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The Solana ecosystem has intensified the attention of investors who have turned their eyes on it in 2024 with the launch of new tokens. During this period, major tokens such as Marinade (MNDE), Raydium (RAY), and Jupiter (JUP) attracted attention, recording strong trades using Solana's layer-1 infrastructure. According to data from DefiLlama, this growth in the Solana ecosystem is noticeable. With tokens such as Marinade (MNDE), Raydium (RAY), and Jupiter (JUP), the total value locked (TVL) has risen to $4.17 billion, an impressive increase since the beginning of the year. This represents almost three times the initial TVL of $1.53 billion#HotTopicDiscussion#

BTC completed the Halving, the market fluctuated widely; the Meme section showed strong market momentum; Merlin Chain launched the Token MERL...

Analysis of Solana Staking Market Depth: Four Major Market Makers in the Liquid Staking Field With the cryptocurrency market recovering, Solana (SOL) has risen to the position of the sixth largest cryptocurrency. Among all proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchains, the scale of Solana's stake assets is second only to Ethereum. However, compared to its market position, the capital accumulation of decentralized finance (DeFi) applications within the Solana ecosystem is relatively low, with a total value locked (TVL) of $1.137 billion, only 11.3% of its historical peak. In the composition of Solana's TVL, liquid staking projects play a crucial role, serving as key factors in driving the TVL back to historical highs. In this arena, Marinade and Jito hold significant positions with the highest TVL, highlighting the importance of the liquid staking category.

Solana Decentralized Finance ecosystem overview: Top ten core products and development trends Messari's Q1 2024 report shows that Solana's DeFi trading volume continues to grow, with an average daily spot DEX trading volume increasing by 319% month-over-month to $1.5 billion. This growth is primarily driven by Memecoin trading. Solana has attracted a large number of retail and Memecoin traders due to its extremely low transaction fees and fast confirmation speeds. Against the backdrop of a steady increase in SOL prices, Solana's total value locked (TVL) has also grown to $4.311 billion. Similar to other public chains, Solana's TVL is mainly composed of DEX, LST, lending platforms, and perpetual contracts. Decentralized Exchange (DEX) Decentralized exchanges are usually surrounded by

