TL;DR
A delta-neutral strategy holds offsetting long and short exposure so its value barely moves with the underlying price, letting you earn yield — funding, LP fees, or staking — with minimal directional risk.
Delta measures how much a position's value moves with the underlying asset's price. A delta-neutral position combines longs and shorts so the net delta is roughly zero — if the price moves, gains on one side offset losses on the other. The goal isn't price appreciation; it's harvesting yield while staying insulated from price swings.
A classic example: hold spot SOL (or an LST) and open an equal short SOL perp. The price exposure cancels out, while you collect staking yield on the LST and, when funding is positive, earn funding payments from the short. Delta-neutral LP strategies similarly hedge the price exposure of a liquidity position to keep just the fee income.
Delta-neutral isn't risk-free: you take on funding-rate risk (funding can flip against you), liquidation risk on the short if it's leveraged, smart-contract risk, and LST depeg risk. Maintaining neutrality also requires rebalancing as positions drift. Done carefully it earns yield in any market direction; done carelessly, the hedge can cost more than it earns.