DeFi

Bad Debt

Debt in a lending protocol where the collateral value has fallen below the outstanding borrow value, making the position impossible to liquidate profitably. Bad debt occurs during extreme market crashes when liquidators cannot act fast enough or when oracle prices become stale. The protocol or its insurance fund must absorb bad debt losses. Kamino's Scam Wick Protection aims to reduce bad debt from price manipulation.

IDbad-debt

Plain meaning

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Debt in a lending protocol where the collateral value has fallen below the outstanding borrow value, making the position impossible to liquidate profitably. Bad debt occurs during extreme market crashes when liquidators cannot act fast enough or when oracle prices become stale. The protocol or its insurance fund must absorb bad debt losses. Kamino's Scam Wick Protection aims to reduce bad debt from price manipulation.

Mental model

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Think of it as a market mechanic used to price, route, or move capital through liquidity apps.

Technical context

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AMMs, routing, liquidity, lending, and trading infrastructure.

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Bad Debt (bad-debt)
Category: DeFi
Definition: Debt in a lending protocol where the collateral value has fallen below the outstanding borrow value, making the position impossible to liquidate profitably. Bad debt occurs during extreme market crashes when liquidators cannot act fast enough or when oracle prices become stale. The protocol or its insurance fund must absorb bad debt losses. Kamino's Scam Wick Protection aims to reduce bad debt from price manipulation.
Related: Liquidation, Lending Protocol, Oracle Staleness
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Concept graph

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Branch

Liquidation

The process of repaying a borrower's debt by selling their collateral when their position's LTV exceeds the liquidation threshold. Liquidators (typically bots) repay a portion of the debt and receive the collateral at a discount (liquidation bonus, typically 5-10%). Liquidation keeps lending protocols solvent. On Solana, liquidation bots compete via Jito bundles.

Branch

Lending Protocol

A DeFi protocol that enables users to deposit tokens to earn yield and borrow tokens against collateral. Key Solana lending protocols include Solend, MarginFi, Kamino, and Save (formerly Solend v2). Lending rates float based on utilization (borrowed/deposited). Deposits receive interest-bearing receipt tokens representing their share.

Branch

Oracle Staleness

The condition where an oracle price feed has not been updated within an acceptable time window, making the price data potentially unreliable. Stale prices can lead to incorrect liquidations, mispriced trades, or exploitable arbitrage. Solana DeFi protocols must check the timestamp of oracle updates and reject or pause operations when prices exceed a staleness threshold (e.g., 30 seconds for Pyth feeds).

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DeFi

Liquidation

The process of repaying a borrower's debt by selling their collateral when their position's LTV exceeds the liquidation threshold. Liquidators (typically bots) repay a portion of the debt and receive the collateral at a discount (liquidation bonus, typically 5-10%). Liquidation keeps lending protocols solvent. On Solana, liquidation bots compete via Jito bundles.

DeFi

Lending Protocol

A DeFi protocol that enables users to deposit tokens to earn yield and borrow tokens against collateral. Key Solana lending protocols include Solend, MarginFi, Kamino, and Save (formerly Solend v2). Lending rates float based on utilization (borrowed/deposited). Deposits receive interest-bearing receipt tokens representing their share.

DeFi

Oracle Staleness

The condition where an oracle price feed has not been updated within an acceptable time window, making the price data potentially unreliable. Stale prices can lead to incorrect liquidations, mispriced trades, or exploitable arbitrage. Solana DeFi protocols must check the timestamp of oracle updates and reject or pause operations when prices exceed a staleness threshold (e.g., 30 seconds for Pyth feeds).

DeFi

Basis Points

Unit of measurement equal to 0.01% (one hundredth of a percentage point). 100 bps = 1%. Used across DeFi for swap fees, protocol fees, and yield spreads. Token-2022's transfer fee extension configures fees in basis points.

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DeFibond-duration

Bond Duration

Measure of a bond's price sensitivity to interest rate changes, in years. A 5-year duration bond falls ~5% per 1% rate rise. Short-duration instruments (T-bills, MMFs) have minimal duration risk, explaining their dominance in on-chain RWA adoption.

Related terms

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DeFiliquidation

Liquidation

The process of repaying a borrower's debt by selling their collateral when their position's LTV exceeds the liquidation threshold. Liquidators (typically bots) repay a portion of the debt and receive the collateral at a discount (liquidation bonus, typically 5-10%). Liquidation keeps lending protocols solvent. On Solana, liquidation bots compete via Jito bundles.

DeFilending

Lending Protocol

A DeFi protocol that enables users to deposit tokens to earn yield and borrow tokens against collateral. Key Solana lending protocols include Solend, MarginFi, Kamino, and Save (formerly Solend v2). Lending rates float based on utilization (borrowed/deposited). Deposits receive interest-bearing receipt tokens representing their share.

DeFioracle-staleness

Oracle Staleness

The condition where an oracle price feed has not been updated within an acceptable time window, making the price data potentially unreliable. Stale prices can lead to incorrect liquidations, mispriced trades, or exploitable arbitrage. Solana DeFi protocols must check the timestamp of oracle updates and reject or pause operations when prices exceed a staleness threshold (e.g., 30 seconds for Pyth feeds).

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DeFi

AMM (Automated Market Maker)

A protocol that enables token swaps using algorithmic pricing against pooled liquidity instead of matching individual buyers and sellers. AMMs use mathematical formulas (typically constant product x*y=k) to determine prices based on the ratio of tokens in a liquidity pool. On Solana, major AMMs include Raydium, Orca, and Meteora.

DeFi

CLMM (Concentrated Liquidity Market Maker)

An AMM design where liquidity providers concentrate their capital within specific price ranges instead of across the full 0-to-infinity range. CLMMs dramatically improve capital efficiency—LPs earn more fees per dollar deposited within their active range. If the price moves outside the range, the position becomes inactive. Orca Whirlpools and Raydium CLMM are leading implementations on Solana.

DeFi

Liquidity Pool

A smart-contract-held reserve of two or more tokens that enables trading via an AMM. Users deposit token pairs in specified ratios to become liquidity providers and earn trading fees. Pools are identified by their token pair and fee tier. Pool depth (total value locked) determines price impact for trades.

DeFi

LP Token

A token issued to liquidity providers representing their proportional share of a pool's reserves and accrued fees. LP tokens can be burned to withdraw the underlying assets. The value of LP tokens changes as the pool's token ratios shift and fees accumulate. LP tokens are often stakeable in yield farming programs for additional rewards.