Meet the Marinade v2
Updates
May 25, 2023

Introducing Marinade V2: The next chapter for Solana staking and MNDE

Marinade is evolving and growing, read more in this article.

Introducing Marinade V2: The next chapter for Solana staking and MNDE
  • Marinade is connecting all the best SOL staking tools on Solana, from smarter staking management to native staking and analysis, all in one place.
  • MNDE tokenomics have been adjusted and a mDAO buybacks strategy is in place.
  • Once complete, the governance migration will connect the protocol and DAO better than ever before.
  • As highlighted by last week’s mSOL Directed Stake launch, Marinade continues to build its way out of the 2022–23 bear market. We can point to real signs of progress like Solana’s chain performance and the relaunches of DeFi protocols like Solend and Mango, combined with new projects and migrating ones like Helium and Render. We’ve also observed an increase in Solana’s Nakamoto Coefficient to 34, pointing to an even greater decentralization of the network overall.

    There has also been more interest in liquid staking so far in 2023, thanks in part to Ethereum’s Shangai upgrade introducing liquid staking to the former Proof-of-Work chain, and more awareness of the liquidity issues Solana faces in the wake of the FTX-Alameda collapse, and how locked stake is impacting the liquidity for the ecosystem.

    Marinade has been around for about two years now since being founded through grants in the spring of 2021. It launched the Solana liquid staking product live on to mainnet in August 2021 and its DAO governance in the spring of 2022. Along the way, we’ve experienced, tested, asked, and learned a lot. Marinade has been working closely with the Solana community, from stakers to validators and many others, and gathered feedback on the delegation strategy, web app, staking program, tokenomics, and governance mechanics.

    Reflecting on all the learnings and with improvements to Solana core and its roadmap in mind, we’re preparing to launch an updated version of Marinade — Marinade v2.

    What’s new in Marinade V2?

    Marinade V2 connects items already built with several other key initiatives that will launch later this year.

    Here are 2023 Roadmap highlights so far:

    Validator Dashboard

    Open Doors Program

    Saga Solana mobile phone DApp

    Update to MNDE allocations and milestones

    Stake Pool Delegation Strategy Revamp

    mSOL Directed Stake

    And here’s what is coming up next this year:

  • Stake Pool Delegation strategy updates
  • Staking 360: All-encompassing stake product
  • DAO Governance enhancements
  • MNDE token design
  • Stake Pool Updates and performance
  • In Marinade V2, the delegation strategy is now split in the following way:

  • Performance-based (60%). The algorithmic strategy picks the top 100 ranked validators using the Marinade score that combines yield and decentralization factors.
  • veMNDE (20%). The holders of MNDE that lock their tokens in the governance system can vote on directing stake to validators of their choice. These validators must meet performance requirements in order to ensure mSOL performance remains high.
  • Directed Stake (20%). mSOL holders and protocols with mSOL can choose to vote for specific validators instead of using the algorithm, so long as the validators meet eligibility requirements.
  • Marinade has developed its in-house system to transparently track validators’ performance over time, which you can track on the Validator Dashboard. This way, Marinade can stake with the most robust and rewarding validators and swiftly identify the malicious ones that take advantage of their stakers or degrade the network (e.g., vote lagging).

    Marinade’s new version will put the tracking system into full effect and include Solana’s redelegate feature. This will enable Marinade to instantly rebalance any stake without cooling it down which causes a reduction of staking rewards. That means even better staking rewards for all mSOL holders.

    Staking 360: A product for all Solana stake

    Liquid staking adoption on Solana has remained largely flat during the bear market. While 70% of SOL is staked, only about 2% is liquid staked despite its unique composabilty. In conducting many interviews and surveys about reasons why, several common themes from these participants emerge: taxable events, smart-contract risk, or the desire to support a single validator.

    If you’ve been paying attention to what Marinade has been building, numerous items completed are lining up to serve as the foundation of what’s next. The Validator Dashboard, delegation strategy, directed stake, The Decentralizer (launched in 2022), and the Solana Snapshots grant completed in 2023, combined with a website revamp will be rolled up, optimized, and repackaged as Staking 360: This product will deliver the most comprehensive staking homepage on Solana, enabling you to stake your SOL anywhere you’d like — native or liquid, to one validator or multiple, while utilizing the most robust transparent tools available in the ecosystem.

    Here’s what Staking 360 looks like:

    A suite of products will be combined and optimized to present a full picture of Solana staking.  

