The marginfi Protocol

Introduction

marginfi is a decentralized lending protocol on Solana that prioritizes risk management to provide a safe and reliable solution for users looking to access leverage and maximize capital efficiency.

The protocol is a fully permissionless suite of smart contracts deployed on a blockchain, paired with real-time risk management and automatic liquidations.

marginfi is composable both downstream and upstream with third-party protocols, allowing users to unify their on-chain portfolios and access a wide range of decentralized finance (DeFi) services.

How does marginfi compare to a typical lender?

Unlike traditional lenders, marginfi is a fully permissionless system that is built on smart contracts deployed to a blockchain. This means that there are no intermediaries between you and marginfi - you can access the protocol's services directly.

In parallel, marginfi leverages sophisticated risk management mechanisms and has an emphasis on risk transparency so that users have a better understanding of the risks they're taking and so that solvency risk is better managed overall.

This departure from traditional infrastructure means that the protocol's services are entirely open for public use, with no ability to restrict who can use them. Inspired by the decentralized finance movement more broadly, this is a departure from traditional financial services, which typically restrict access based on geography or wealth status and favor the elite and privileged.

marginfi is designed to eventually be immutable, or not upgradeable. The intent is that not party should be able to pause the contracts, reverse user actions, or otherwise change the behavior of the protocol outside of what is appropriately allowed for by marginfi governance, which will be a set of capabilities known by all participants in advance.

How does marginfi compare to other decentralized lending protocols?

Compared to other decentralized lending protocols, marginfi boasts sophisticated risk management systems and has an emphasis on risk transparency so that users have a better understanding of the risks they're taking and so that solvency risk is better managed overall.

A unique feature of marginfi's lending architecture is that it supports as collateral non-tokenized trader positions on underlying, third-party trading protocols (e.g. DEXs). This allows traders to unify an entire DeFi portfolio across a blockchain ecosystem within marginfi in a way that is manageable, safe, and capital efficient.

These features provide users with greater access, flexibility and choice when it comes to accessing leverage.

Which blockchains can I access the marginfi protocol on?

Today, marginfi is available on the Solana blockchain. You can find an example web interface to access marginfi here.

Where can I find more information?

The best place to learn more about marginfi is in these docs, or to join the marginfi Discord.