The Canary Marinade Solana ETF (SOLC) launched on Nov. 18, 2025. The ETF stakes 100% of its assets through Marinade Select with BitGo custody, marking Marinade’s most significant institutional distribution milestone to date.
Marinade Select TVL grew 205.5% QoQ to 2.7 million SOL, becoming the protocol’s primary source of growth. Approximately 2.2 million SOL of inflows occurred on Nov. 27, 2025, following the Canary Marinade Solana ETF launch.
Protocol revenue increased 1.5% QoQ to 13,970 SOL, while declining 2.6% QoQ in USD terms to $2.52 million. Marinade maintained stable revenue despite a 67.6% QoQ decline in SOL’s market price.
Marinade repurchased $889K of MNDE in Q4’25, increasing buyback activity 384.6% QoQ. However, the DAO voted to pause buybacks through the approval of MIP-17 on Dec. 26, 2025, redirecting capital toward improving MNDE liquidity.
In 2026, Marinade plans to expand beyond SOL staking with new revenue-generating product lines. These include stablecoin-based staking, treasury bill–backed yield strategies, delta-neutral income products, USD-denominated accounts, and payment card integrations.
Primer
Marinade (MNDE) is an automated staking protocol on Solana that offers three core products: liquid staking via mSOL, native Solana staking via Marinade Native, and Marinade Select, an enterprise-focused native staking solution that launched in Q2’25 and consists of a curated validator set that has been verified through KYC and is committed to ethical MEV practices.
Marinade Native and Marinade Select enable users to delegate SOL directly to top-performing validators while retaining custody of their SOL, thereby 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 Type 2 compliance, integrations with custodians like BitGo, Zodia, and Copper, a staking rewards report tool for tax purposes, and instant liquidity via Native Instant Unstake have positioned Marinade Native and Select as a leading choice for institutional stakers.
Marinade’s liquid staking product, Marinade SOL (mSOL), is a tokenized version of staked SOL that can be freely used across DeFi protocols. Users receive mSOL when staking through Marinade’s liquid staking interface, allowing them to earn staking rewards while maintaining the flexibility to trade, lend, or use their assets within Solana’s growing DeFi ecosystem.
Marinade was founded during the March 2021 Solana x Serum Hackathon and launched on mainnet on Aug. 2, 2021. Marinade’s governance token, MNDE, was released a few months later, with a retroactive airdrop for mSOL holders. Marinade has not raised venture capital funding or conducted public token sales. Instead, Marinade’s token, MNDE, has mainly been distributed via various campaigns to reward users and contributors. Beyond incentives, MNDE is used for governance on Realms, and since Sept. 5, 2025, a portion of protocol fees has been allocated to onchain MNDE buybacks, aligning token value with protocol revenue.
Previously, Marinade delegated staked SOL to validators based on its algorithmic delegation strategy. After Q2’24, the delegation strategy was updated with the launch of the Stake Action Marketplace (SAM), where validators bid on stakers' SOL deposits, creating a market-based mechanism for validator competition and enabling stakers to earn optimized returns.
To participate in Marinade, validators must maintain a maximum effective commission of 7%, factoring in offsets from Stake Auction Marketplace (SAM) bids. A validator with a 25% public rate can still qualify if its bid reduces the effective rate to 0%. Validators are also required to participate in Protected Staking Rewards (PSR) by posting a SOL-denominated bond that can be slashed for downtime, commission changes, or other misbehavior.
During Q4’25, Marinade’s market capitalization declined 71.0% QoQ, falling from $71.8 million to $20.8 million. This contraction was driven by a 70.4% QoQ decline in MNDE’s price, which fell from $0.128 to $0.038. MNDE’s circulating supply also decreased 1.9% QoQ during the quarter, falling from 559.9 million to 549.2 million tokens, due to MNDE repurchases executed in Q4’25 that removed MNDE from circulation and allocated these tokens to the DAO treasury. Notably, this drawdown occurred despite repurchase activity totaling $889,400 in Q4, while 50% of protocol fees were still being allocated toward MNDE buybacks. The sustained decline in MNDE’s valuation shows that the MNDE buyback program was insufficient to offset broader market weakness, prompting the DAO to redirect protocol revenue toward liquidity improvements and long-term growth initiatives.