Let's continue to analyze the project for everyone. Recently, I've been researching projects in the BSC ecosystem, and indeed, I have somewhat neglected the Solana ecosystem. However, I've been keeping an eye on it. Today, let's take a look at this project on SOL, @MarinadeFinance! Many people may not have heard of it, but its data is a bit special, earning over 10 million dollars every year, with a market value of only about 45 million. Let's talk about it and see how it works! The first step is the old rule, first understand what Marinade actually does? In simple terms, it is a tool for managing SOL staking on Solana. If you want to earn some interest on the SOL you have but are worried about it being locked up and not easily accessible, it offers two options: Native staking: It's somewhat like a fixed deposit, locking up SOL to earn interest. The advantage is safety (not going through smart contracts), but the money cannot be withdrawn temporarily. Liquid staking: Convert SOL into its issued mSOL (which can be understood as "certificates of SOL in staking"), allowing you to continue earning interest while also using mSOL to earn more on other DeFi platforms (for example, as collateral on lending platforms). It currently manages 11 million SOL, which is approximately 2.1 billion USD at the current price, with over 150,000 users, making it a relatively large staking platform in the Solana ecosystem. The key point is that it is the first to offer liquid staking on Solana, positioning itself as an early player in this field. Then let's talk about the team background: there is no venture capital involvement; it was built by the community itself. Marinade was born in the 2021 Solana hackathon, initially starting with ecological funding (grants) and has never taken venture capital money. The core team's tokens are unlocked based on "TVL milestones"; for example, certain amounts of tokens can be obtained when the TVL reaches a certain billion, which cannot be simply obtained without effort, thus incentivizing everyone to work. The project is now managed by a DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization), which means that holders of its governance token MNDE can vote to decide major issues in the project (such as how to use transaction fees, whether to buy back tokens). Although this model may be less efficient, it is less susceptible to manipulation by a minority. Next, let's take a look at the economic model, what is the use of the $MNDE token? Previously, $MNDE was indeed a bit "awkward". Although it is a governance token, ordinary users holding it felt that it had no practical value. However, after the new proposal (MIP.11) in May this year, the situation began to change: Buyback and Burn: The protocol will take 40% of its revenue each month to buy MNDE in the market and then burn it (which reduces the circulating supply). By July, this ratio was increased to 50% through MIP.13. With an annual revenue of 10 million dollars, it means spending 5 million dollars each year to buy MNDE, which is about 11% of the current market value. This is similar to a company using profits to buy back shares, which can provide tangible support for the token price. Governance rewards: Users who participate in voting this year will be able to receive 25 million MNDE as a reward at the end of the year, with the aim of encouraging everyone to hold long-term and participate in governance. Burning Plan: Additionally, there are plans to burn 5% of the total supply, further reducing the circulation. In simple terms, the previous MNDE was more like a "proof of voting rights". Now, with the addition of "income dividends" (achieved through buybacks) and "deflationary expectations", the value capture mechanism has truly taken root. What does Marinade look like in the eyes of institutions? I think there is still potential in this point @MarinadeFinance, and Marinade has been quite active recently, showing that it is working towards compliance and institutional services. It has been designated as the exclusive staking service provider for the first Solana ETF in the United States (applied by Canary Capital), and it is a two-year exclusive contract, which means that any funds purchasing this ETF in the future will have to operate through Marinade's system for any staking activities. In addition, it has also obtained SOC 2 Type 2 certification, which is a compliance certification in the financial industry, indicating that its security and operational standards have met institutional requirements. It is currently the first among major staking protocols on Solana to receive this certification. BitGo, which manages $100 billion in assets, has also integrated Marinade into its system, allowing institutional clients to stake SOL through it. These things may not seem very obvious when looked at individually, but together they indicate one issue: If traditional financial institutions want to participate in Solana staking, Marinade is likely to become their preferred channel. Let's take a look at a few sets of data that everyone can refer to: Market cap / revenue ratio: only 4.5 times, which means that spending 4.5 dollars to buy MNDE corresponds to 1 dollar of revenue each year, while similar DeFi projects on Ethereum average 23.4 times, which is more than 5 times different. Market cap / TVL ratio: only 0.022, it manages assets worth 2.1 billion USD, while its own token is only worth 45 million, which is akin to a fund company managing 1.8 billion in assets but only having a market cap of 40 million. Such situations are relatively rare in traditional finance. Comparing with similar projects: Lido (the leading staking platform on Ethereum), which has a market cap 9 times that of it; Jito on Solana, which has a market cap 8 times that of it, but Marinade's revenue and TVL are not much worse than theirs. Franklin Templeton (a giant asset management firm managing $1.5 trillion) mentioned in March that DeFi tokens on Solana are "severely undervalued" compared to their Ethereum counterparts, with MNDE being a typical example. My view: Both risks and opportunities exist. The opportunity mainly lies in "valuation repair": if the market pays a little attention to this value mismatch, even if it just rises to Lido's valuation level, MNDE has considerable upside potential, and the buyback mechanism acts as a "safety cushion," with a support of 5 million dollars of buying each month, at least making its decline less severe. Once institutional funds truly enter, the demand may suddenly increase. But the risks cannot be ignored: The overall volatility of the crypto market is high; if the SOL price drops, both the staking volume and income will be affected. Competition is intensifying: There are other staking protocols on Solana, and if others launch similar mechanisms, it may divert users. Regulatory uncertainty: Although compliance certification has been obtained, no one can predict the policy changes in the crypto space. Overall, MNDE belongs to the type of "solid fundamentals, but the market hasn't fully reacted yet." If you are optimistic about the Solana ecosystem and want to find a project with a low valuation and actual income, it is indeed worth paying more attention to. Of course, this is just my personal research observation and not investment advice. If you really want to get involved, you must do your own homework. Finally, a side note, the crypto market is sometimes like this; it's common for good projects to be undervalued. The key is whether one can understand its value logic before the market awakens. The story of Marinade may have just begun! #MarinadeFinance # Liquidity Staking #DeFi # MNDE