The decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem on Solana has experienced significant growth, especially in its lending market segment. Lending protocols are essential for improving capital efficiency, liquidity, and offering passive income opportunities to users with varying risk tolerances.
In this article, we'll dive deep into the onchain data of the top lending platforms on Solana.
Kamino: Dominating the Lending Market
Kamino has emerged as a leading lending protocol in the Solana ecosystem, experiencing impressive growth and adoption over recent months. According to data from DefiLlama, Kamino's Total Value Locked (TVL) now exceeds $2.23 billion, positioning it as the third-largest DeFi project within Solana.
Based on Flipside data, In the last 30 days alone, Kamino witnessed net deposits surpassing $594 million into its lending vaults. The highest single-day deposit reached a notable $131.8 million on April 6th. However, the following day saw a significant withdrawal spike of $64.7 million.
Breaking down net deposits by tokens offers deeper insights. $jupSOL led all tokens with net deposits of over $317 million, while $jitoSOL followed closely with deposits exceeding $146 million. Interestingly, Liquid Staking Tokens (LSTs) dominate the inflows, suggesting increasing confidence among investors in yield-generating strategies.
On the other side, stablecoins like $USDC, $USDT, and $PYUSD experienced the most substantial net outflows. $USDC alone had withdrawals amounting to $41.2 million, followed by $USDT with $23.6 million and $PYUSD with $12.9 million.
From a user activity perspective, Kamino saw 54.7% of its active users primarily withdrawing (withdraw & borrow) rather than depositing (deposit + repay). However, daily user data paints a contrasting picture, as daily depositor counts (both new and returning users) regularly outnumbered withdrawers.
Kamino users borrowed (standard loan and flash loan) over $635 million in the last 30 days, with $SOL being the top choice at over $359 million borrowed. Stablecoins followed, with $USDC, $FDUSD, and $USDT collectively representing significant borrowing activity. The single-day borrowing volume peaked at $55.8 million on April 23rd, demonstrating significant market activity and demand for leverage.
Repayments were even more substantial, reaching a total of $821.3 million. The highest repayment day, April 7th, saw repayments of $72.6 million. It's important to note that these numbers include both standard loans and flash loans, highlighting the advanced financial strategies employed by users.
Marginfi: Navigating Declines Amid Rising Competition
Marginfi, another prominent lending platform on Solana, presents a different story compared to Kamino. Unlike Kamino's positive deposit trajectory, Marginfi experienced net withdrawals totaling around $43.1 million over the past month. The highest withdrawal occurred on April 19th, amounting to $17.8 million, with the highest net deposit on April 10th at $11 million.
When examining token-specific activity, $LST and $WBTC led net deposits, albeit on a much smaller scale compared to Kamino—$313,000 and $288,000, respectively. Conversely, $jitoSOL recorded the largest net withdrawal, surpassing $15 million.
Loan activity on Marginfi reached $177.6 million, heavily influenced by flash loans, particularly on April 22nd, where borrowed volumes surged above $72.5 million.
$SOL was the most popular borrowing token, with volumes over $107 million, followed by stablecoins like $USDC ($66.6 million) and $USDT, although significantly lower at $1.5 million.
Save (formerly Solend): Navigating a Difficult Market
Following its rebranding from Solend, the Save protocol has struggled to maintain momentum amidst intense competition.
Over the past 30 days, Save experienced net withdrawals totaling over $49.8 million. The highest withdrawal day was April 25th, with outflows exceeding $13.9 million. Interestingly, approximately $2.9 million of this figure was attributed to new loans taken.
Token-wise, $mSOL led withdrawals at $17.6 million, followed closely by $USDC at $15.6 million, collectively making up over two-thirds of the total outflows. $SOL saw a modest net inflow of around $1.4 million, highlighting contrasting user behavior toward different assets.
Total loan activity for Save was modest at $13.7 million over the same period, with a notable single-day borrowing spike of $2.9 million on April 25th. Recent daily loan volumes, however, have significantly declined, dropping below $100,000.
$USDC dominated Save's loan activity, accounting for $9.1 million of total borrowing, followed by $USDT with $1.6 million.
Concluding Insights
The lending landscape within Solana clearly identifies Kamino as the dominant protocol, significantly outpacing Marginfi and Save both in TVL and borrowing activity. Kamino's $635 million in user loans dwarfs Marginfi by a factor of 3.6 and Save by a staggering factor of 46.
Moreover, user activity further emphasizes Kamino's dominance, attracting over 2,000 daily active users—roughly five times Marginfi’s 400 daily active users.
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