centralized infrastructure.

  6. Validator
    Validators are nodes in proof-of-stake blockchains that confirm transactions and add them to the blockchain. They earn rewards for their work, similar to interest earned by a traditional bank on deposits, but with each validator having a role in maintaining the network.

  7. Liquid Staking
    A newer concept, liquid staking allows you to stake your crypto assets while still using them in DeFi applications. This concept parallels the traditional finance concept of liquid assets you can easily convert to cash or use as collateral.

Understanding these concepts lays a solid foundation for thriving in the cryptocurrency landscape, especially if you’re coming from a background in traditional finance where these ideas have different forms.

Key Steps

1. Setting Up the Phantom Wallet

  • Download the Phantom Wallet extension for your browser or mobile.
  • Create a new wallet or restore an existing one with the recovery phrase.
  • Set up a local password specifically for your device.

Creating your Phantom Wallet is your first step into the crypto world. The recovery phrase serves as your wallet’s key; should you lose it, your assets are effectively lost. In traditional finance, losing a bank card means you can get a new one issued, but losing your recovery phrase is not something easily reversible.

2. Understanding Wallet Accounts

  • Your Phantom Wallet can support multiple accounts under a single recovery phrase.
  • You can add more accounts as needed, each with a unique wallet address.

This multi-account functionality makes managing different assets simpler, similar to having various savings accounts at a bank, each designated for specific purposes.

3. Funding Your Wallet

  • Buy SOL through the Phantom Wallet or by transferring from an exchange.
  • Each transaction requires paying a gas fee, usually paid in SOL.

Funding your wallet is crucial, as operating on the Solana blockchain requires SOL to cover transaction costs. This aspect aligns closely with traditional finance, where transaction fees often accompany service usage.

4. Engaging with DeFi Applications

  • Use the Phantom Wallet to engage with various DeFi applications for trading, lending, or swapping.
  • Make sure to always have sufficient SOL for transaction fees.

Engaging with DeFi offers opportunities that are often unavailable in traditional finance, providing innovative ways to grow your assets.

5. Staking Your SOL

  • Select a validator and stake your SOL to earn rewards.
  • Understand the difference between locked staking and liquid staking for enhanced flexibility.

Staking is like putting your savings in a high-interest savings account, only this time you’re directly contributing to the network’s security. Knowing the right choice between locked and liquid staking can help tailor your experience to your financial goals.

6. Swapping Tokens

  • The Phantom Wallet allows you to swap tokens easily through integrated decentralized exchanges.
  • Always check transaction fees and slippage before finalizing a swap.

Swapping tokens is akin to currency exchange at a bank, but with the added benefits of blockchain technology that can offer more favorable rates.

A Blockchain Perspective

Crypto Connection

Understanding the traditional finance landscape can help illuminate how blockchain technology enhances these concepts. For instance, while gas fees might be seen as negative in traditional systems, they serve a vital purpose on blockchains by preventing spam and securing the network. On the Solana blockchain, these fees are minimal, showcasing efficiency compared to typical banking fees.

Examples

While the tutorial itself discusses the mechanics of using the Phantom Wallet, no specific charts or graphs were noted in the transcript. However, here are hypothetical examples to illustrate key points:

  • Example 1: You decide to stake SOL with Validator A, earning a projected 6% annual return compared to keeping it idle in your wallet.
  • Example 2: You need to transfer some SOL to a friend but ensure you keep a small amount for gas fees. It’s a reminder of budgeting for transaction costs much like managing account minimums in a savings account.

Real-World Applications

Historically, the emergence of wallets like Phantom reflects the growing mainstream adoption of decentralized systems. Traditional financial systems are often slow and bureaucratic; blockchain wallets streamline many processes while enhancing personal asset control.

Cause and Effect Relationships

For instance, staking increases the token supply while also giving users a say in governance through voting on protocol changes. Likewise, a greater number of users engaging with staking can lead to lower market volatility as more assets are secured.

Challenges and Solutions

  • Challenge: Security risks associated with hot wallets.

    • Solution: Use cold storage for larger amounts, and keep smaller amounts accessible in hot wallets for ease of use.
  • Challenge: Complexities of DeFi.

    • Solution: Start with user-friendly applications within Phantom and gradually explore more projects as you gain confidence.

Key Takeaways

  1. Recovery Phrase is Sacred: Treat it as your absolute key to wealth.
  2. Gas Fees Are Inevitable: Budget for transaction costs like you would for monthly banking fees.
  3. Staking Rewards Can Be Misleading: Understand real yield vs. nominal yield.
  4. DeFi is Revolutionary: See it as an expansion of financial services, not a replacement.
  5. Stay Educated and Cautious: Always read the fine print, whether for wallets or staking options.

