On January 3, Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder of Solana and the person behind the viral success of Silly, shared a tweet that brought significant attention to a protocol called “Tiny SPL.” According to the tweet, Tiny SPL is a new token standard on Solana that introduces “state compression,” allowing users to hold tokens on Solana without paying storage rent.
The token asset based on Tiny SPL is called “DN” (Deez Nutz). It was initially available for free minting. After the minting concluded, some users listed DN on the market. The floor price of DN surged past 0.2 SOL before rapidly declining; as of writing, it sits at 0.00089 SOL. Currently, DN is available for trading on NFT marketplaces Magic Eden and Sniper.
Judging by the price action, market interest in Tiny SPL may not be particularly high. However, Anatoly, Solana’s co-founder, has kept the tweet about Tiny SPL pinned to his Twitter profile. The technological innovation behind Tiny SPL—state compression—was also a technical highlight within the Solana ecosystem in 2023. Given these factors, Tiny SPL may see further developments in the future.
Understanding Tiny SPL: A Smaller Version of SPL
The Concept of “Rent” in Solana Accounts
Before diving into what makes Tiny SPL special, it’s essential to understand the concept of “rent” in Solana’s account model. Rent is different from transaction fees. Users pay rent to store data on the Solana blockchain, while transaction fees are paid for processing instructions on the network.
Unlike Ethereum, Solana charges rent for storing data state on its network. Rent is periodically charged based on the account’s stored token balance. If an account cannot pay the rent, the system will delete it to reduce storage costs associated with unmaintained data. If an account holds assets exceeding the minimum balance required for two years of rent, it becomes rent-exempt.
Although, according to Solana’s official documentation, rent is derived from underlying hardware storage costs—meaning it is expected to decrease as technology advances and hardware becomes cheaper—it is paid in SOL. With the recent rise in SOL’s price, the actual cost of rent for users has increased. Asset management firm VanEck mentioned in a valuation report on Solana that storage rent on Solana costs 0.00000348 SOL per byte. A wallet data size is 372 bytes, meaning each active wallet holder must retain 0.0026 SOL. Similarly, applications and token smart contracts must also maintain these storage fees. A program like Serum, which is approximately 340 KB in size, would need to retain a balance of 2.4 SOL to avoid paying rent.
Solana’s token standard is SPL. Tiny SPL aims to create a “smaller” version of the SPL token standard. Through state compression, it allows users to hold tokens without paying rent.
State Compression: The Innovation That Attracted Helium Mobile to Solana
State compression is a new data storage method introduced by Solana in April 2023, significantly reducing the cost of on-chain storage. This technology relies on Merkle trees, compressing the verifiability of a data tree into a single hash. The compression-friendly structure allows developers to store small amounts of data on-chain and update it directly within Solana’s ledger, drastically reducing data storage costs while maintaining the security and decentralization of the Solana base layer.
State compression was first applied in NFT minting, reducing the cost of minting NFTs on Solana by 2,400 to 24,000 times. According to the Solana Foundation, as of April 5, 2023, minting 1 million uncompressed NFTs on Solana would cost over $250,000. In contrast, minting NFTs using state compression costs approximately $110.
Last month, the popular DePIN project Helium Mobile minted nearly 1 million NFTs when migrating to Solana, at a cost of only $113. This served as a typical test case for state compression. These NFTs can act as network credentials for Helium, verify hotspots, and integrate functionality across the ecosystem, including token-gated access and permissions for hotspot owners.
Through state compression, Solana offers creators and brands a way to distribute large quantities of NFTs to a broad audience without incurring significant costs. Now, Tiny SPL applies state compression to token assets. Compared to tokens using the conventional SPL standard, Tiny SPL tokens do not require rent payments. Additionally, Tiny SPL tokens are not displayed in the user’s wallet balance; they are only visible in the NFT section.
Interacting with Tiny SPL
The token management process for Tiny SPL is quite unique. Currently, the token asset based on this protocol, “DN” (Deez Nutz), has already been fully minted. Interested readers can purchase it on the secondary market. Please note that DN has no real value; this section is solely intended to explain the interaction process with Tiny SPL and should not be considered investment advice.
