Marinade Native surpassed 5.3 million SOL in TVL, up 21.1% from Q1. Institutional adoption rose, supported by SOC 2 compliance, custodian integrations (BitGo, Zodia, Copper), tax reporting tools, and the development of Native Instant Unstake.
Marinade Native’s APY maintained ~7.90% as of June 16, 2025. Yield remained competitive due to open-market dynamics through the Stake Auction Marketplace (SAM), where validators bid for stake by offering a greater share of rewards to stakers.
Marinade Select reached a TVL of 839,800 SOL by June 16, 2025. Since launching, the curated validator set has accumulated ~$132.1 million in staked assets, offering staking yields between 7.0% and 7.7% APY.
Marinade Select validators maintained 99.93% uptime. Through Marinade’s Protected Staking Rewards (PSR), downtimes are covered by validator bonds, resulting in effectively 100% uptime for stakers.
Marinade is the only staking provider named in a Solana ETF filing. Marinade is named as the staking provider in the proposed Canary Marinade Solana ETF and is the staking provider for the Bitwise Solana Staking ETP, which is already live.
Primer
Marinade (MNDE) is an automated staking protocol on Solana that offers two core products: liquid staking via mSOL and Marinade Native. Marinade Native allows users to delegate SOL directly to top-performing validators while retaining custody of their SOL, minimizing risks, and providing consistently higher staking yields compared to any 0% fee validator. Marinade Native does not use any smart contracts, charges no management fees, and does not issue a liquid staked token. Institutional-grade features such as SOC 2 compliance, integrations with custodians like BitGo, Zodia, and Copper, a staking rewards report tool for tax purposes, and the addition of instant liquidity via Native Instant Unstake have positioned Marinade Native as a leading choice for institutional stakers.
Building on Marinade Native’s foundation, Marinade introduced Marinade Select, a curated validator set purpose-built for institutions seeking a compliant, high-performance staking experience. What differentiates this offering from Marinade Native, which routes SOL to top-performing validators through the Stake Auction Marketplace (SAM), is that Marinade Select enables stakers to delegate to a vetted set of validators that meet higher risk and compliance requirements (such as identity verification) while maintaining the network’s decentralization and high staking performance. Validators in the Select set are also subject to bonding requirements and to adhere to strict standards around decentralization, uptime, and ethical MEV behavior.
Marinade Select's structure has earned it the role of the first staking provider named in Canary Capital’s proposed Canary Marinade Solana ETF. Following the SEC’s recent clarification that native protocol staking is not a securities transaction, Marinade Select stands at the center of a growing push to bring institutional capital into Solana staking.
Marinade Native is a smart-contract-free staking solution that enables users to delegate SOL directly to a curated set of high-performing validators while retaining full custody of their assets. Unlike Marinade’s liquid staking token (mSOL), Marinade Native does not introduce wrapped assets, smart contract risk, or third-party custody. Instead, it routes user stake to top validators via the Stake Auction Marketplace (SAM), a permissionless mechanism that matches staker flows with validators offering competitive terms.
Through the SAM, validators compete for stake by submitting bids that offer to return a share of their earned priority fees to Marinade stakers. This creates a market-driven environment where staking yield is determined by open competition rather than fixed protocol settings. The more competitive the bidding, the greater the incentives offered by validators, which in turn drives higher yield for stakers. By letting the open market set staking rewards, SAM aligns validator incentives with performance and decentralization, allowing stakers to earn above-average returns without adding additional risk. These incentives enable Marinade Native stakers to consistently earn yields that exceed those available from 0% fee validators.
For institutions, Marinade Native offers a regulatory-friendly staking solution designed around compliance and operational transparency. It is SOC 2 compliant, meaning the protocol has implemented controls to ensure the security, availability, and confidentiality of user data. Marinade also integrates with institutional custodians, including BitGo, Zodia, and Copper, and provides a built-in rewards reporting tool for tax purposes. To further align with institutional preferences, the protocol is developing Native Instant Unstake, allowing users to exit staking positions without waiting for the typical 2–3 day unlock period.
Since launching Marinade Native, the protocol has seen steady growth in adoption among institutional and long-term SOL holders. TVL in Marinade Native has climbed to over 5.3 million SOL ($767.2 million) as of June 16, 2025, driven by rising demand for a staking solution that combines security, performance, and compliance. Marinade Native’s APY has consistently outperformed baseline protocol rewards and staking with individual zero-commission validators, driven by the Stake Auction Marketplace (SAM), where validators compete to offer enhanced yield-sharing terms. With integrations live for major custodians and a built-in rewards reporting tool for tax purposes, Marinade Native is a preferred staking option for entities seeking operational transparency and minimized risk.
Marinade Select
Marinade Select offers a curated validator set to meet the growing demand for secure, transparent, and institutionally aligned staking on Solana. While Marinade Native leverages the Stake Auction Marketplace (SAM) to delegate SOL based on open-market competition among validators, Marinade Select enables users to opt into a fixed delegation strategy to a curated set of validators selected for their performance, decentralization, and enhanced compliance standards.
By June 16, 2025, Marinade Select reached 839,800 SOL in TVL (~$132.1 million) since its launch, accounting for ~7.6% of Marinade’s total TVL across its liquid staking product mSOL, Marinade Native, and Marinade Select. During this period, staking yields ranged from 7.0% to 7.7% APY, reflecting real-time validator performance and consistent reward delivery. The validator set maintained an average uptime of 99.93%, demonstrating the effectiveness of Marinade’s curated selection and performance safeguards.