Discussion Questions and Scenarios

  1. How does the risk associated with hot wallets compare to keeping money in a traditional bank?
  2. What would happen if you lose your recovery phrase? How does this contrast with losing access to a bank account?
  3. Compare staking SOL to earning interest on traditional savings. What parallels can be drawn?
  4. How can using DeFi applications expand the opportunities available compared to traditional financial avenues?
  5. What mechanisms are in place to mitigate transaction delays or failed swaps within Phantom?

Glossary

  • Hot Wallet: A wallet that stays online and offers easy access but comes with higher security risks.

  • Recovery Phrase: A unique key to access your wallet; the definitive guide to reclaiming your assets.

  • Staking: Locking up crypto assets to earn rewards while supporting the network.

  • Gas Fees: Small fees paid for transaction processing on a blockchain.

  • DeFi: Financial services on blockchain without traditional intermediaries, offering greater accessibility.

  • Validator: Participates in transaction verification and rewards distribution in proof-of-stake systems.

  • Liquid Staking: A process enabling staking while allowing the use of the token for further transactions.

You’ve just taken a deep dive into navigating your Phantom Wallet and entering the exciting world of Solana and cryptocurrency. Ready to go further?

Continue to Next Lesson

Embark on the next exciting chapter of your Crypto Is FIRE (CFIRE) journey!

 