Staking
Marinade is a non-custodial staking protocol that offers three distinct SOL staking products: liquid staking via mSOL, native staking via Marinade Native, and institutional-grade staking via Marinade Select, which adheres to stringent performance, uptime, and verification standards, including a KYC verification, and zero tolerance for malicious MEV behavior.
Marinade’s liquid staking product allows users to receive mSOL, a tokenized receipt of their staked SOL that is freely usable across DeFi applications. Marinade Native enables users to stake without receiving a token, retain full custody, eliminate smart contract risk, and earn staking rewards directly to their stake accounts with no management fees. Marinade Select is an institutional-grade native staking solution featuring a curated, KYC-verified validator set with a track record of reliability and a commitment to ethical onchain behavior, including prohibitions on front-running and sandwiching.
Marinade Select has also been selected as the staking provider for the Canary Marinade Solana ETF, which launched under the ticker symbol SOLC on Nov. 18, 2025. Earlier in the quarter, Nasdaq-listed VisionSys AI announced a partnership with Marinade to launch a Solana-based digital asset treasury initiative valued at up to $2 billion, with an initial target of $500 million in SOL to be acquired and staked through Marinade’s infrastructure. In both cases, Marinade serves as the exclusive staking partner, overseeing delegation, compliance, and performance optimization.
During Q4’25, the total amount of SOL staked across Marinade’s three products declined 9.9% QoQ, falling from 10.4 million to 9.4 million SOL, while remaining up 5.7% YoY compared to 8.8 million SOL in Q4’24. Unlike Q3’25, a 67.6% QoQ decline in SOL’s price compounded the impact of staking outflows, driving a 47.2% QoQ decline in total USD-denominated TVL to $1.2 billion.
Marinade Native ceded its top spot as Marinade’s largest staking product, as Native Staked SOL TVL declined from 4.9 million to 3.1 million SOL. mSOL TVL also fell from 4.5 million to 3.5 million SOL, as contraction persisted across Marinade’s retail-focused staking products, but regained the lead as Marinade’s largest staking product by TVL. Marinade Select’s SOL TVL grew significantly in Q4’25, increasing from 896,900 SOL to 2.7 million SOL (+205.5% QoQ), as Marinade attracted stake via its institutional-grade offering, which features SOC 2 Type 2 compliance, protected staking rewards, and integrations with custodians such as BitGo, Zodia, and Copper.
Revenue
Marinade’s protocol revenue is primarily derived from validator performance fees collected through the Stake Auction Marketplace (SAM), with additional revenue generated from unstake fees applied across Marinade Native, mSOL, and Marinade Select. During Q4’25, Marinade generated 13,970 SOL in revenue, equivalent to $2.52 million. This represented a 1.5% increase in revenue measured in SOL and a 2.6% decline in dollar terms from Q3’s $2.58 million (13,760 SOL). While staking-related activity remained stable, weaker SOL’s price decreased 67.6% QoQ, offsetting modest growth in SOL-based fees and resulting in largely flat USD-denominated revenue. On a YoY basis, revenue declined 7.1% in SOL terms and 17.4% in USD terms compared to Q4’24, when Marinade generated 15,038 SOL and $3.05 million in revenue.
As in prior quarters, nearly all protocol revenue was sourced from validator performance fees collected through the SAM. These fees, capped at 9.5%, represent a portion of staking rewards offered by validators in exchange for delegated stake. Because the SAM is a market-driven mechanism, Marinade’s revenue remains closely tied to validator competitiveness, staker demand, and broader sentiment toward Solana staking.
