Sandglass Markets Review – Check NOW

• Sandglass is a Solana first venue for trading the two sides of yield. It presents term based markets where you can buy principal for fixed style returns, trade the yield leg for a view on forward rates, or provide liquidity to collect fees.
• Strengths include a clear term centric interface, a concise education funnel, and a Portfolio view that keeps maturity risk visible.
• Bottom line for traders and allocators on Solana is straightforward. If you want fixed income style positioning or targeted yield bets without leaving the ecosystem, Sandglass is an efficient place to start.
  

Problem statement

• Variable yield is the default in DeFi. That volatility is hard for savers and treasuries that want predictability and for traders who want clean rate exposure.
• Splitting a yield bearing asset into principal and yield lets users choose risk. Principal targets a known outcome at maturity. Yield captures the variable income over the period.
• A Solana native venue matters for users whose collateral and workflows are already on Solana. It reduces bridges, wrappers, and cross chain friction.
  

Core concepts primer

Yield bearing token. An asset that accrues yield from staking, lending, or a vault strategy.

Principal token. A claim on the underlying at maturity that usually trades at a discount before expiry, which implies a fixed return if you hold to redemption.

Yield token. A claim on variable income during the term that decays toward zero as maturity approaches. External rewards or points, when routed, typically accrue to this leg.

Maturities. Each market references a settlement date. Term length drives pricing behavior, sensitivity to yield changes, and where liquidity concentrates.

Product walkthrough

Markets homepage. Assets are listed with available maturities. Opening an asset shows its term markets and the two tradable legs.

Reading a term market. You see the settlement date and controls for principal and yield. Pricing reflects time to maturity and the path of realized and expected yield.

Order flow. Quotes update as you size a trade. You confirm with a preview that shows expected outcome and price impact.

Portfolio view. Positions are grouped by maturity, showing principal and yield holdings, unrealized performance, and upcoming redemptions. This helps you plan exits, rollovers, or holds to settlement.

Getting started and user guide

• Prerequisites. A Solana wallet, SOL for transactions, and the asset you intend to trade.
• Connect and verify. Open the app, connect the wallet, verify network and permissions, then review the Markets list.
• First principal trade. Choose an asset and maturity that matches your holding horizon, check the implied return relative to adjacent terms, size modestly to test slippage, confirm, and verify the new position in Portfolio.
• First yield trade. Pick a maturity where you have a thesis on how yield or rewards may evolve, consider scenarios for flat, rising, and falling yield, size conservatively, confirm, and set reminders to reassess before settlement week.
• Providing liquidity. Select a term with consistent activity, review fee capture expectations, understand how yield inventory decays economically as expiry nears, and monitor inventory as the pool rebalances toward settlement.

Strategies and playbooks

Fixed yield via principal. Use principal to target predictable returns. Prefer maturities that match your liabilities. Plan to hold to redemption if secondary depth thins close to settlement.

Directional yield via yield token. Express views on staking rates, reward intensity, or seasonal patterns. Define your thesis window, map adverse scenarios, and decide on a scale-out plan before the final days.

Term structure positioning. Shorter terms reduce sensitivity to the yield path but require tighter execution. Longer terms increase convexity to yield changes but ask for stronger conviction.

Points aware trading. When markets route external rewards or points to yield holders, pricing can move quickly on policy changes. Monitor announcements and be ready to adjust exposure.

LP approaches. Target terms with steady flow, size to tolerate inventory drift as expiry approaches, and consider rolling liquidity from expiring terms into new listings to maintain fee capture.

Fees and execution costs

• Solana network fee baseline is 0.000005 SOL per signature, so a typical single-signature trade is about 0.000005 to 0.00002 SOL including one to three signatures
• Publish the protocol trading fee exactly as shown in the Sandglass order ticket and round to two decimals, for example 0.15 percent.
• Quote observed slippage for both a 1,000 USDC and a 10,000 USDC order in the same term, for example 0.06 percent and 0.28 percent.
• If a redemption fee appears at close or maturity, list it verbatim, for example 0.00 percent if none is shown.
• Give an all-in snapshot by adding protocol fee plus slippage and noting the network fee, for example 0.15 percent plus 0.06 percent equals 0.21 percent plus 0.000005 SOL.

Risk analysis

Smart contract and mechanism risk. Review the latest audits and changelogs. Confirm the contract set you will touch matches audited scope.

Oracle and reward policy risk. Yield token value adjusts quickly if the underlying changes emission schedules or reward routing. Principal discounts respond in kind.

Liquidity and execution risk. Depth is term specific. Simulate exits for your size and avoid relying on last minute sells during settlement week.

Integration risk. If a market references a wrapper or vault, understand dependencies and where risk sits.

Operational risk. Track maturity dates, redemption steps, and approvals. Small process errors can turn into material costs in term markets.

User experience and design

Learning curve. The Learn content explains the primitives clearly and builds intuition for principal and yield.

Navigation. Markets to trade to Portfolio is a clean flow with term context preserved.

Maturity handling. Term labels and countdowns orient users to time left. This aids pre-planned rollovers and redemptions.

Performance. The interface is responsive and predictable, which reduces execution guesswork.

Ecosystem coverage and growth

• Asset breadth. Expect common Solana yield sources first, then gradual expansion. Breadth improves price discovery and strategy choice.
• Term cadence. Regular new maturities improve rollover hygiene and keep markets active across the curve.
• Integrations. Wallet support is standard on Solana. Analytics and structured product partners would further improve discovery and adoption.
• Community and communications. Announcements and release notes help users anticipate changes to terms, assets, or incentive routing.

Comparisons and alternatives

• General AMMs specialize in spot price risk. Sandglass focuses on term yield instruments, which changes how you size, hold, and exit.
• Versus other yield derivatives venues, Sandglass emphasizes a Solana native experience, clear term displays, and a simple route to fixed or yield exposure.
• Multi chain users might still split activity if they need specific assets or deeper cross chain liquidity, but a Solana centric stack benefits from keeping trades local.
  

Things you can try next:

• Example 1 fixed yield with principal
  
  • Pick a short to medium term maturity that fits your horizon, compare implied APR across adjacent terms, size to low price impact, confirm, and plan to hold to redemption.
    
• Example 2 directional yield with yield token
  
  • Choose a maturity where you expect a change in yield or rewards, map three scenarios, enter a tranche you can manage, set a review date before settlement week, and decide whether to unwind early or hold.
    
• Example 3 providing liquidity
  
  • Select a term with steady volume, supply liquidity, monitor fee accrual and inventory drift as time passes, and roll to the next term before decay dominates your economics.

What to watch next

• New asset listings and the cadence of fresh maturities.
• Any changes to points markets or reward routing and how they affect yield leg pricing.
• AMM and settlement improvements that make inventory management and exits cleaner.
• Cross ecosystem analytics that surface implied APRs, roll yields, and historical term behavior.

Conclusion

Sandglass offers a clear, Solana native way to trade principal and yield by term. The Markets page is easy to parse, the education funnel shortens time to first correct trade, and the Portfolio view keeps time risk front and center. 

If your collateral lives on Solana and you want fixed returns or focused yield exposure, this is a strong venue. Success still depends on disciplined sizing, attention to term mechanics, and an all in view of costs.