In this lesson, I break down the tokenomics behind building a staking program on Solana or Ethereum—and I focus on the real goal: your staking program must entice investors to buy in and stay in. Staking isn’t just a “nice extra.” It’s a financial tool that can reduce selling pressure by rewarding long-term holding, which is what helps create that up-and-to-the-right chart that attracts new investors. But you don’t get there with hype—you get there by balancing value versus risk versus the alternatives people already have (other coins, other assets, even cash). I walk through the key variables you have to model before you set an APY: how new and risky your token is, whether your supply is capped or mintable, and how inflation changes what users actually earn. I also show how I compare staking programs using StakingRewards.com, and why you need to look at inflation alongside the advertised rewards rate (because “high APY” can be misleading if inflation eats most of it). Finally, I explain the practical funding side: your staking rewards have to come from somewhere, which means carving out a reserve pool from your overall token supply—while making sure you don’t give away too much or let inflation run away.