MNDE Buybacks
During Q4’25, Marinade continued executing its onchain MNDE buyback program, repurchasing approximately $889,400 worth of MNDE, equivalent to an average of $9,773 per day. Buybacks were executed through ongoing 30-day dollar-cost-averaging (DCA) schedules funded by protocol performance fees generated via the Stake Auction Marketplace (SAM), continuing the framework approved under MIP-11, MIP-13, and MIP-15. However, on Dec. 26, 2025, the Marinade DAO voted to pause the buyback program via MIP-17.
Token Emissions
Marinade has a fixed maximum token supply of 1.0 billion MNDE. During Q3’25, the DAO executed MIP-14, permanently burning 300 million MNDE from the DAO treasury. The burn reduced the total token supply to 700 million MNDE. In Q4’25, the circulating supply decreased from 559.9 million to 549.2 million MNDE (-1.9% QoQ) due to Marinade’s token buyback program. On a YoY basis, circulating supply increased 42.1%, rising from 386.4 million MNDE in Q4’24.
Performance Analysis
Validators and APY
Marinade’s staking yields remained competitive in Q4’25, though returns continued to decline from Q2’s highs of over 8% APY across all three of Marinade’s products. Staking yields are influenced by Solana network activity, validator performance, and the distribution of priority fees.
Marinade Liquid (mSOL)
The mSOL APY ended Q4’25 at approximately 6.33%, compared to 6.87% at the end of Q3’25. mSOL yields are calculated using Marinade’s true price metric, which measures the ratio of SOL backing each mSOL token. These yields remain sensitive to validator uptime, network transaction volumes, and priority fee generation.
Marinade Native
Native staking APRs fell from 6.81% to 6.37% during the quarter, primarily due to network-wide declines in priority fees, which have remained near all-time lows for several months, reducing validator earnings across Solana. Lower validator bidding activity in the Stake Auction Marketplace (SAM) and the proportion of priority fees passed through to stakers further contributed to the decline. Native staking typically offers slightly higher yields than mSOL because it avoids liquidity-related fees. Historically, native staking required users to observe a 2–3-day unstaking cooldown period, but Marinade introduced instant unstake. This feature, built in collaboration with Anza, enables users to exit any native staking positions instantly, without waiting for the unstaking cooldown period, even those not created through Marinade.
The continued development of Marinade Native’s infrastructure and liquidity features has also strengthened its standing among institutional staking solutions. Its integration as the staking provider for the live Bitwise Solana Staking ETP showcases Marinade’s credibility as a trusted, compliant partner for regulated exposure to Solana staking.
Marinade Select
Marinade Select, launched in June 2025, is an institutional-grade staking solution built on a curated validator set that enforces KYC verification, ethical MEV practices, and high uptime standards. Validator accountability is reinforced through Marinade’s Protected Staking Rewards. During Q4’25, Marinade Select’s APY declined QoQ alongside broader compression in Solana staking yields, falling from 6.44% at Q3-end to 6.16% at Q4-end.
The product is specifically designed to meet institutional and regulatory requirements, and serves as the exclusive staking provider for Canary Capital’s Canary Marinade Solana ETF (SOLC). The ETF launched on Nov. 18, 2025, and is designed to pass through 100% of staking yield directly to investors. Notably, Marinade Select experienced a sharp increase in SOL TVL on Nov. 26, 2025, shortly after the launch of the Canary Marinade Solana ETF, which stakes all underlying assets through Marinade Select.
As of the end of Q4’25, Marinade delegated SOL to 73 active validators on Solana, down from 126 at the end of Q3’25. All validators receiving Marinade delegation must maintain a maximum effective commission rate of 7%, which accounts for offsets through their bids in the Stake Auction Marketplace (SAM). A validator may charge a higher public commission, for example 25%, and still qualify if their bid offsets that rate. Validators are also required to participate in the Protected Staking Rewards (PSR), a bonding program where validators post a SOL-denominated bond that can be slashed for misbehavior, extended downtime, or commission manipulation. This bond serves as an economic safeguard to promote validator performance and reliability.
