Skip to main content
Decentralized Finance
Back to Top DeFi Protocols
Top DeFi Protocols
Marinade FinancemSOLSolana Staking

What is Marinade Finance? Solana Liquid Staking Explained

Marinade Finance is Solana's leading liquid staking protocol — stake SOL, receive mSOL, and stay composable across Solana DeFi while earning validator rewards.

Kaiser KhanJune 2026Last reviewed: June 2026

Quick answer

Marinade Finance lets you stake SOL without running a validator and receive mSOL — a liquid staking token usable in lending, DEXes, and DeFi on Solana. Marinade delegates across a decentralised validator set and charges a ~6% fee on staking rewards. mSOL is widely accepted on Kamino, Jupiter, and Raydium. The MNDE token governs validator selection and incentives.

Market context

DeFiLlama

Loading What is Marinade Finance? Solana Liquid Staking Explained stats…

Related comparisons

Marinade vs Jito (2026)

Marinade Finance is the dominant liquid staking protocol on Solana. Users deposit SOL and receive mSOL, which represents staked SOL plus accrued rewards. mSOL can be used throughout Solana DeFi — as collateral on Kamino, in liquidity pools, or swapped back to SOL via Jupiter.

Marinade uses a decentralised delegation strategy across hundreds of validators to improve network decentralisation versus single-validator staking.

mSOL in DeFi

  • Lending collateral on Kamino and other Solana lenders
  • LP pairs on Raydium and Orca (mSOL/SOL)
  • Instant unstake via Marinade liquidity pool (fee applies) or delayed native unstake
  • MNDE incentives for staking and governance participation

Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is mSOL? mSOL is Marinade's liquid staking token — exchange rate vs SOL increases as staking rewards accrue.
  • Marinade vs Jito? Marinade focuses on mSOL liquid staking; Jito adds MEV tips to staked SOL via JitoSOL.
  • How do I stake SOL with Marinade? Deposit SOL at marinade.finance and receive mSOL immediately.
  • Is Marinade safe? Marinade has operated since 2021; risks include smart contract bugs, validator slashing, and mSOL liquidity risk.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Data Sources

Marinade

Official Marinade staking interface

Marinade Docs

Technical documentation

Marinade on DeFiLlama

TVL analytics

Marinade FinancemSOLSolana StakingLiquid StakingMNDESolana DeFi

Related Research

News

Solana DeFi Accelerates in June 2026: Jupiter, Kamino and LST Growth

Solana DeFi TVL and DEX volume rebounded in June 2026, led by Jupiter aggregators, Kamino lending, and liquid staking flows into JitoSOL and mSOL. Alpenglow upgrade anticipation adds a protocol roadmap tailwind.

Kaiser KhanRead
Top DeFi Protocols

Lido vs Rocket Pool 2026: Which Liquid Staking Protocol Is Better?

Lido and Rocket Pool are the two most significant decentralised ETH liquid staking protocols. Both let you stake ETH without running a validator, but they differ in decentralisation, token liquidity, yield, and risk profile. Here is the definitive 2026 comparison.

Kaiser KhanRead
DeFi Ecosystems

Ethereum vs Solana for DeFi 2026: Which Chain Wins?

Ethereum and Solana are the two dominant smart contract platforms for DeFi in 2026. They represent fundamentally different design philosophies — Ethereum prioritises decentralisation and security, Solana prioritises speed and low cost. This guide compares both for DeFi users.

Kaiser KhanRead