Marinade Native
Low risk — non-custodial native staking eliminates smart contract risk; principal is always user-controlled with only staking authority delegated to Marinade
Top Risks
1
Users retain withdraw authority but grant staking authority to Marinade — a compromise of Marinade's staking authority key could redirect stake delegation to malicious validators
2
No smart contract risk in the staking itself, but Marinade's delegation software could contain bugs that misallocate stake or fail to rotate away from underperforming validators
3
SOL is locked during native unstaking period (~2-3 days) with no instant unstake option, exposing stakers to opportunity cost and market movement risk during illiquidity
Risk Breakdown
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Marinade Native safe to use?
Marinade Native receives a B risk grade (22/100) from Hindenrank, where lower scores indicate lower risk. Low risk — non-custodial native staking eliminates smart contract risk; principal is always user-controlled with only staking authority delegated to Marinade Marinade Native is the safest way to stake SOL through Marinade. Unlike liquid staking, your SOL never enters a smart contract — it uses Solana's built-in delegation mechanism, and you keep withdraw authority at all times. Marinade only has permission to choose which validators receive your stake, optimizing across 100+ validators for the best returns and network decentralization. With $254M staked and Protected Staking Rewards (PSR) covering validator underperformance, it is designed for stakers who prioritize security over DeFi composability.
What are the main risks of using Marinade Native?
The key risks identified for Marinade Native are: (1) While your SOL is safe from smart contract hacks (you keep withdraw authority), Marinade controls which validators get your stake. If their key is compromised, an attacker could redirect your stake to bad validators until you unstake (2) There is no instant unstake option — if you need your SOL quickly during a market crash, you must wait 2-3 days for the native unstaking period while prices may be moving against you (3) The automated validator selection algorithm may not react fast enough if a validator starts misbehaving. Your stake could remain with an underperforming or compromised validator for a full rotation cycle
What is Marinade Native's risk score breakdown?
Marinade Native scores 22/100 across eight risk dimensions: Mechanism Novelty: 2/15, Interaction Severity: 2/20, Oracle Surface: 0/10, Documentation Gaps: 1/10, Track Record: 2/15, Scale Exposure: 5/10, Regulatory Risk: 3/10, Vitality Risk: 7/10. The highest risk area is Vitality Risk at 7/10.
How does Marinade Native compare to other Liquid Staking protocols?
Among 81 rated Liquid Staking protocols on Hindenrank, Marinade Native ranks #4 by safety (lowest risk score = safest). Its 22/100 risk score and B grade place it among the safer Liquid Staking protocols.
Has Marinade Native ever been hacked or exploited?
Marinade Native scores 2/15 on the Track Record risk dimension, indicating some history of security incidents or exploits. Higher scores reflect more severe or frequent incidents. Review the full risk report for details.
Last scanned 2026-02-26