Following the approval of MIP-3 in November 2024, Marinade transitioned all stake allocation to the Stake Auction Marketplace (SAM), replacing its previous hybrid delegation model. Under the SAM, validators bid for SOL delegation by offering custom yield terms, competing against other validators to offer the most attractive terms. Prior to MIP-18, Marinade applied a performance fee of up to 9.5% on validator bids, which was captured as protocol revenue. However, on Dec. 26, 2025, the Marinade DAO approved MIP-18, introducing a revised fee structure to improve yield competitiveness and align incentives. The update replaced the fixed performance fee with a conditional performance fee charged only when Marinade’s staking APY exceeds the Solana Staking Rate, a chain-wide benchmark derived from inflation and transaction fees. MIP-18 also introduces a unified 20 bps unstake fee across Marinade Native, mSOL, and Marinade Select, shifting revenue collection toward exits rather than ongoing rewards. Together, these changes align protocol revenue more closely with measurable outperformance while reducing fee drag for long-term stakers.
The SAM incentivizes validator competition and yield optimization, while PSR enforces minimum performance standards, together balancing staking efficiency and decentralization. Marinade also actively monitors validator behavior and has taken enforcement actions, including validator exclusions, against operators engaging in unethical MEV practices, helping preserve consistent staking outcomes for users. As yields compressed and validator participation declined in Q4’25, these protocol-level controls became increasingly important in maintaining performance stability and capital efficiency.
Institutional Adoption
Institutional adoption of Marinade’s staking infrastructure accelerated in Q4’25, driven by increased demand for compliant, native Solana staking. One of these drivers was the launch of the Canary Marinade Solana ETF, which stakes all underlying assets through Marinade Select. Additionally, earlier in the quarter, Marinade also partnered with Nasdaq-listed VisionSys AI to support a Solana-based digital asset treasury initiative valued at up to $2 billion, with an initial $500 million allocation targeted for acquisition and staking. In both cases, Marinade serves as the exclusive staking partner, overseeing delegation, compliance, and performance optimization, reinforcing its role as a core infrastructure provider for large-scale, institutional Solana staking.
mSOL in DeFi
mSOL usage within DeFi declined in Q4’25 as SOL’s price entered a sustained downtrend, reducing the attractiveness of holding SOL to access single-digit staking yields. As of quarter-end, 1.1 million mSOL was deployed across Solana DeFi protocols, representing a 17.7% QoQ decline. On a YoY basis, mSOL deployed in DeFi was largely unchanged, declining 1.5% YoY, indicating that mSOL maintained its role as a core yield-bearing asset within Solana DeFi despite near-term deleveraging.
Kamino remained the largest venue for mSOL utilization, holding 647,145 mSOL at quarter-end, though mSOL TVL declined 26.9% QoQ as usage across leveraged and yield-enhancement strategies moderated. Save followed with 264,836 mSOL, down 6.8% QoQ, while MarginFi and Sanctum held 59,154 mSOL and 43,210 mSOL, respectively. Drift maintained 39,608 mSOL, while Squads grew to 12,700 mSOL, driven by increased multisig treasury usage.
Competitive Landscape
Solana’s liquid staking rate increased in Q4’25, rising from 9.4% to 10.5% of all SOL, even as broader market conditions weighed on DeFi activity. Market share remained concentrated among incumbents. Jito maintained its position as the leading liquid staking protocol with jitoSOL, ending the quarter with a 32.5% share, supported by deep integrations across Solana DeFi and consistent validator performance. Binance’sbnSOL remained the second-largest provider at 23.6%, continuing to benefit from centralized exchange distribution even as overall liquid staking participation declined.