Read Video Transcript
How to Use Solana Phantom Wallet (Stake SOL, Send, Receive, Swap) – YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16fWt_PVFwg
Transcript:
 This is a Solana tutorial with Phantom Wallet.  I’ll show you how to get set up with this wallet,  how to get assets in and out of the wallet,  stake Solana,  and then use some DeFi applications with the wallet.  Timestamps for everything down in the description below.  We can come and download Phantom Wallet for Solana then.
 There are other wallets on Solana,  but Phantom is the most popular for now.  So you can download it for these web browsers right here.  You can also download it for your mobile  if you want to do that. It’s the exact same setup process and you can use the exact same wallet across all of  your devices.
 So just set the wallet up once, you get this recovery phrase and then you can reload  the wallet and see all of your assets across all of your devices. So I’ll show you the setup for  Chrome just to make it easy here. So I’ll click this. It’s going to take me through to the Chrome  app store to go ahead and download this as an extension. So you can see I’ve got it  installed already.
 If you don’t just just press download here and it’s going to install it as an  extension on your Chrome. From there, it’s going to ask you to set up the wallet. So we’ll go  through that right now. From here, if you have a wallet already, just click I already have a wallet  and you can reload the 12 words that you’ve been given previously. If you’ve never done this before, just click create a new wallet.
 It’s going to take you through to two screens. One is to create a password. This is a local password  on the device that you’re using. So it’s kind of like a safety feature where you can lock the  application just in case, you know, someone else uses the computer, they can’t get it.  It’s going to also periodically ask you to put this in the computer they can’t get it it’s going to  also periodically ask you to put this in so you need to make sure it’s a password you can remember  this is not your recovery phrase though this is just a local device password to kind of unlock
 the app so once you’ve created that you can then go through to actually setting up the wallet  now if you lose this password, it doesn’t matter.  As long as you have the recovery phrase for your wallet,  you can just uninstall the app,  reload it and set a new password.  So that’s like a local password that you can reset.
 This page right here is gonna give you your recovery phrase.  This is your wallet.  So you can see there are gonna be be 12 words right here. Everyone’s words  are different. These 12 words help set up the wallet that you have and own. Those 12 words are  your wallet.
 So write them down somewhere very safe because if you lose access to the wallet  and these words, then you’ll never get that money back because no one else knows these and neither  do you. If someone else has these words, that means they own your wallet as well because they can  access the wallet and reload it and send all of your crypto out. So these words are important.  Write them down, keep them somewhere safe, and you can set up the wallet right here.
 So you just  press continue and you can check that you’ve got those words in the right place and it gets going to set up the wallet for you so once you have the wallet right there you now have a solana  phantom wallet and that is a hot wallet on your computer so that’s what we can use and as you can  see here it says you’re all done on chrome at least you can see it’s up in the top right with  your extensions so you can just get the extension up and it’s going to show you the ph wallet that we can use. If you are creating a wallet on your smartphone or you want to just
 have the wallet on both your computer and your smartphone, this is what it looks like. So if  you’ve already set up a wallet, you don’t need to create a new one. Just click, I already have a  wallet on your phone. It’s going to say, do you want to use Face ID to access the apps? Probably  a good idea.
 And what you want to be doing here  is reloading the wallet, put your 12 words in, and it’s going to access the same wallet across  different devices. And so you’re going to see all of your balances right there across your mobile  or your computer. From here, there are some important settings that you might want to check.  So I’ll just get the extension up here.
 If you look at the top left, the burger menu,  so we’ll just click this. This is my account one. So this is the account that I’ve set up. I’ve set up the wallet and I’ve set up one  account. Three blockchains are supported for right now, Solana, Ethereum and Polygon. So you can use  all of these within the app and you have a wallet address for each of these blockchains.
 This account  one, this can be added to. So you have account one but you can add account two account  three account four all within the same wallet and all linked to the same recovery phrase that we  just had so what we can do is go down and press the plus button it says create new account so  that’ll be a different wallet address than your account one so you can use that differently and  separately but it’s linked to that same 12 word phrase you can connect a hardware wallet with phantom as well so what a lot of people will do is have their investment portfolio
 on a hardware wallet air gapped don’t use it and then when they want to use defy or nfts they’ll  take some assets from that hardware wallet send a transaction to their hot wallet which phantom is  and then use defy or any other applications. So you can connect the hardware wallet directly  to Phantom as well.
 Not really much need for it, though, to be honest, in my opinion, because you  can just send assets across, especially on Solana. Secret recovery phrase or import private key. If  you have a previous wallet, you can load them right here. So we don’t need to go through those.  Now, other thing we can do is press settings and you can see active networks here. So if you really  don’t use Ethereum or Polygon,  just turn them off  and then you’ll just have a Solana experience.
 But you can use them and you can see different apps as well,  but you can choose that.  There’s some other settings here,  which are self-explanatory,  but that’s the settings  and the ways of adding new accounts in Phantom Wallet.  We need to get some Solana into our Phantom Wallet  to use the blockchain.
 Every time you use a blockchain,  you need to pay a gas fee, like a fee to the network. And on Solana, that is, of course,  Sol, the token that we need to pay with. So there is a way to buy directly within Phantom wallet.  If you click buy and then choose the asset that you want to buy.
 So you’re going to have to have  some Solana if you want to use the blockchain. So we’ll click Solana and, you know, let’s just do  $100 here. We press next. And there’s two options, MoonPay and Coinbase Pay. These are  fine. You can use cards with these. You’ll need an account with Coinbase or MoonPay first,  and they’re going to charge you around 2% to 3% as a fee to use your card and fiat currency  to buy Solana.
