Marinade lets stakers route USDG rewards to any wallet — flexible Solana staking update
Marinade Finance upgraded its USDG Recipe on November 27, 2025 to allow Solana (SOL) staking rewards to be routed directly as USDG to a different wallet. Previously, epoch rewards had to land in the originating staking wallet, requiring manual transfers that incurred fees and slippage. The new flow lets users delegate SOL, choose a separate reward address during setup, and receive epoch-based stablecoin payouts (~every two days) automatically. Benefits highlighted include retaining native staking security (SOL never leaves the user’s custody), capturing inflation, MEV and priority-fee rewards, avoiding private validator commissions, and additional USDG incentives running through Dec 20. Marinade is a non-custodial liquid staking protocol managing billions in assets (reported TVL around $1.48B in this piece; protocol manages >$2.5B assets overall). The article notes SOL trading near $142 with a 1.27% 24h dip amid an Upbit Solana hot-wallet hack (~$36M) and halted SOL deposits/withdrawals on the exchange, which may pressure liquidity. Key keywords: Marinade, USDG, Solana staking, SOL, liquid staking, staking rewards.
Neutral
The upgrade is a product improvement that increases flexibility and user UX for Solana stakers but does not alter protocol economics or introduce new token issuance that would directly drive price action. Positive trader implications: reduced friction and gas costs for routing staking yield, easier treasury and custody workflows, and potentially higher demand for USDG as a payout vehicle. Negative/neutral implications: the change preserves native staking custody (no additional lockups), so it is unlikely to remove significant sell pressure from liquid staking conversions; and the Upbit hack cited in the article is an external risk factor that has already pressured SOL short-term. Historically, UX and tooling upgrades tend to have a gradual, modest bullish effect on on-chain activity and product adoption but rarely trigger immediate large price moves. Short-term: mild positive for Marinade and USDG usage; SOL price more likely influenced by macro news and exchange hack developments. Long-term: improved composability and payout routing can increase stablecoin-denominated staking flows and product adoption, supporting steady demand for Marinade services and USDG utility over time.