Jupiter’sjupSOL held 10.7% of Solana liquid staking TVL, reinforcing its position as the third-largest provider following rapid adoption earlier in 2025. Marinade’s mSOL market share declined from 9.4% to 7.8% over the quarter as Marinade’s product focus shifted further toward institutional staking through Marinade Select, which grew SOL TVL 205.5% QoQ. Even with market share losses, mSOL remained broadly integrated across Solana DeFi, with ongoing usage in lending markets, structured yield products, and liquidity venues.
Among smaller providers, Sanctum ended the quarter at 4.4% market share, and Bybit’sbbSOL at 4.1%, while the long tail of other liquid staking providers collectively represented 16.7%. Overall, Q4’25 featured a more defensive liquid staking environment, where share was increasingly shaped by distribution and liquidity depth rather than net new sector growth.
Qualitative Analysis
Governance
Marinade’s governance framework continued to serve as the foundation for protocol development in Q4’25. The DAO introduced and approved several MIPs focused on emissions, buybacks, MNDE liquidity, fee structure updates, and SAM improvements. These proposals reflect the community’s ongoing effort to manage protocol revenue appropriately.
MIP-16: Liquidity Provisioning Framework for MNDE
Introduced on Nov. 4, 2025, MIP-16 proposed establishing a structured framework for deploying DAO-owned MNDE into liquidity pools to improve market depth and reduce volatility following the activation of protocol-funded buybacks. Rather than continuing to rely solely on direct repurchases, the proposal emphasized improving secondary-market liquidity through controlled LP deployments across approved venues. The initiative aimed to support healthier price discovery while preserving treasury optionality. MIP-16 passed on Dec. 7, 2025, authorizing the DAO to deploy MNDE liquidity under predefined risk parameters and reporting requirements.
MIP-17: Pause Protocol-Funded MNDE Buybacks
MIP-17, introduced on Nov. 7, 2025, proposed pausing the protocol-funded MNDE buyback program that had been activated earlier in the year under MIP-11, MIP-13, and MIP-15. The proposal cited sustained weakness in MNDE’s market price and limited effectiveness of buybacks in improving token performance relative to broader market conditions. Instead, it recommended reallocating protocol revenue toward liquidity provisioning and longer-term growth initiatives. The Marinade DAO approved MIP-17 on Dec. 26, 2025, formally suspending buybacks and marking a shift away from direct token price support mechanisms.
MIP-18: Conditional Performance Fees and Unified Unstake Fee
MIP-18 introduced an update to Marinade’s fee model to improve yield competitiveness and align incentives. Approved on Dec. 26, 2025, the proposal replaced the fixed 9.5% performance fee with a conditional performance fee charged only when Marinade’s staking APY exceeds the Solana Staking Rate (SSR), a network-wide benchmark derived from inflation and transaction fees. In addition, MIP-18 unified unstake fees across Marinade Native, mSOL, and Marinade Select by introducing a 20 bps unstake fee on exits. The changes were designed to reduce fee drag during periods of compressed rewards while ensuring the DAO captures fees only when the protocol delivers measurable outperformance.
MIP-19: SAM Efficiency and Redelegation Cost Optimization
Introduced on Dec. 16, 2025, MIP-19 focused on improving capital efficiency within the Stake Auction Marketplace (SAM) by reducing unnecessary redelegation costs and smoothing validator transitions. The proposal addressed inefficiencies observed during periods of declining validator participation, aiming to preserve net yields for stakers while maintaining decentralization and validator accountability. MIP-19 was approved on Dec. 26, 2025.
MIP-21: Exchange mSOL from and Redirect Fees to the Council Wallet
MIP-21, introduced on Jan. 14, 2026, proposes a treasury management mechanism to reduce MNDE sell pressure while preserving operational funding for Marinade Labs. The proposal suggests exchanging 2,279 mSOL held in the DAO treasury for 9.74 million MNDE of equivalent value held by the Council wallet, allowing expenses to be funded using a more liquid asset without selling MNDE on the open market. MIP-21 also proposes temporarily redirecting protocol fees to the Council wallet, with an equivalent value of MNDE transferred back to the DAO treasury on a monthly basis, maintaining economic neutrality for the DAO while reducing governance overhead.
Partnerships, Integrations, and Listings
Metaplex Genesis Partnership
Marinade joined Metaplex’s Genesis Partner Network, providing staking infrastructure for projects launching with Metaplex. Participating teams can stake raised SOL with Marinade Native or Select and direct staking rewards toward automated token buybacks, enabling sustainable, yield-driven tokenomics. Early partners include Collector Crypt, Goated, and Portals, each leveraging Marinade to fund long-term buyback and growth mechanisms.
Token Terminal Data Partnership
In Q4’25, Marinade entered into a data partnership with Token Terminal to enhance transparency and stakeholder reporting across its staking products. Through the integration, Token Terminal began tracking Marinade’s onchain metrics, including assets staked, protocol revenue, and validator performance, providing standardized financial and operational insights for users, analysts, and institutional stakeholders. As Marinade’s total assets staked surpassed $2 billion, the partnership reflected a growing need for a continuous, data-driven reporting infrastructure to support informed decision-making and external analysis of the protocol’s performance.
Fragmetric Integration
In Q4’25, Marinade integrated mSOL with Fragmetric, enabling users to restake mSOL into fragSOL and participate in Node Consensus Networks while retaining liquid staking exposure. The integration allows mSOL holders to layer additional yield on top of Solana staking rewards by contributing economic security to Fragmetric’s restaking framework. By extending mSOL into the emerging restaking ecosystem, the partnership expands mSOL’s utility beyond traditional DeFi use cases.
Global Dollar Network (USDG) Integration
On Nov. 20, 2025, Marinade released its first Global Dollar Network (USDG) recipe, enabling users to stake SOL and receive USDG-denominated rewards. The product converts Solana staking rewards into stable, predictable yield while preserving full exposure to native staking. During the initial launch period, 100% of validator and priority fees were passed through to stakers, with additional USDG incentives jointly funded by Marinade and the Global Dollar Network. Even excluding launch incentives, the strategy delivered materially higher APYs than Marinade Native and Marinade Select during the quarter, as rewards were paid in a stable asset during a period of declining SOL prices. The launch expanded Marinade’s yield offerings beyond SOL-native rewards and demonstrated the protocol’s ability to support stablecoin-based income strategies on top of its institutional-grade staking infrastructure.
Jupiter Lend Integration
In Q4’25, mSOL was added to Jupiter Lend, expanding its utility within Solana’s money market ecosystem. The integration enables users to supply mSOL into borrow and multiply vaults, allowing leveraged staking strategies and collateralized borrowing against SOL, USDG, and USDC with high loan-to-value and liquidation thresholds. By supporting both yield amplification and low-risk collateral use cases, the integration strengthens mSOL’s position as a core liquid staking asset within Solana DeFi and deepens its presence across capital-efficient lending and leverage platforms.
Roadmap and Looking Ahead
Marinade’s roadmap entering 2026 centers on validator accountability, institutional-grade staking infrastructure, and improved capital efficiency across Solana’s staking ecosystem. Continued refinement of validator incentive design and stake allocation mechanisms is intended to sustain competitive yields while reducing redelegation costs and operational friction as network conditions mature.
Alpenglow
Looking into 2026, the Solana staking landscape is expected to undergo a structural shift driven by protocol-level upgrades. Alpenglow, Solana’s proposed consensus redesign, aims to reduce transaction finality to sub-150ms by simplifying vote propagation and eliminating per-slot vote transactions. For staking, this lowers validator operating costs by removing vote fees and improves the viability of smaller validators, supporting broader participation and decentralization.
