Protocol Revenue
How Streamlock generates revenue, projected economics at scale, and how value flows to $LOCK holders.
Revenue Sources
Streamlock earns revenue from six on-chain streams. Every fee is programmatic — collected by smart contracts with no manual intervention.
Buy fees
4–13%
SOL input on every buy
Flat 3% + epoch pressure; 50% protocol / 40% holders / 10% creator
Sell fees
1–25%
SOL output on every sell
Time-decay; 50% protocol / 40% holders / 10% creator
Settlement fee
1% flat
Stream owner's entitlement BPS
Flat protocol fee at settlement; same for all users
Gaming rake (coming soon)
2%
Player stakes in zero-sum games
Flat rake on every resolved game
LST yield
~6.5% APY
Idle SOL reserves staked as JitoSOL
Passive yield on pool reserves; zero cost to users
Token launches
1M $LOCK burn
Creator at launch time
Deflationary; reduces circulating $LOCK supply
Streamflow's 0.19% stream-creation fee goes to Streamflow, not to Streamlock. It is excluded from protocol revenue.
See Fee Structure for full rate tables and who pays what.
Revenue Model
Protocol revenue is a function of volume and effective fee rate. Note that the protocol retains 50% of trading fees (the other 50% goes to holder rewards and creator share):
Protocol Trading Revenue = Trading Volume × Effective Fee Rate × 50%Effective Fee Rates
Because fees are dynamic, the effective rate depends on user behavior. The table below estimates blended rates based on expected distribution of activity:
Buy fee (blended)
4%
5%
7%
Flat 3% base + 1–4% epoch pressure (varies by trading activity)
Sell fee (blended)
5%
12%
18%
Impatient sellers skew early-window; patient sellers pull average down
Weighted trade fee
3.5%
8%
14%
Assumes ~55% buy volume / ~45% sell volume
Gaming rake (coming soon) adds a flat 2% on top, but is modeled separately since gaming volume may differ from trading volume.
LST Yield — Passive Revenue from Idle Reserves
Streamlock stakes a portion of each pool's idle SOL reserves into JitoSOL (a liquid staking token on Solana), earning staking rewards + MEV tips. This generates passive protocol revenue with zero impact on users — no new fees, no price changes, no UX difference.
How It Works
Up to 70% of a pool's SOL reserves are staked into JitoSOL (configurable up to 90%)
A minimum of 0.01 SOL always stays liquid to cover trades and settlements
AMM pricing uses virtual reserves (
liquid SOL + staked SOL) so the price is identical whether reserves are staked or notAutomated cranks handle staking and unstaking — no manual intervention required
When SOL is unstaked, 100% of yield flows to the protocol's
fee_recipient
Yield Economics
LST used
JitoSOL (Jito MEV-sharing + staking rewards)
Expected APY
5.9–7.5% (~6.5% midpoint)
Max stake ratio
70% of pool reserves (default)
JitoSOL withdrawal fee
0.1% (paid from yield, not user funds)
New user fees
None
Price impact
None (virtual reserves)
Yield Projections by TVL
Assuming 70% staked at 6.5% APY, net of the 0.1% JitoSOL withdrawal fee:
Total Pool Reserves (TVL)
Staked (70%)
Gross Yield (annual)
Withdrawal Fee
Net Yield (annual)
100 SOL
70 SOL
4.55 SOL
0.07 SOL
4.48 SOL
1,000 SOL
700 SOL
45.5 SOL
0.7 SOL
44.8 SOL
10,000 SOL
7,000 SOL
455 SOL
7 SOL
448 SOL
100,000 SOL
70,000 SOL
4,550 SOL
70 SOL
4,480 SOL
Why This Matters
Pure margin — Yield is earned on capital that would otherwise sit idle in pool vaults
Scales with TVL — More pools and more reserves = more yield, independent of trading volume
Complements trading fees — Revenue diversification: trading fees are volume-driven, LST yield is TVL-driven
No user tradeoffs — Pricing, liquidity, and UX are identical; users don't even know SOL is staked
Safety Mechanisms
Minimum 30% liquid reserves
Always enough SOL for trades and settlements
Automatic unstake triggers
Unstakes before freeze/unlock windows or when price nears target
Fresh-GRIND cooldown
Skips staking in the first 24h of a new milestone to avoid losses on short cycles
Liquidity check on settlement
On-chain guard rejects sells if liquid SOL is insufficient
Admin kill switch
staking_enabled flag can disable staking per pool instantly
Scenario Projections
Three scenarios based on daily trading volume. All figures in SOL; USD equivalent depends on SOL price.