To get started, visit the Tiny SPL website at https://tinys.pl/ and click “Get Started” to connect your wallet. It is recommended to use a test wallet without significant assets.
After connecting your wallet, the page will detect and display the number of Deez Nutz you own (if any). The Deez Nutz icon features two peanuts.
To trade token assets, you need to determine the quantity for the transaction. In Tiny SPL, this requires a “split” or “combine” process.
First, click on Deez Nutz to enter the token management interface. If you want to send 1 DN, you need to split 125 DN into 124 DN and 1 DN before transferring. Here, 312 DN has already been split into 112 DN, 109 DN, and 100 DN.
To continue splitting, select the asset you want to split—for example, 100 DN—and click “Split.” In the pop-up window, enter the amount you wish to split, confirm, and click “Split.”
In the wallet pop-up, confirm the signature. Here, you can see that the operation on the wallet side is “Send 100 DN, receive 99 DN and 1 DN.” Note that gas fees are incurred during this process.
After confirmation, wait for the process to complete. A success page will appear once the split is done. Click “Done” to view the split tokens.
To combine Deez Nutz, select the DN you want to merge and click “Combine.” The subsequent steps are similar to the splitting process.
After a successful split or combine, the changes will reflect in the NFT section of your wallet. The number displayed (e.g., “2”) indicates the number of distinct DN units. Users can then trade Deez Nutz as they would NFTs.
Why Anatoly’s Endorsement Matters and What to Watch For
The founder of Tiny SPL, sol_idity, is also a full-stack engineer at Sphere, a Web3 payment infrastructure provider. Currently, Tiny SPL appears to be more of a technical experiment. After its launch, the split and combine functionalities experienced issues, though they have since been resolved. If Tiny SPL finds practical application, it will likely be for projects requiring the issuance of a massive number of tokens. For now, its token, Deez Nutz, is positioned more as a combination of meme and NFT.
Additionally, although Tiny SPL’s standout feature is “holding tokens without paying rent,” gas fees are still incurred during the split and combine processes, as displayed on the wallet side. Many users have split Deez Nutz into the smallest unit of 1 DN for trading. In response, the founder noted that 1 unit of 100 DN is equivalent to 100 units of 1 DN and is considering developing a batch combine tool to make it easier for users to merge DN.
Beyond technological innovations like state compression, Anatoly Yakovenko’s decision to share and pin the tweet about Tiny SPL is another reason it deserves attention. As Solana’s co-founder, Anatoly has a notable “call-to-wealth” effect. The community is well aware of the meme coin SILLY, which derived from Anatoly’s tweets and dinosaur persona. SILLY was one of the most talked-about memes on Solana last month, with some holders seeing returns of up to 27,000x.
On January 2, Anatoly replied to a tweet about the new Solana meme coin “LFG” with a dragon emoji, after which the LFG token surged over 50% to reach an all-time high. However, it’s important to note that trading Deez Nutz is more complex compared to typical meme coins, and its narrative may not be as engaging as SILLY’s. Its potential for future growth remains to be seen.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Tiny SPL?
Tiny SPL is a new token standard on the Solana blockchain that utilizes state compression. This innovation allows users to hold tokens without paying storage rent, reducing the cost of maintaining token accounts on the network.
How does state compression work?
State compression relies on Merkle trees to compress data verifiability into a single hash. It enables efficient on-chain data storage and updates, significantly lowering costs while maintaining security and decentralization.
What is DN (Deez Nutz)?
DN is the first token asset issued using the Tiny SPL standard. It functions similarly to a meme coin or NFT and is traded on secondary markets like Magic Eden. However, it has no inherent value and is primarily for experimental purposes.
Are there fees involved with Tiny SPL tokens?
While Tiny SPL eliminates storage rent, users still pay gas fees for transactions such as splitting or combining tokens. These fees cover network processing costs.
Why is Anatoly Yakovenko promoting Tiny SPL?
As a Solana co-founder, Anatoly often highlights innovative projects within the ecosystem. His endorsement brings visibility, but it does not guarantee success or investment value.
Can Tiny SPL be used for serious projects?
Yes, the technology is designed for applications requiring large-scale token issuance at low cost. However, it is still experimental, and practical implementations may evolve over time.