The validators in the Marinade Select set must pass identity verification (KYC), commit to ethical MEV practices, and maintain high uptime. Each validator is required to post a bond denominated in SOL, set at 1 SOL per 1,000 SOL staked through them. As of June 16, 2025, a total of 1,892.4 SOL has been bonded across the 30 validators in the Marinade Select validator set, with individual bonds ranging from 27.4 to 150.3 SOL. The bond is automatically delegated to the validator and serves as a safeguard to cover performance penalties or rebalancing costs if they are removed from the set.
This bonding requirement is part of Marinade’s protected staking rewards (PSR) program, which ensures long-term alignment between validators and stakers and introduces a layer of capital-backed accountability not typically found in permissionless staking models. PSR ensures that stakers are insulated from validator penalties and operational costs, with any negative performance offset by the validator’s posted bond.
Marinade Select also implements smart rebalancing, distributing stake evenly across the validator set or allocating it to underweighted validators to maintain proportional exposure and capital efficiency. When users unstake, SOL is withdrawn from a subset of validators to minimize disruption and operational overhead, with the remaining allocations gradually rebalanced over time. By layering performance guarantees, compliance filters, and risk mitigation tools on top of Marinade Native’s architecture, Marinade Select delivers an institutional-grade staking solution tailored to meet the operational standards of institutional allocators.
Institutional Adoption and Regulatory Clarity
The Canary Marinade Solana ETF
The Canary Marinade Solana ETF, filed by Canary Capital with the SEC in Q2 2025, introduces a structure for gaining regulated access to SOL and native SOL staking. The ETF is structured as a grantor trust that holds SOL and participates in staking through Marinade Select. Investors receive pass-through exposure to staking rewards in a format compatible with traditional brokerage and retirement accounts.
The trust delegates SOL through Marinade Select, distributing stake across the vetted validator set using automated allocation rules. Rewards accrue directly to shareholders, who are treated as beneficial owners of the underlying SOL for tax and reporting purposes. If the trust receives any forked assets, resulting from a network split or protocol-level fork, it is required to sell them and distribute the proceeds.
The ETF is designed for institutions and fiduciaries, including plans subject to ERISA. Marinade Select was built with regulatory compliance in mind and selected for its ability to meet the operational demands of a staking-based ETF. Its architecture includes validator screening, programmatic rebalancing, and non-custodial reward delivery within a structure suited for regulated investment vehicles.
SEC’s View on SOL Staking in ETFs
As of June 2025, several asset managers have filed to launch spot Solana ETFs, but Canary Capital remains the only issuer to publicly name a staking provider. Marinade Select is the exclusive protocol listed in any ETF filing to date, giving it a unique position among the competing proposals. Other issuers, including VanEck, Fidelity, and Bitwise, have not yet disclosed which, if any, staking infrastructure they plan to use.
Multiple issuers are exploring ways to incorporate staking into their products. On April 1, 2025, representatives from BlackRock and the Crypto Council for Innovation’sProof of Stake Alliance met with the SEC’s Crypto Task Force to discuss the regulatory treatment of staking in the context of exchange-traded products (ETPs). The POSA delegation, which included representatives from firms such as a16z, Paradigm, Lido Labs, and Marinade, submitted a detailed letter requesting clear guidance on staking services and validator operations. The letter argued that staking is a technical process, not a securities transaction, and urged the SEC to acknowledge that staking rewards are determined by blockchain protocols rather than through managerial decisions. The group also presented staking industry principles and reviewed models, including liquid, custodial, and delegated staking, aiming to inform a regulatory framework that supports responsible staking within ETP structures. More recently, the SEC asked Solana ETF applicants to revise their filings to clarify how staking would be handled and said it would provide feedback within 30 days. This suggests that the agency is actively reviewing staking-based ETF designs.
If staking becomes part of the final ETF structures, the choice of provider will likely emerge as a key differentiator. Canary’s decision to use Marinade Select signals a focus on regulatory alignment and operational control. Whether other issuers will follow this approach or pursue alternative models remains to be seen.
Closing Summary
Marinade Native lays the foundation for secure and compliant staking on Solana. By allowing users to delegate directly to top-performing validators without relying on smart contracts, Marinade Native offers a staking experience that removes smart contract risk while meeting institutional standards. The protocol’s SOC 2 compliance, integrations with custodians like BitGo, Zodia, and Copper, its tax reporting tool, and Native Instant Unstake position it as one of the most operationally mature native staking platforms in the ecosystem.
Marinade Select extends Marinade Native’s foundation by narrowing the validator set to only include nodes that meet higher standards for identity verification, decentralization, and performance. Validators must complete KYC, post bonds to participate, and follow ethical MEV guidelines. These added requirements make Marinade Select well-suited for institutional adoption and compatible with traditional financial products like ETFs. Its inclusion as the exclusive staking provider in the proposed Canary Marinade Solana ETF points to Marinade Select’s ability to meet the regulatory and operational standards required by fiduciary-managed investment vehicles. As the SEC continues to evaluate Solana ETF applications, Marinade Select stands as a leading candidate to support native staking in the first approved Solana ETF.
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Hayden is a Research Analyst specializing in the intersection of crypto-economic incentive mechanisms and their role in DeFi, DePIN, and AI ecosystems. Prior to joining Messari, Hayden worked as a Research Analyst at The Block and as a Venture Associate at a crypto-native venture capital fund.
Hayden is a Research Analyst specializing in the intersection of crypto-economic incentive mechanisms and their role in DeFi, DePIN, and AI ecosystems. Prior to joining Messari, Hayden worked as a Research Analyst at The Block and as a Venture Associate at a crypto-native venture capital fund.