 So you can do that no problem but  you need an account with either of these and then they’ll send the Solana to your  wallet but the fees are pretty high what I’m gonna do is just go over to my  finance account and withdraw some Solana tokens so this is obviously way cheaper  by Nats charges point oh seven five percent as a trading fee and then pretty  much nothing to withdraw the Solana.
 So much  cheaper. So what I’m going to do here is get my Solana address. So I’m going to get my Solana  wallet up and then we need to receive tokens, right? So what I’m going to do is press deposit  like this and then it says, well, which asset do you want to deposit? And I’m going to press Solana  and that’s my address. So this is the wallet address you want to deposit? And I’m going to press Solana. And that’s my address.
 So this is the wallet address of my Phantom wallet.  So I’m going to press copy here.  And then we’re going to go and import this into my exchange.  You can use Binance, you know, Buyabit, BitGet, Coinbase.  They all have Solana.  So it’s well supported as an asset.  I’ll leave some links below to the exchanges I use.
 You can get deposit and trading bonuses on those. You can check the’ll leave some links below to the exchanges I use. You can get deposit and  trading bonuses on those and check the details while links below. But from here, paste the  address in and it says wallet address automatically matched to corresponding network.
 So I know that  the address has been pasted in properly without any errors because it’s recognized as a Solana  address. So from here, you know, just press the amount that you want to withdraw, press withdraw.  That is going to be withdrawn from your exchange and it’s going to go to the wallet address that  you gave it, which is our Phantom wallet address. You can just double check this as well.
 So, you  know, press Solana. You can see deposit right here and then just check the wallet address. Make sure  it’s OK. If you’re using a phone, you can just scan this as well. That is going to go through  and be withdrawn out to the wallet address that we gave which is our phantom wallet.
 If you want to withdraw tokens  from your phantom wallet and if you want to cash out so back into fiat currency what you’re going  to have to do is send that back into a centralized exchange so that you can trade it for fiat  currency. So you can’t cash out of your phantom wallet because it’s a blockchain wallet it just  doesn’t have fiat currency links.
 So what we’re going to have to do is send out so we’re going  to press send now we’ve got some tokens now remember you always need some solana to pay for  gas so if you want to send some stable coins you still need solana to pay for gas for right here  i’m just going to press send like this and it’s going to say which what you want to send so send solana and then it says  where’s the recipient’s address right so what you need to do is find out your exchange or your other  wallet that you want to send to so i’m going to press solana here i’m depositing crypto into my
 exchange solana make sure it’s the solana network and then it says here’s your address right i’m not  going to create one but there will be an address here and it says this is your solana address to send to so what we’re going to do  is go back up to our phantom wallet we’re going to press our solana to send and it says here’s  your address so paste in the address that you want to send to and then press the amount of solana  that you want to send now if you want to send solana you can actually wipe the wallet clean
 and send everything out if you’re sending a stable coin you do need some solana left in there to pay for gas  to send the stable coin so once you’ve got the place that you want to send to you can just check  how much you want to send and press next and then go through with that so that’s going to send out  from your phantom wallet into your crypto exchange or another solana wallet that you want to send to  i’ll show you how to stake solana within Phantom as well. This is actually really simple and easy. Now there’s
 two ways to do this, which I’ll show you. The first one, if we get Phantom up, why stake Solana?  Solana pays a staking reward and this just comes through the blockchain. So it’s not lending or  anything like that. This is blockchain based rewards that you can get from staking solana  so it’s a proof of stake blockchain so when you’re staking you’re helping secure the blockchain  and you get some staking rewards now as of making this video solana does not pay a real yield what  i mean by that is the yield that you’re getting is just paid by the creation of new coins. So Solana still
 has inflation. So what you should really think of this as is it says 6% that you’re getting for  staking right now. What you’re actually getting is zero because the 6% is coming from the creation  of new coins. So if you don’t stake, you’re getting debased by 6% a year. If you do  stake, you’re getting debased by 0% a year. So it’s not a real yield as of yet.
 Now, as Solana  matures, this yield may actually become real, whereas fees are paid to essentially have more  than inflation, right? So there’s no inflation or little inflation. You can secure the blockchain  and you get a real yield and you’re actually earning real yield on top of your Solana. As of  right now, that isn’t the case.
 But in any case, I’ll leave some links below to videos on staking  if you want to know more. But we want to stake. So from right here, what we need to do is press  Solana because this is the token that we’re staking. So we have some in our wallet. From here,  you can see it’s just loading up and you can stake  it right here. So it says start earning Sol.
 So I’m going to click this and this is where we can  stake. What we need to do now is choose a validator. Validators are the things that we stake  our Solana with and they’ll pay us that reward. You can choose any of these. They’re all going to  be fairly reputable right here. And you can see the rewards are pretty good, right? Six or 7%. So not too shabby. You can click this right here.
 And then it says,  do you want to choose this validator? That’s fine for me. And then choose an amount of sell that you  want to stake, right? And you can press stake right here. Now what you’re doing is you’re  staking with that validator and you’re getting the reward. They can’t control your Solana. So  if you want to unstake, we’ll just press stake here  and we can stake on the blockchain.
 Once you are staking, what you can do is go back out  to the staking area like this,  and it will say, you have some stake.  So it says you are staking Solana with this validator.  What you can do is click that  and it will go through to the page and it says,  do you wanna withdraw? And if you want to take your Solana out, you can.
