DeFi on Solana — The Complete Guide (2026)

What is Solana?

Solana is a Layer 1 blockchain designed for speed. Unlike Ethereum and its L2s, Solana is not EVM-compatible — it uses its own runtime (Sealevel) and programs are written in Rust rather than Solidity. This architectural difference enables parallel transaction processing and throughput that far exceeds most other chains.

Key technical specifications:

• Throughput: ~65,000 TPS theoretical (practical throughput varies with network conditions)
• Finality: Sub-second (approximately 400ms slot times)
• Fees: Base fees of ~$0.00025 per transaction, with optional priority fees
• Consensus: Proof of Stake combined with Proof of History (a cryptographic clock that orders transactions)

Key protocols on Solana

Solana's DeFi ecosystem covers every major category. Here are the protocols that define it:

Jupiter

Jupiter is Solana's dominant aggregator and has evolved into a full DeFi platform. It routes swaps across every Solana DEX to find the best price, and its perpetual futures platform (Jupiter Perps) has become one of the largest onchain derivatives venues. Jupiter also launched the JUP token and operates a launchpad (Jupiter Start) and a dollar-cost-averaging product.

For most Solana users, Jupiter is the starting point for any swap. Understanding how DEX trading works is essential background.

Raydium and Orca

Raydium and Orca are Solana's two major AMMs. Raydium offers concentrated liquidity pools (CLMM) and is deeply integrated with the Serum/OpenBook order book. Orca's Whirlpools provide concentrated liquidity with a focus on simplicity and UX. Both are primary liquidity sources that Jupiter aggregates. Learn more about liquidity pools and impermanent loss.

Marinade and Jito

Marinade and Jito dominate Solana's liquid staking landscape. Marinade issues mSOL, which accrues staking rewards automatically. Jito issues JitoSOL, which includes MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) rewards on top of standard staking yield — Jito validators capture MEV tips and distribute them to stakers.

Both tokens can be used as collateral across Solana DeFi, compounding your yield. For more on staking, see What Is Staking?

Kamino and Marginfi

Kamino started as an automated liquidity management protocol (managing concentrated liquidity positions) and expanded into lending markets. Marginfi is a lending protocol with isolated risk pools. Both are central to Solana's lending ecosystem, enabling users to borrow against their staked SOL or LP tokens.

Drift and Sanctum

Drift is Solana's leading perpetual futures DEX, combining a virtual AMM with an on-chain order book. Sanctum is the "LST hub" — it provides unified liquidity between all Solana liquid staking tokens, making it easy to swap between mSOL, JitoSOL, bSOL, and dozens of other LSTs without slippage.

Memecoins and pump.fun

Solana has become the dominant chain for memecoin trading. The pump.fun platform allows anyone to launch a token with a bonding curve in seconds, and successful tokens automatically graduate to Raydium liquidity pools. This has driven enormous transaction volume on Solana but also significant risk — the vast majority of memecoins lose all value quickly.

The memecoin phenomenon has made Solana the most active chain by transaction count on many days, but it has also increased MEV attacks and network congestion during peak periods. For background on memecoins, see What Is a Memecoin?

Advantages of Solana

• Speed: Sub-second finality makes Solana feel instant. Swaps, trades, and interactions complete in under a second.
• Low cost: Fees under $0.01 make DeFi accessible for any position size. No need to batch transactions or worry about gas optimization.
• Growing ecosystem: Rapid protocol development through 2024–2026 has made Solana's DeFi ecosystem competitive with Ethereum's.
• Mobile-first: The Saga phone and mobile-friendly wallets like Phantom have made Solana the most mobile-accessible DeFi chain.
• Unified state: Unlike Ethereum's fragmented L2 landscape, all Solana DeFi lives on one chain with shared liquidity and composability.
• Active development: Firedancer (a second validator client by Jump Crypto) promises further performance and reliability improvements.

Risks and considerations

• Network outage history: Solana experienced multiple outages in 2022–2023, with the network halting for hours at a time. Stability has improved significantly in 2025–2026, but the history is a concern. Firedancer aims to further reduce outage risk.
• MEV and sandwich attacks: Solana's speed and low fees make it a fertile ground for MEV. Sandwich attacks on swaps are rampant, especially on memecoin trades. Using Jupiter's MEV protection mode or Jito's bundles can help mitigate this. Learn more in What Is MEV?
• Different programming model: Solana programs are written in Rust, not Solidity. The account model (separating code from data) is fundamentally different from the EVM. This means fewer security auditors specialize in Solana, and bugs can be different in nature from EVM exploits.
• Validator hardware requirements: Running a Solana validator requires high-end hardware (fast CPUs, 256GB+ RAM), which limits who can participate in validation and raises centralization concerns.
• Memecoin risk: The ease of token creation on Solana means the ecosystem is flooded with worthless and fraudulent tokens. Exercise extreme caution with new tokens.

For a comprehensive overview of DeFi risk management, see Understanding Risk in DeFi.

How CleanSky tracks Solana positions

CleanSky supports Solana natively. Paste any Solana wallet address (or a .sol SNS name) and CleanSky will automatically detect and display:

• Token balances (SOL, USDC, JUP, and all SPL tokens)
• Jupiter positions including perp positions
• Raydium and Orca LP positions (including concentrated liquidity ranges)
• Marinade (mSOL) and Jito (JitoSOL) staking positions
• Kamino and Marginfi lending and borrowing positions
• Drift perpetual positions
• NFT holdings
• Native SOL staking to validators

All Solana positions are combined with your holdings on other supported chains into a single, unified portfolio view.

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