Product Development
In 2026, Marinade is also exploring product expansion beyond SOL-native staking to address a wider range of yield and risk preferences. Potential offerings include stablecoin-based staking products that pair onchain staking infrastructure with treasury bill–backed and delta-neutral income strategies, targeting users seeking yield without direct exposure to SOL price volatility. Over the longer term, the team is evaluating account-level abstractions such as USD-denominated accounts and payment card integrations, which would allow staking-derived yield to be delivered through familiar financial interfaces. If implemented, these products would extend Marinade’s staking infrastructure beyond crypto-native users and position it as a backend yield provider for both institutional and consumer-facing financial applications.
Marinade Team Commentary
Team Commentary Disclaimer
The Marinade Team Commentary section of this report was written by the Marinade team and reflects the views, opinions, and forward-looking statements of Marinade only. This section is included to provide additional context on the project’s strategy, priorities, and outlook and does not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Messari, Inc.
Q4 was a tough quarter by any market measure. SOL down 67%, MNDE under pressure. But what actually shipped tells a different story.
Recipes were the highlight. The validator recipe system went live and delivered real results: meaningful TVL growth and the best staking yield on Solana. That's not a temporary edge. Recipes are the infrastructure that makes it sustainable.
Select kept growing. 205% QoQ to 2.7M SOL, with the Canary Marinade Solana ETF staking entirely through Select. As ETF products continue launching on Solana, we expect Select to be the natural staking layer underneath. Native staking and institutional products are where we see the most momentum, and that's where we're doubling down.
The community proposed and voted to pause MNDE buybacks. They weren't moving the needle on price. The team is now working on something meaningfully better for MNDE holders and will share more this year.
On the roadmap, we're close to announcing a stablecoin product that converts staking yield into stable returns. That opens a much larger market than native SOL staking alone. We're also contributing to the Solana Staking Index, a network-wide benchmark rate the ecosystem can use as a shared reference point.
The macro was difficult, but Q4 gave us confidence that what we're building holds up. Our number one priority going into 2026: making Marinade's staking yield the best on the market and widening the gap. Growing institutional traction and a product roadmap that expands what staking can do. The focus now is on delivering.
Michael Repetný is Co-Founder and CEO of Marinade Labs, the leading staking infrastructure on Solana. Its Stake Auction Marketplace lets validators compete for delegated SOL, delivering top staking yields with protected rewards and automated validator selection. Marinade serves over 150,000 holders across native staking, liquid staking (mSOL), and institutional products, including Marinade Select. SOC 2 Type II certified and integrated with major custodians, including BitGo, Bitwise, Zodia, and Copper. Learn more at marinade.finance.
Closing Summary
In Q4’25, Marinade maintained stable protocol revenue despite a 9.9% QoQ decline in total SOL TVL, highlighting the resilience of its market-driven staking model under weaker network conditions. Revenue increased 1.5% QoQ in SOL terms to 13,970 SOL, while USD-denominated revenue declined 2.6% QoQ and 17.4% YoY to $2.52 million, primarily due to SOL’s sustained SOL price weakness, which fell 67.6% QoQ. Institutional demand partially offset broader staking outflows, as Marinade Select’s SOL TVL increased 205.5% QoQ following the Nov. 18, 2025, launch of the Canary Marinade Solana ETF under the ticker symbol SOLC.
During the quarter, Marinade executed $889,400 in MNDE buybacks, representing a 384.6% QoQ increase in repurchase activity. However, later in the quarter, the Marinade DAO voted to pause protocol-funded buybacks and redirect protocol revenue toward new revenue-generating product lines. Looking into 2026, Marinade plans to expand beyond SOL-native staking with new offerings, including stablecoin-based staking, treasury bill–backed yield strategies, delta-neutral income products, and account-level abstractions such as USD-denominated accounts and payment card integrations. These initiatives position Marinade to extend its staking infrastructure into a broader yield platform while maintaining a focus on validator accountability, capital efficiency, and institutional accessibility.
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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.