  • Algorithmic native staking: Marinade will introduce a native staking option for users to benefit from the automated smart SOL delegation strategy to 100+ best-performing validators without exposure to any smart contract risk. This comes together with the new validators dashboard and Marinade scoring system so that anybody can crosscheck their validators’ performance in time. This will help users hold their validators more accountable and introduce an easy way out if something goes wrong.
  • Unstake pool redesign: Marinade is introducing a design update to the unstake pool to facilitate better instant unstake operations for mSOL, native staking, and other staked SOL tokens. The unstake system combines Jupiter for swaps and Marinade for stake account management to bring users the SOL unstaking experience they deserve. Imagine converting your existing stake into SOL instantly with just one click!
  • More liquid staking integrations: The best part about liquid staking is your mSOL isn’t locked up. Marinade will not only continue building ecosystem integrations for mSOL everywhere imaginable, but Marinade.Finance will be a home to find the best places to use mSOL in DeFi by combining and enhancing the Cookbook educational resource and DeFi landing page which hosts many of today’s top mSOL use cases like collateral and liquidity providing.
  • Staking is fundamental to Solana’s prosperity, and with 70% of SOL already staked, Marinade wants to use its learnings and public goods tooling created like the Validator Dashboard to facilitate smarter staking for everyone in the ecosystem.

    mDAO Governance updates and MNDE

    A more robust product offering opens the door to even more opportunities in the mDAO through the MNDE token and on-chain tooling through Realms.

    Marinade is continuing its governance infrastructure upgrade from Tribeca to Realms, which was built by Solana Labs and Mango Markets, to more closely and transparently connect mDAO governance with the MNDE token as well as the rest of the growing number of Solana communities on Realms.

    Phase one, moving two multisigs and ratifying the code of conduct and constitution, is complete. But that’s just the start. Marinade V2 will operate under the following governance system:

  • The DAO will control the treasury, main contract, and council membership.
  • MNDE holders will lock their MNDE in the governance to gain veMNDE voting power. Chef NFT holders will be asked to migrate to Realms in order to continue governance.
  • The Marinade Council is provided a limited scope of control by the DAO, allowing it to operate day-to-day using the budget. It holds admin security backstop authorities, and the DAO can replace the council through votes.
  • These changes will not only simplify but bring more efficiency to the governance system. | Keep up on the latest Marinade governance on Realms

    Here’s how Marinade Council votes are displayed and executed on Realms.

    MNDE token design

    Two main factors of any token design are allocation and incentives. Since launching MNDE as a fair-launch token in October, 2021, we’ve learned many lessons. In Marinade V2, we’re tackling the main issues and rethinking (or simplifying) token design. Here are the main changes:

    1. Allocation

    We started by distributing 35% for bootstrapping the community, 35% for the treasury, and 30% for the team with a 6-month delay followed by two years of linear vesting.

    As part of revisiting incentives, we recently decided to stop vestings for the team at the already vested 7.5% and only allow further unlocks when we get to grow the total value locked at Marinade. This means unlocking team tokens from time-based to performance-based to better align with the Marinade DAO.

    The new simplified MNDE token split will become the following:

  • DAO (92.5%). This includes 11.5% MNDE already in circulation and 81% MNDE in the treasury controlled by the MNDE holders.
  • Initial contributors (7.5%). This has 6.7% MNDE already in circulation and 0.8% to be vested monthly until the end of 2023.
  • 2. MNDE token buybacks

    Currently, all Marinade protocol fees cover operations. Once the monthly revenue exceeds operational expenses, it will be possible to buy back MNDE from the market if the community proposes and approves it.

    3. MNDE token ownership

    MNDE holders that stake their tokens in governance will ultimately control and decide over the MNDE treasury and the Marinade program. The team will request funding through the DAO proposals. The liquidity mining program will be moved to the case-by-case MNDE grant proposals bounded by time.

    We can sum up MNDE’s utility as follows:

  • SOL delegation. Decide where to delegate 20% of staked SOL through Marinade’s Validator Gauges.
  • Fees. Increased revenue drives increased demand for MNDE with buybacks.
  • Governance. Control the DAO treasury and any new protocol updates.
  • The road thus far has provided the Marinade Chefs a clear focus to work on what matters most: supplying the ecosystem with the best possible staking tools, and moving mDAO governance into the next chapter so the Solana community can truly take control of this community protocol.

    As Marinade builds out these products and enhances its governance and MNDE token design, we want the Chefs to be with us every step of the way. Bring your questions about Marinade V2 and listen in to hear the Master Chefs share the grand vision for 2023:

    Join Marinade Discord | Stake SOL via Marinade’s DApp |

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