Conservative — Early Traction
Trading volume
500 SOL
15,000 SOL
180,000 SOL
Effective fee rate
3.5%
3.5%
3.5%
Trading revenue
17.5 SOL
525 SOL
6,300 SOL
Gaming volume
50 SOL
1,500 SOL
18,000 SOL
Gaming rake (2%)
1 SOL
30 SOL
360 SOL
Pool reserves (TVL)
—
500 SOL
—
LST yield (6.5% on 70%)
0.06 SOL
1.9 SOL
22.8 SOL
Total revenue
18.5 SOL
557 SOL
6,683 SOL
Base — Product-Market Fit
Trading volume
5,000 SOL
150,000 SOL
1,800,000 SOL
Effective fee rate
8%
8%
8%
Trading revenue
400 SOL
12,000 SOL
144,000 SOL
Gaming volume
1,000 SOL
30,000 SOL
360,000 SOL
Gaming rake (2%)
20 SOL
600 SOL
7,200 SOL
Pool reserves (TVL)
—
10,000 SOL
—
LST yield (6.5% on 70%)
1.25 SOL
37.3 SOL
448 SOL
Total revenue
421 SOL
12,637 SOL
151,648 SOL
Bull — Category Leader
Trading volume
50,000 SOL
1,500,000 SOL
18,000,000 SOL
Effective fee rate
8%
8%
8%
Trading revenue
4,000 SOL
120,000 SOL
1,440,000 SOL
Gaming volume
15,000 SOL
450,000 SOL
5,400,000 SOL
Gaming rake (2%)
300 SOL
9,000 SOL
108,000 SOL
Pool reserves (TVL)
—
100,000 SOL
—
LST yield (6.5% on 70%)
12.5 SOL
373 SOL
4,480 SOL
Total revenue
4,313 SOL
129,373 SOL
1,552,480 SOL
These are illustrative scenarios, not forecasts. Actual revenue depends on adoption, market conditions, staking APY fluctuations, and user behavior. LST yield assumes 6.5% APY on 70% of TVL, net of JitoSOL withdrawal fees.
Protocol Cost Structure
Streamlock's on-chain architecture keeps operating costs minimal:
RouterAuthority tx fees (settlement, stream updates)
< 1 SOL/day at base volume
~0.000005–0.01 SOL per tx; protocol subsidizes these for UX
LST stake/unstake crank tx fees
< 0.01 SOL/day
Automated cranks; negligible Solana tx costs
JitoSOL withdrawal fee
0.1% of unstaked amount
Paid from yield, not user funds; net-positive above ~6 day staking periods
Referral revenue share payouts
40-50% of trading fee revenue from referred users
Customer acquisition cost; time-bounded (6 months per referral, 5 SOL cap)
Referred user settlement fee waivers
Up to 3 fee-free settlements per referred user
CAC — protocol absorbs the 1% fee
RPC infrastructure
Fixed monthly cost
Standard Solana RPC provider
Frontend hosting
Fixed monthly cost
Static site + API routes
Key insight: Protocol costs are largely fixed, while revenue scales linearly with volume. This creates improving margins as adoption grows.
Conservative
557 SOL
~30 SOL
~95%
Base
12,637 SOL
~50 SOL
~99%
Bull
129,373 SOL
~200 SOL
~99%+
Deflationary Pressure from Launches
Every token launch burns 1,000,000 $LOCK permanently. This creates a separate value driver independent of trading fees:
5
5,000,000
60,000,000
6%
20
20,000,000
240,000,000
24%
50
50,000,000
600,000,000
60%
At sustained launch activity, circulating supply contracts meaningfully over time.
Value Flow to $LOCK Holders
Protocol revenue connects to $LOCK holders through the revenue share mechanism (see Tokenomics & Utility):
Five-sided value accrual:
Direct income — Revenue share distributes a portion of the protocol treasury (which receives 50% of trading fees + settlement fees + LST yield) to qualifying $LOCK holders
Holder rewards — 40% of trading fees during unlock windows go directly to token holders as claimable SOL, incentivizing holding over selling
Creator incentives — 10% of trading fees go to token creators, attracting quality launches
Passive yield — LST staking earns on idle reserves regardless of trading activity
Supply reduction — Launch burns permanently reduce circulating $LOCK
All mechanisms strengthen as platform adoption grows.
Comparison to Peers
pump.fun
Trading fees
1% flat
Volume-driven, no lock mechanics
Jupiter
Swap fees
0.1–0.5%
Aggregator routing fees
Raydium
LP fees + protocol fee
0.25%
AMM trading fees
Streamlock
Dynamic trading fees + gaming rake + LST yield
1–25% + ~6.5% APY on TVL
Behavioral fees + passive yield on idle reserves
Streamlock's effective fee rate is structurally higher than flat-fee platforms because fees are tied to behavior, not just volume. Believers pay low fees; flippers subsidize the protocol. Additionally, LST yield earns on idle reserves — a revenue stream most launchpads leave on the table.
Key Takeaways for Investors
Six revenue streams — Trading fees + settlement fees + gaming rake + LST yield + deflationary burns + launch fees
Holder rewards — 40% of trading fees during unlock windows go directly to token holders as claimable SOL, creating a strong hold incentive
Two growth vectors — Trading fees scale with volume; LST yield scales with TVL — independent drivers that compound
High gross margins — On-chain execution with minimal infrastructure costs (~94–99%+)
Passive yield on idle capital — ~6.5% APY on pool reserves via JitoSOL, with zero user impact
Aligned fee mechanics — Fee split (50/40/10) aligns protocol, holders, and creators
Deflationary tokenomics — Every launch permanently reduces $LOCK supply
Revenue share — Direct value distribution to committed $LOCK holders
Low fixed costs — Solana's low tx fees mean protocol costs stay negligible at scale
Related
Fee Structure — Complete fee rates and who pays what
Referral & Rewards — Referral program and points system
Tokenomics & Utility — $LOCK allocation, vesting, and revenue share
Launching a Token — Launch flow and costs
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