Automating MEV Rewards on Solana: How Marinade Makes Your Stake Work Harder

When you stake SOL, you expect staking rewards. But what many Solana users don’t realize is that there’s an additional stream of yield quietly accumulating in the background — and most of it goes untouched. These are MEV rewards, a hidden layer of value generated by validators running the Jito client.

Marinade ensures you never miss them. While other staking setups require you to manually claim and restake those rewards, Marinade builds this process directly into the protocol. It’s staking that compounds automatically, every epoch, without you lifting a finger.

Understanding MEV Rewards on Solana

Maximal Extractable Value, or MEV, refers to the additional income validators earn by optimizing transaction order within a block. On Solana, validators running the Jito client participate in block auctions and bundle transactions that generate extra tips — revenue shared with their delegators. In simple terms, it’s bonus yield that comes on top of your normal staking rewards.

However, these MEV rewards aren’t automatically staked. They accumulate inside your stake account as idle SOL, sitting there unproductive until you claim and restake them yourself. For most stakers, this step never happens. The result is that part of their potential yield remains inactive, slowly growing but not compounding.

The Problem with Manual MEV Claiming

Traditionally, claiming MEV rewards requires active management. A user has to check for unclaimed rewards, execute a claim transaction, and then restake those SOL to start earning again. It’s not difficult, but it’s inconvenient — especially if you manage multiple stake accounts or simply prefer to let your capital work without constant maintenance.

This gap between earning and compounding is what Marinade set out to close. Automation removes friction, ensures no yield is left idle, and keeps every lamport of your stake continuously working on your behalf.

How Marinade Automates MEV Restaking

Marinade’s architecture allows it to manage the stake account authority for users. This gives the protocol the ability to perform actions that an individual staker would normally have to do manually — securely, transparently, and on-chain.

Each epoch, when MEV rewards accumulate across Marinade’s delegated validators, Marinade collects those rewards and transfers them into a new stake account created specifically for this purpose. That new stake account is immediately delegated to the network, so it begins earning yield right away. The process is entirely automated, recurring every epoch, and requires no input from the user.

In essence, Marinade turns what would be a manual, multi-step process into an invisible, continuous loop of claiming and restaking. Your MEV rewards don’t just sit idle — they become part of your actively compounding stake.

Compounding Made Simple for Every Staker

For mSOL holders, the effect of this automation is reflected in the mSOL/SOL exchange rate. As MEV rewards are claimed and restaked into the pool, the total value of the pool increases, and so does the value of mSOL relative to SOL. There’s no claiming required and no separate action to capture that benefit — it’s baked directly into the token’s yield.

For Marinade Native stakers, MEV rewards are restaked directly into your individual stake account. Each epoch, your account balance grows as new stake accounts are created and delegated automatically, turning what would have been idle SOL into yield-generating stake.

The Bigger Picture: Stake and Forget

This is the same principle Marinade applies across all its staking products — not just MEV rewards. The protocol continuously optimizes validator selection, manages uptime and performance, and ensures your stake is distributed efficiently across the network.

By staking with Marinade, you’re not just delegating SOL; you’re delegating the operational complexity of staking itself. You don’t have to worry about claiming, restaking, or validator management. Marinade handles all of it — transparently and on-chain.

You stake once. Marinade keeps your rewards compounding. That’s what “stake and forget” truly means on Solana.