Marinade (MNDE) Price

MNDE is the governance token of Marinade DAO. It allows holders to participate in governance related to the protocol and the DAO treasury; it is not corporate equity or a claim on profits. To actually exercise governance rights, MNDE holders must lock their tokens and obtain veMNDE; simply holding MNDE in a wallet, on an exchange, or in a deposited state in Realms does not automatically create voting power. Marinade’s governance structure places certain key matters under the control of holders who have locked MNDE, including the DAO treasury and upgrade authorities and management parameters for contracts such as Marinade Native, validator bonds, Recipes, and gauges. The upgrade authority for the main mSOL liquid staking program is an exception and remains held by a Solana ecosystem multisig.

The key step for participating in Marinade governance with MNDE is locking, not merely depositing. Users can lock MNDE on the Marinade governance page or perform the same on-chain action directly in Realms; locking creates veMNDE, which is used as governance power to vote on proposals. Voting power depends not only on how much MNDE is locked, but also on the remaining lock duration: the system calculates it based on the remaining term, with a maximum of 30 days. Therefore, the same amount of MNDE carries more weight when the remaining lock period is longer; choosing “Deposit” only deposits tokens and does not grant voting power—you must choose “Lock tokens”.

Locked MNDE cannot be withdrawn immediately. After initiating an unlock, the tokens must complete a 30-day unlocking period before they become withdrawable again; this waiting period creates a clear trade-off between governance participation and immediate exit. Initiating an unlock does not cause voting power to drop to zero immediately. veMNDE weight gradually declines as the remaining lock time decreases over these 30 days. Users can still vote, but with continuously decreasing weight, until unlocking is complete.

MNDE is a governance token that can be held; veMNDE is the representation of voting power used in Marinade governance after MNDE is locked. Their relationship does not mean receiving an additional ordinary asset that can be independently disposed of. Rather, the locked state converts MNDE into governance weight. When a user begins unlocking, the underlying MNDE has not yet been withdrawn, but veMNDE weight decays as the remaining lock period shortens. Once unlocking is complete, MNDE becomes withdrawable again and the governance power generated by that lock is no longer retained.

MNDE initially had a supply of 1 billion tokens. After the DAO decided through MIP-14 to burn 300 million tokens, the current supply listed in official documentation is approximately 699.99 million, rather than an integer that can remain permanently fixed; subsequent small burns will continue to reduce this figure, and the exact supply should be determined from the on-chain mint account. The limits on supply changes are also clear: MNDE’s mint authority and freeze authority have both been set to null on-chain. In other words, no new MNDE can be minted and no entity can freeze MNDE accounts; future supply changes come from burning existing tokens, not new issuance.

Under the completed MIP-22, 10% of protocol revenue is used to repurchase MNDE on the open market. Repurchases do not mean automatic distributions to all holders: the repurchased MNDE is distributed quarterly to eligible MNDE lockers. To receive a distribution for a given quarter, a wallet must meet both conditions: lock MNDE on the Marinade governance page and have voted in governance at least once during the preceding 12 months. Simply holding tokens, merely depositing them, or keeping them on an exchange does not qualify; eligible wallets share the distribution pro rata based on their average locked balance for that quarter.

Marinade’s fees and governance authorities are not all directly controlled by the same entity. DAO governance owns the treasury and several protocol upgrade authorities; the Marinade Council manages certain contract parameters, day-to-day operations, and execution of DAO-approved budgets, while the core team manages certain main-program parameters and fee operations. This division of responsibilities means that holding and locking MNDE grants the power to participate in DAO governance, not separate control over every immediate operational action. Constitutional amendments additionally require a two-thirds majority and votes representing at least 1% of all tokens.