# Depositing SOL

## How deposits work

When you deposit SOL into Wick, a few things happen in a single atomic transaction:

1. Your SOL is transferred to an ephemeral account
2. That SOL is deposited into Lantern's SPL stake pool, which mints lanternSOL back to your wallet
3. The lanternSOL is immediately deposited into the Wick vault under your position

You don't need to hold lanternSOL beforehand. The entire process from SOL to active position happens in one transaction.

## Choosing a target token

Before depositing, you pick a target token. This is the token your staking yield will be converted into. The available options are:

* **CRT** (Carrot)
* **USDC**
* **USDT**
* **HYPE** (Hyperliquid)
* **ZEC** (Zcash)
* **xSOL** (Hylo Leveraged SOL)
* **WBTC** (Wrapped BTC)
* **EURC** (Euro Coin)
* **USD**\* (Perena USD Star)

You can change this choice later by opening a new position with a different target token. If you deposit again with the same target token, it adds to your existing position.

## Adding to an existing position

If you already have a position for a given target token and deposit more SOL with that same target selected, the app will add to your existing position. You'll see a note below the token selector letting you know.

## Deposit amount

You can deposit any amount of SOL. The app reserves 0.05 SOL when you click "Max" to make sure you have enough left for transaction fees.

## Exchange rate

The deposit uses the current lanternSOL/SOL exchange rate from the stake pool. Since lanternSOL appreciates over time relative to SOL (as staking rewards accrue), you may receive slightly less than 1 lanternSOL per SOL deposited. This is normal and expected. The value is equivalent.

## Estimated yield

After selecting a target token, the app displays estimated APY figures:

* **Est. Staking APY** shows the current lanternSOL staking rate
* **Est. Combined APY** (shown for CRT positions) reflects the compounding of staking yield on top of the CRT vault's own yield

These are estimates based on recent performance and can fluctuate.


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