 You can just withdraw it and  not stake it anymore. The thing is with this type of staking, this staking is locked on Solana,  which means you can use your Sol to stake and that means it’s staked and you can’t do anything else  with it once it’s staked. You can’t use it in DeFi. You can’t send it around. The only thing  you can do is withdraw it and then use your Solana.
 So this is fine, but you’re locking your  Solana right here. The other way of doing it, like on many blockchains now, is to use a liquid  staking token. So this is an application on Solana that just launched. And what they do here is let you turn your Sol into GTO Sol.  This is a staking token.  And the difference is you’re getting the staking reward.
 Now you can see the reward is a little bit lower than staking  because GTO is taking a, you know,  kind of a percent for themselves like as a fee.  But what this does is turn your Solana into a liquid Solana. So you can actually use GTO Sol within DeFi.  You can use the balance and the collateral that you have, like if you’ve got a dollar amount of  GTO Sol, you can actually use that in DeFi to lend out and get extra yield on top.
 So that’s  layering yield. Now, obviously it gets more complex because you’re using DeFi and there  are more risks there. And then you’re actually lending potentially which lending and staking aren’t the same right so just to show you how to  use this if you did want to want to you can connect your wallet so again i’ll link the  geto site down below but you can press connect and it says how do you want to connect i want to  connect with my phantom wallet so i’m going to click that and it says do you want to connect to
 this application they can view your wallet and request approval for transactions. I’m going to press connect right here and I’ve got  my wallet connected. You can see right here, it’s actually found the amount of soul that I have,  right? So I’ve got some soul in here and I want to stake this.
 So I’m going to press max and it  says you can turn your soul into Jito soul. So what you have now, once you do that, if you want to do that,  you now get this new token called Jito Sol and it is Solana staking. So it’s the same value as  Solana, but you get those staking rewards with this token as well. So there’s two ways to do it.  This one is liquid staking, which means you have a token you can send around. And the other type of Solana staking is locked, which means it’s locked in there and you can’t use the token when you’re doing it.
 We can really easily swap tokens within the Phantom wallet as well.  So if you’re using the Solana blockchain, this is very straightforward.  Come down to the bottom and click the swap icon here.  Then from here, it’s going to ask you which token do you want to sell and which token do you want to buy?  So if you click this token,  it will just show you a list of tokens  within your wallet that you can sell.
 So I will just click Solana here and then select token.  This is the one we’re swapping into.  So we’ll click that and it just gives us a list  of probably the most popular tokens on the chain right now.  So for right here, you can see GTO Stake Sell.  You can actually just buy this token as well.  You don’t have to use the GTO protocol  because this is a liquid token, right?  Once you own the token,  you get the rewards that GTO Sell pays.
 In any case, we’ll just swap Solve for USDC  and we will click an amount.  So for right here, let’s just click 0.05 like that,  which is telling me it’s around $5.60.  You can see the provider here is Orca.  So that is a exchange on Solana  and it’s going through Orca and Whirlpool and Radium, right?  So these are decentralized exchanges.
 You don’t have to use them.  You can just swap right in the application.  So I’m gonna swap this amount of solana into usdc and it’s going to give me the best price  right here so it changes every few seconds of course i’m going to review that order do you want  to do this yes you can see the price impact and the fees that you’re paying so just press swap  that will go through pretty quickly so what i’ve done is swap solana into another token  i’ve used decentralized exchanges but i’m not using them directly. I’m just using them within Phantom. So they may not
 give you the absolute best trade. You don’t really know that. But from what they’re doing, they’re  trying to give you the best trade across the blockchain as it stands right now. So you can  view that transaction on the Blockchain Explorer if you want.. But you know, why would you? So we’re just going to press close.
 Now what you can see here is that we’ve had our swap in our recent activity.  So you can see we swapped an amount of USDC and we, you know, we swapped 0.05 SOL into USDC.  Now if we go back into the wallet, what you should see now is that I’ve got my  Solana balance and my USDC balance.
 So now I’ve got a stable coin and the  Solana as well. Now what we can do is use any application that we want because we have Solana  and we also have stable coins if you want to buy NFTs or trade or anything like that. This is the  DeFi apps on Solana right now. I’ll leave this phantom wallet link down below. You can see them  here.
 What I’m going to show you is just we want to swap that usdc back into solana so this is a crypto aggregator or an exchange aggregator on solana and we’re going to  swap our tokens back so because this is a separate application it’s not within phantom wallet we’re  going to have to connect our phantom wallet again so press connect wallet on up in the top right and  it says what do you want to use we’re going to use phantom wallet so we’ll  click that do you want to give this application permission to view your balances and approve  transactions yes so press connect and then for right here what it should be doing is seeing the  tokens that i have so you can see you’re paying usdc and you’re receiving solana that’s actually
 what i want to do you can see that it shows my  wallet balance of USDC right here, and I’m going to swap it back into Solana. Now we can press  slippage settings. Slippage is the difference between the price quote that you get by the  exchange and the actual price that it trades at. 0.5% means you’re willing to, for the trade, to be worse by 0.
5% or away from the quote  that you get by 0.5%. I’m going to use 0.3 and save because these are two liquid tokens, so I  shouldn’t get much slippage. For right here, I’m going to swap that USDC back into Solana. So I’m  going to press swap. From here, it might ask me to approve these assets. So it says, confirm the transaction.
 You’ve got Solana here and USD coin.  Network fee is tiny and we’re gonna press confirm.  And that was swapped for me as well.  So what I’ve done is used a third party application  that isn’t within Phantom wallet.  Up in the top right, I’ve linked to my Phantom wallet here  and it sees all my balances in the wallet  and it trades on the blockchain for me.
 Links below to the other helpful resources and videos I mentioned  and the exchange bonuses if you need them.  I’m James, this is MoneyTG.  Cheers for watching and I’ll see you in the next one.