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Glossary#

Key terms and concepts used throughout the Marinade documentation.

Marinade-Specific Terms#

mSOL
Marinade Staked SOL - a liquid staking token that represents staked SOL. mSOL appreciates in value relative to SOL as staking rewards accrue.
SAM (Stake Auction Marketplace)
A mechanism where validators bid for stake allocation from Marinade. Validators compete based on performance and the commission they're willing to share.
PSR (Protected Staking Rewards)
A protection mechanism ensuring stakers receive their expected rewards even if a validator underperforms or acts maliciously.
Native Staking
Staking method where users retain direct ownership of stake accounts while Marinade handles validator selection and rebalancing.
Liquid Staking
Staking method where users deposit SOL and receive mSOL tokens, enabling DeFi participation while earning staking rewards.
Delayed Unstake
Unstaking method that waits for the epoch boundary, avoiding fees but requiring ~1-2 epochs waiting time.
Instant Unstake
Unstaking method that provides immediate SOL liquidity by swapping mSOL through liquidity pools, incurring a small fee (0.1-0.3%).
CPMPE (Cost Per Mille Per Epoch)
A bidding metric in SAM representing the cost in lamports that a validator pays per 1,000 SOL delegated per epoch. Used for static bids.
MNDE
Marinade's governance token. Used for voting on protocol decisions, directing stake allocation, and validator bonds.
Validator Bond
MNDE or SOL locked by validators participating in SAM. Bonds cover potential downtime, yield obligations, and bid costs.
Transaction Router
Marinade's API service that builds optimal transactions for staking and unstaking operations. Returns ready-to-sign transactions.
Max Yield
The maximum APY a validator offers to stakers through SAM, combining base staking rewards with bid-shared revenue.

Solana Terms#

Epoch
A period of time (~2 days) during which a fixed set of validators processes transactions. Staking rewards are distributed at epoch boundaries. Nominally 432,000 slots.
SSR (Solana Staking Rate)
A methodology for computing the staking yield on Solana based on actual on-chain rewards. Calculates annualized returns using real epoch durations and observed rewards.
Slot
The smallest unit of time in Solana (~400ms). Each slot can contain one block.
Lamport
The smallest unit of SOL. 1 SOL = 1,000,000,000 lamports.
Stake Account
A Solana program account that holds staked SOL and tracks delegation to a validator.
Validator
A node that participates in consensus by voting on blocks and producing new blocks when selected as leader.
Vote Account
An account associated with a validator that tracks their voting history and commission settings.
Commission
The percentage of staking rewards that a validator keeps before distributing the remainder to stakers.
MEV (Maximal Extractable Value)
Value that validators can extract by reordering, inserting, or censoring transactions. On Solana, often refers to arbitrage profits from transaction ordering.
Rent Exempt Reserve
The minimum SOL balance required to keep an account alive on Solana without paying rent. For stake accounts, approximately 0.00228288 SOL.
Extra Balance
SOL in a stake account that is not delegated or reserved for rent exemption. Appears when rewards like MEV or bids are deposited. Can be withdrawn immediately.
Basis Points (bps)
A unit of measurement equal to 1/100th of a percent. 100 bps = 1%, 500 bps = 5%.
Skip Rate
The percentage of slots where a validator was leader but failed to produce a block. Lower is better; indicates validator reliability.

Stake Account States#

Initializing
The stake account has been created but not yet delegated to a validator.
Delegated (Activating)
The stake account is delegated but hasn't been active for a full epoch yet. Rewards begin after activation completes.
Delegated (Active)
The stake account is fully active and earning rewards.
Delegated (Deactivating)
The stake has been undelegated and is cooling down. Will be withdrawable after the current epoch ends.
Inactive
The stake is fully deactivated and can be withdrawn.

DeFi Terms#

APY (Annual Percentage Yield)
The annualized return on staked assets, accounting for compounding. Marinade staking typically yields ~7-8% APY.
TVL (Total Value Locked)
The total value of assets deposited in a protocol. Marinade's TVL represents all SOL staked through the platform.
Liquidity Pool
A smart contract holding token reserves that enables decentralized trading. mSOL can be traded in various liquidity pools.
Slippage
The difference between expected and actual trade price, typically higher for larger trades or less liquid markets.

Authorities#

Stake Authority
The account authorized to delegate, undelegate, or split a stake account.
Withdraw Authority
The account authorized to withdraw SOL from a stake account after it's deactivated.
Topic Link
Core Concepts Solana Fundamentals
Stake Accounts Stake Account Details
FAQ Frequently Asked Questions