Abstract
This proposal seeks 10.5M MNDE from the Marinade DAO treasury to fund research and development to enhance the functionality and resilience of the Solana staking protocol, Marinade. The initiative will focus on delivering a premier unstaking experience, implementing a liquidity monitoring system, integrating ecosystem-wide tools, and making technical improvements to optimize operations and ensure long-term sustainability. This project will strengthen Marinade’s position as a leading decentralized staking solution on Solana by addressing core challenges and future-proofing the protocol.
Background
The Solana ecosystem continues to grow, requiring innovations in staking mechanisms to ensure scalability, security, and utility. Marinade has been pivotal in enabling decentralized multi-validator staking, but emerging challenges such as slashing events, validator decentralization, and economic attacks necessitate further advancements.
Key focus areas include:
- Unstake System: Enhanced mechanisms for instant unstaking and liquidity management.
- Slashing Resilience: Ensuring Marinade operates effectively under slashing scenarios.
- Stake Optimization: Improved tools for moving and optimizing stake accounts.
The proposed funding will enable dedicated research, implementation, and validation of critical upgrades to Marinade’s core functionalities.
Proposed Changes
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Development of an Unstake System
- Create an unstake system enabling users to trade liquid and staked SOL efficiently.
- Implement smart contract and client libraries for order creation, settlement, and cancellation.
- Introduce admin capabilities for fee management, user permissions, and market initialization.
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Testing and Optimization for Slashing Events
- Develop robust tests and updates to ensure Marinade operates seamlessly during slashing events.
- Address all relevant instructions where slashing impacts staking operations.
- Improve consistency checks across stake accounts for added resilience.
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Enhancement of Marinade Native Protocol
- Review and recommend optimizations to reduce the number of stake accounts.
- Implement support for efficient Lamport and stake movements.
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Stake Pool Resilience and Economic Risk Mitigation
- Implement measures to prevent economic attacks on the stake pool.
- Introduce fee-based safeguards for risk management.
Result
The proposed changes will result in:
- An advanced unstake system improving liquidity and flexibility.
- Enhanced protocol resilience against slashing and economic attacks.
- Optimized stake management with improved validator decentralization.
- Increased user trust and protocol reliability, furthering Marinade’s adoption and ecosystem growth.
Rationale
As Solana scales, Marinade must adapt to address new challenges and seize emerging opportunities. By funding this initiative, Marinade DAO invests in its long-term sustainability and leadership in decentralized staking. The outlined improvements will significantly enhance user experience, protocol security, and operational efficiency.
Impact Analysis
- User Impact: Users will benefit from a faster, more reliable unstaking experience and improved liquidity management.
- Protocol Impact: Optimized operations and reduced complexity will make the protocol more scalable and efficient.
- Ecosystem Impact: Seamless integration with DeFi protocols will drive adoption and expand mSOL’s utility.
- Security Impact: Proactive testing and improvements will ensure the protocol is robust and resilient to slashing and other risks.
- Funding Request: 10.5 million MNDE will support the development and implementation of these advancements.
- Timeline: The project is estimated to take 4–6 months, with key milestones aligned to priority deliverables.
Conclusion
This proposal outlines a transformative initiative to advance Marinade’s functionality and user experience, particularly around staking and unstaking operations. By approving 10.5 million MNDE in funding, the Marinade DAO will enable critical upgrades that solidify its position as a premier staking protocol in the Solana ecosystem.
We invite the Marinade community to discuss and approve this proposal to ensure Marinade’s continued leadership and success.