DeFi

Marinade Finance

The largest liquid staking protocol on Solana. Users deposit SOL and receive mSOL, a liquid staking token that appreciates as staking rewards accrue (~6-7% APY). Marinade delegates stake across 400+ validators using an automated scoring algorithm, promoting decentralization. It also offers Marinade Native for direct staking without an LST.

IDmarinadeAliasmSOL

Plain meaning

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The largest liquid staking protocol on Solana. Users deposit SOL and receive mSOL, a liquid staking token that appreciates as staking rewards accrue (~6-7% APY). Marinade delegates stake across 400+ validators using an automated scoring algorithm, promoting decentralization. It also offers Marinade Native for direct staking without an LST.

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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Marinade Finance (marinade)
Category: DeFi
Definition: The largest liquid staking protocol on Solana. Users deposit SOL and receive mSOL, a liquid staking token that appreciates as staking rewards accrue (~6-7% APY). Marinade delegates stake across 400+ validators using an automated scoring algorithm, promoting decentralization. It also offers Marinade Native for direct staking without an LST.
Aliases: mSOL
Related: Liquid Staking
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Liquid Staking

A mechanism where staked SOL is represented by a transferable token (LST) that accrues staking rewards while remaining usable in DeFi. Instead of locking SOL with a validator, users deposit into a liquid staking pool and receive tokens like mSOL (Marinade), jitoSOL (Jito), or bSOL (BlazeStake). LSTs typically appreciate against SOL at the staking APY.

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DeFi

Liquid Staking

A mechanism where staked SOL is represented by a transferable token (LST) that accrues staking rewards while remaining usable in DeFi. Instead of locking SOL with a validator, users deposit into a liquid staking pool and receive tokens like mSOL (Marinade), jitoSOL (Jito), or bSOL (BlazeStake). LSTs typically appreciate against SOL at the staking APY.

DeFi

Mark Price

The fair value price used by perpetual contract platforms to calculate unrealized PnL and trigger liquidations. Mark price is typically derived from a combination of the oracle index price and the order book or AMM mid-price, weighted to resist manipulation. Using mark price instead of last traded price prevents liquidation hunting through short-lived price spikes on thin markets.

DeFi

Margin

The collateral deposited to maintain a leveraged position. Initial margin is the minimum to open a position; maintenance margin is the minimum to keep it open. If the margin ratio drops below maintenance due to unrealized losses, the position faces liquidation. Margin can be cross (shared across positions) or isolated (per-position).

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.

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DeFiliquid-staking

Liquid Staking

A mechanism where staked SOL is represented by a transferable token (LST) that accrues staking rewards while remaining usable in DeFi. Instead of locking SOL with a validator, users deposit into a liquid staking pool and receive tokens like mSOL (Marinade), jitoSOL (Jito), or bSOL (BlazeStake). LSTs typically appreciate against SOL at the staking APY.

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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.