At Terramatris, we’re always looking for ways to improve risk-adjusted returns — not by chasing hype, but by stacking small, rational edges.
One idea we’ve been exploring lately comes from the broader DeFi world: liquid staking derivatives (LSDs). In plain terms, you stake SOL, but instead of locking it up and waiting, you receive a liquid token that represents your staked position (and typically accrues staking yield). That concept is appealing because it aims to add yield while keeping flexibility — and, in theory, avoiding the classic “earn yield but lose mobility” tradeoff.
Why we still prefer covered calls
To be clear: we generally favor covered calls over staking.
The reason is simple — the yield potential is usually better. Covered calls, when managed properly, can generate meaningful income, especially in periods of elevated implied volatility.
But covered calls have a built-in drawback: capped upside. If SOL rips higher, the short call can limit how much of that move we actually capture. That’s not a bug — it’s the trade we accept in exchange for premium.
Our portfolio solution: keep some SOL “free”
Instead of going all-in on covering 100% of the position, we’ve been leaning toward a more balanced structure:
- Keep ~80–90% of SOL covered with calls (systematic yield engine)
- Keep ~10–20% of SOL uncovered (upside participation)
That “free” slice is intentionally there so that if the market turns into a strong trend environment, we still get to fully enjoy a meaningful part of the price run — while the rest of the portfolio continues doing its job generating premium.
Exploring staking options: Jito, Marinade, and others
Alongside this structure, we’ve been researching ways to generate additional yield on the portion that’s not meant to be capped.
We looked at the usual suspects in the SOL ecosystem — Jito, Marinade, and other approaches — and ultimately decided to start experimenting with Bybit’s bbSOL.
Why bbSOL (Bybit)?
The choice was practical and portfolio-driven:
- We already manage our SOL covered call activity on Bybit
- Using bbSOL means no extra operational overhead (no juggling multiple accounts, bridges, or moving collateral between venues)
- Lower complexity = fewer moving parts = fewer ways to make costly mistakes
In other words, this wasn’t about claiming bbSOL is “the best.” It’s about choosing a path that integrates cleanly with how we already execute.
What’s still unclear (and why we’re proceeding carefully)
We’ll be candid: not everything is fully clear to us yet in terms of the mechanics, edge cases, and risk surface. With anything that promises “extra yield,” the right question is always: where does the risk hide?
So we’re treating this as what it is:
- an experiment,
- sized small,
- designed to learn,
- with strict awareness that liquidity, peg behavior, smart contract/issuer risks, and platform risks are real variables.
The real goal
This isn’t “staking vs covered calls.”
The goal is tighter:
find ways to generate incremental yield without giving up the upside we intentionally preserved by leaving a slice of SOL uncovered.
If bbSOL helps us do that efficiently within our existing execution setup, it earns a place as a tool. If it doesn’t, we move on — with better data and sharper understanding.
We’ll share more as we learn.