TL;DR: Marinade Borrow lets you borrow against your staked SOL without giving up staking rewards. You choose how much to borrow, Marinade puts together the collateral as mSOL, and a routing engine places your position on the lending venue with the best rate that can actually fill your loan.
How it works
Instead of asking how much you want to deposit, Marinade Borrow asks how much you want to borrow. It then assembles the collateral automatically from what you already hold, in this order: idle mSOL, external stake accounts, your Marinade staking positions, then idle SOL in your wallet. It only converts the amount your loan needs. The What backs your loan screen shows exactly which of your holdings will be used before you commit to anything, and nothing moves until you sign. Opening a position takes two or three wallet signatures, so expect more than one prompt.
Your collateral is held as mSOL, so it keeps earning staking rewards the whole time it backs your loan. Only the minimum amount needed for your loan gets converted. A small loan against a large Native position leaves the rest untouched.
Your position lives on an established lending venue, currently Kamino or Jupiter Lend. The venue sets the market parameters (max LTV, liquidation threshold, borrow rate), and the app shows the exact values for your position.
Loans opened elsewhere
Loans you opened directly on Kamino or Jupiter Lend show up in the Marinade app too. If it is a SOL or USDC loan backed by mSOL, you can borrow more, repay, deposit and withdraw on it from Marinade. Loans with other collateral are visible only for now, so manage those on the venue where you opened them.
What to keep an eye on
Your LTV (debt divided by collateral) is the number that matters. If it crosses the liquidation threshold shown in the app, part of your collateral can be sold to repay debt, usually with a penalty.
When you borrow SOL, mSOL and SOL move together, so LTV drifts up slowly through interest. Check in on the timescale of weeks. When you borrow a stablecoin, a drop in SOL's price raises your LTV directly, so watch it closely.
For USDC loans, a new loan opens by default at half the market's liquidation LTV, which gives SOL room to drop about 50% before liquidation. You get less room if you raise the LTV yourself, or if you borrow close to your maximum, because your wallet then doesn't hold enough collateral to open at the default. Your position screen shows your exact liquidation price.
To lower your LTV at any time, repay some debt or add collateral. Both are available in the app.
Repaying
Repay part or all of your debt whenever you want. There are no fixed terms or schedules; interest simply accrues while the debt is open. Repaying reduces your debt, but it does not automatically return your collateral: once fully repaid, withdraw your collateral separately to get it back in your wallet as mSOL, which you can hold, use in DeFi, or unstake back to SOL.
FAQ
Q: What do I need to start?
A: A Solana wallet with SOL, mSOL, or an existing staking position. Marinade Borrow calculates your max borrow from what it finds.
Q: Do I need SOL in my wallet to open a borrow position?
A: Keep more than 0.04 SOL available in the wallet. Opening and closing a position each take several transactions, and the repay screen reserves 0.04 SOL for network fees, so a balance sitting at that level will not be enough.
Q: Does borrowing stop my staking rewards?
A: No. Your collateral is mSOL, which earns Marinade's staking APY the entire time your loan is open. That's the point of the design.
Q: Can I keep my Marinade Native position and still borrow?
A: Yes, for the most part. Marinade uses idle mSOL and external stake accounts first, so your Native position is only drawn on if those do not cover the loan. Even then, only the portion needed to back your loan gets converted to mSOL, sized to the loan you take. The rest stays native.
Q: I hold mSOL. Can I use Marinade Borrow, or do I need to unstake first?
A: You can borrow directly against your mSOL, no unstaking needed. mSOL is the asset Borrow is built around, everything else gets converted to mSOL under the hood, so an mSOL holder needs zero conversion steps. You just need slightly more than dust amounts (roughly $2 of mSOL) plus the SOL fee buffer described above.
Q: I opened a loan on Kamino or Jupiter Lend. Can I manage it from Marinade?
A: If it is a SOL or USDC loan backed by mSOL, yes. You can borrow more, repay, deposit and withdraw on it from Marinade. Loans with other collateral show up in the app but are visible only for now, so manage those on the venue where you opened them.
Q: Who sets the interest rate?
A: The lending venue your position sits on. Borrow APY is variable and follows supply and demand in that market. Marinade shows it to you but doesn't control it.
Q: Can my Net APY go negative?
A: Yes. Net APY compares what your collateral earns with what the loan costs, and the borrow APY is variable. It follows supply and demand in the lending market, so it can rise above what your collateral earns. When it does, Net APY turns negative and the position costs you money instead of earning. Check the live Net APY on your position screen, and repay part or all of the loan if you do not want to carry a negative rate.
Q: Which protocol will my loan end up on?
A: The routing engine picks the venue with the best rate that can actually fill your loan at the time you open the position, currently Kamino or Jupiter Lend. A venue with a better rate but too little available to lend is skipped. The app shows you where your position lives.
Q: Why is my LTV allowed to be so high in the SOL market?
A: Because mSOL and SOL are price-bound. The pair doesn't have the volatility risk that forces conservative ratios in ordinary lending markets. The remaining risk is interest accrual, which moves slowly and predictably.
Q: How far can SOL fall before my USDC loan is liquidated?
A: About 50% if you opened at the default LTV, because the default is set at half the market's liquidation LTV. You have less room if you raised the LTV yourself, if you borrowed close to your maximum (your wallet then doesn't hold enough collateral to open at the default), or if the loan has been open a while, since interest raises LTV over time. Check the liquidation price on your position screen for your exact figure.
Q: What happens if I do nothing?
A: Interest keeps accruing and your LTV drifts upward, while staking rewards on your collateral partially offset it. Left alone long enough, any position with debt can eventually reach the liquidation threshold. Check in periodically, or set a comfortable buffer from the start.
Q: Can I get liquidated even if the market doesn't move?
A: Yes, eventually, through interest accrual alone if you never repay or add collateral. This is slow in price-bound markets, but it's not zero.
Q: What are the risks?
A: Smart contract risk on Marinade's liquid staking contracts and the lending venue's contracts. Liquidation risk if your LTV crosses the threshold. Variable rate risk, since borrow APY can rise, and if it rises above what your collateral earns, your Net APY turns negative. And in stablecoin markets, price risk on SOL.
Q: What does Marinade charge?
A: The costs you see in the app are the ones that apply: the venue's borrow APY on your debt, plus any fees shown at transaction time. No hidden charges beyond what's displayed before you confirm.
Q: Where do I see the exact parameters for my position?
A: On your position screen in the app. Every number that matters, including your LTV, the liquidation threshold, and both APYs, is shown live for the specific market your position sits in.
Want more detail?
The full breakdown of every number on your position screen, borrowing pairs, net APY, and risks: