Marinade (MNDE) is a staking protocol built on the Solana blockchain. It provides users with the ability to stake their SOL tokens using an automated strategy developed by the Marinade core team. Users have the option to stake natively or liquid stake to a pool of selected Solana validators. When opting for liquid staking, users receive an equivalent value of "marinated SOL" tokens (mSOL) that can be utilized in decentralized finance (DeFi). The protocol also gives users the opportunity to tokenize their existing stake, converting it to mSOL for liquidity. The MNDE token allows holders to participate in the protocol's governance, influencing decisions such as the DAO's fees, treasury, and validator selection.

Marinade operates by enabling users to stake their SOL tokens using an automated strategy. When a user stakes their SOL tokens, they are contributing to the security and decentralization of the Solana network. In return, they receive compensation in SOL. Users can choose to stake natively or liquid stake. When liquid staking, users receive an equivalent value of "marinated SOL" tokens (mSOL) that can be utilized in DeFi. The price of mSOL increases relative to SOL each epoch with Solana inflation rewards being accrued into the underlying staked SOL in the Marinade stake pool. Users can also tokenize their existing stake, converting it to mSOL for liquidity.

Marinade strives to provide users with the ability to stake their SOL tokens in a manner that contributes to the decentralization of the Solana network. This helps to secure the Solana network and contributes to its decentralization. Users can stake natively or liquid stake, receiving mSOL tokens that can be utilized in DeFi. This allows users to continue participating in DeFi activities while still enjoying the benefits of staking. Additionally, the MNDE token allows holders to participate in the protocol's governance, influencing decisions such as the DAO's fees, treasury, and validator selection.

Marinade was established through Solana ecosystem grants at the Solana Hackathon in 2021 and launched its liquid staking protocol and mSOL liquid staking token on mainnet in August of the same year. The MNDE governance token was minted on November 7, 2021, as a fair-launch token with no ICO (Initial Coin Offering). Marinade has implemented on-chain DAO governance. Since then, all decisions related to the treasury have been voted on chain. In July 2023, The DAO migrated its governance platform to Realms, enabling direct control of the treasury and protocol decisions by MNDE holders.

Marinade leverages smart contracts, which are self-executing contracts with the terms of the agreement directly written into code. These smart contracts are deployed on a blockchain network, ensuring transparency and immutability. Marinade also uses staking mechanisms, allowing users to participate in the network's consensus mechanism, thereby contributing to the network's security and receiving non-monetary incentives. The platform employs a Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm, which is energy-efficient. It's important to note that Marinade seeks to offer improvements within the DeFi space by providing users with a platform to participate with their assets and receive non-financial incentives. However, the platform's capabilities may be influenced by the inherent risks and volatility of the cryptocurrency market.

Marinade strives to optimize the staking process for users. It provides a convenient way for users to validate the Solana network and receive non-monetary rewards by staking their SOL. One of the key features that sets Marinade apart is its liquid staking feature. When users stake their SOL with Marinade, they are issued mSOL tokens in return. These mSOL tokens can be used in DeFi applications, allowing users to maintain liquidity and receive additional non-monetary rewards on top of the staking rate. Another unique feature of Marinade is its instant unstaking option. This allows users to convert any amount of SOL with no prior notice, providing maximum flexibility over their holdings. Marinade also provides a dashboard to track validators on the Solana network, giving users full transparency into the platform.

Marinade, a liquid staking protocol on the Solana blockchain, addresses scalability and transaction speed by utilizing Solana's high-performance capabilities. Solana is known for its quick, scalable, and low-cost blockchain platform, which Marinade uses. The protocol employs a new, permissionless delegation strategy that allows for both native and liquid staking of SOL, Solana's native cryptocurrency. This strategy involves an algorithmic bot that stakes with over 400 validators, aiming to improve network participation. Additionally, Marinade's stake delegation strategy is designed to adjust the performance and decentralization of Solana by delegating to a large and diverse set of validators. This strategy is updated every epoch (approximately two days) to reflect changes in the validator landscape, ensuring that the protocol maintains its functionality.

Yes, there are certain costs associated with using Marinade, particularly when you opt for the liquid staking option. When you allocate your SOL tokens with Marinade and receive mSOL (marinated SOL) in return, the cost structure is as follows: there is no allocation cost, a 0% cost for delayed unstaking (provided you wait 1-2 epochs), and an instant unstake cost that varies between 0.1% and 9% depending on the total liquidity available in the Marinade pool and the amount to unstake. Moreover, Marinade charges an administration cost of approximately 0.42% per annum, which is automatically deducted from your staking incentives and represents 6% of your incentives. However, if you choose to use Marinade Native, there are no allocation, administration, or termination costs, provided you opt for delayed unstake.

Yes, Marinade has participated in several security audits related to its smart contracts. In 2021, Marinade was audited by Kudelski Security and Ackee Blockchain, both audit firms with experience in blockchain security. In 2023, Marinade upgraded its smart contract and conducted two additional audits with Neodyme and Sec3. These audits were conducted with the intention of examining the code after the upgrade. Marinade initiated a Bug Bounty Program, encouraging the community to test the protocol and acknowledging their efforts in identifying potential security issues. The audit reports and code review reports can be accessed publicly.

Marinade Finance utilizes a unique delegation strategy to delegate the staked SOL (Solana) tokens to a number of validators with a history of consistent performance. This strategy aims to provide a potentially beneficial staking yield for users while also contributing to the decentralization and censorship-resistance of the Solana network. The delegation is divided into three parts: efficiency-oriented (60% of total value locked or TVL), MNDE voting based (20% of TVL), and directed stake (20% of TVL). Every epoch, Marinade recalculates the performance score of each validator, collects MNDE votes, and rebalances the stake based on the outcomes. The process also involves monitoring commission rugs and delinquent validators and reallocating the stake when necessary. The performance score of a validator is calculated based on a variety of data including vote credits, stake, commission, version changes, data center, block production, and more. The score is a weighted average of three components: APY performance, stake concentration, and block production. Votes from MNDE holders may affect the distribution of a portion of the TVL. The delegation strategy is designed to be accessible to all validators, and the outcomes are recorded on-chain.

Marinade, a liquid staking protocol in the Solana ecosystem, is exploring ways to enhance its platform and the MNDE token. The protocol's primary goal is to decentralize Solana and Marinade itself. To achieve this, Marinade seeks to explore ways to optimize the operating costs associated with running a Solana validator, thereby facilitating a more geographically dispersed and decentralized validator set. The protocol also aims to support, bootstrap, and incentivize the growth of up to 6,000 validators in the Solana network. In terms of the MNDE token, Marinade is exploring strategies to potentially increase its total value locked (TVL). The potential increase in TVL may be influenced by factors such as mSOL utility, stake acquisition, and collective ownership. The protocol is considering migrating its operations to a DAO dashboard. This migration is intended to provide MNDE holders with the opportunity to influence protocol fees, delegation strategy, MNDE liquidity mining allocation, and the executive team.