Marinade

Marinade was one of the protocols that established liquid staking as a category on Solana, issuing mSOL and building delegation infrastructure that spreads stake across a broad, decentralized validator set rather than concentrating it. Staking through Marinade gets you mSOL, which you can hold to accrue rewards passively or deploy elsewhere in DeFi.

What it’s for

Holding mSOL lets you accrue staking rewards while keeping a liquid, transferable token — usable as collateral in lending markets or in liquidity pools — instead of locking SOL in native staking.

Fees

Marinade takes a protocol fee on staking rewards, standard among liquid staking issuers; check the app for the current rate. There’s no separate fee for minting or redeeming mSOL beyond that.

Pros and cons

• Pro: explicit emphasis on validator decentralization in how delegated stake is distributed, which matters for network health, not just individual returns.
• Pro: mSOL has broad DeFi integration as an accepted collateral and liquidity asset.
• Con: standard liquid-staking depeg risk applies, particularly relevant if you use mSOL as collateral elsewhere — a depeg affects both the staked position and anything built on top of it.
• Con: a decentralization-first delegation strategy can mean somewhat different performance characteristics than one concentrated among the largest validators.

Track record

Marinade has operated since the early period of Solana DeFi and has placed particular emphasis on validator decentralization in how it distributes delegated stake. mSOL has broad integration across Solana DeFi as an accepted collateral and liquidity asset.

Risk considerations

Standard liquid staking risks apply: validator and slashing risk, and depeg risk relative to SOL during stress periods. Read our liquid staking guide and depeg risk guide before staking meaningful amounts, particularly if you plan to use mSOL as collateral elsewhere — a depeg affects both the staked position and anything built on top of it.