What is Solend?

What is Solend?

What is Solend?

…and how do you make money on it?

Dapps & Protocols

·

11 min

What is Solend?

…and how do you make money on it?

Dapps & Protocols

·

11 min

What is Solend?

…and how do you make money on it?

Dapps & Protocols

·

11 min

What is Solend?

…and how do you make money on it?

Dapps & Protocols

·

11 min

What is Solend?

Tired of the ginormous fees on Ethereum? Do you feel like the DeFi opportunities are slipping though your fingers? You are in great luck, Solana is giving you the same features as on Ethereum without the astronomic fees. 

One of the most sought after services in DeFi is lending and borrowing. It sounds simple, but somebody has got to do it right. Welcome to Solend, the most popular crypto lending & borrowing service on Solana!

Solend derives its values from its simplicity and reliability. The protocol doesn't require KYC and it's completely permissionless. With over 86 token pairs, users can lend their crypto, borrow, go long, or short. Powered by Solana's fast transaction fees and sub-cent fees, Solend took the Solana ecosystem by storm since day one. 


Solend also has its own token, called SLND. It is a governance token that gives its holders voting powers over the development of the protocol. The price of SLND is tightly correlated to the protocol total locked value (TVL). As the TVL of Solend goes up, the more impactful the DAO decisions will be for the future of Solend.

One key feature of the Solend protocol is that a portion of the liquidation penalty goes into the DAO treasury. Currently, the liquidation insurance fee will be set to 30% of the liquidation penalty.

Liquidation bonuses exist in order to incentivize liquidators to help keep Solend solvent, providing a buffer to absorb loss from slippage. Liquidators have been well-compensated for this service, racking up an estimated $3M in profit in 2021. Solend takes on the risk that liquidations are unprofitable, creating bad debt. In the event of bad debt, Solend’s insurance fund is tapped to make users whole. 

One important feature is that Solend pools are isolated from one another. This means the bad debt accrued by one pool doesn't affect the others. Furthermore, each liquidity pool managed by the Solend team has its own insurance fund.


Anyone can deploy his own permissionless pool (no KYC required) by using Solend's user-friendly pool creation tool. Permissionless Pool’s true potential is unlocked by Switchboard’s Permissionless Oracles, which allows anyone to create an oracle in minutes, even for assets that don’t yet have one. You’ll need a small amount of each token you plan to list to initialize the reserves.

If you look through the governance portal of Solend, you will notice the community coordinated to pay the bad debt for Solend's lending pools. While this is considered to be a good thing (bad debt is cleared out and lenders get their crypto back), continued bad debt can deplete the DAO treasury. Solend's solution to preventing bad debt is to have fast liquidators.

One such instance of bad debt happened on November 2, 2022. Solend was the target of a price manipulation attack on USDH affecting the Stable, Coin98, and Kamino. The attack resulted in $1.26M in bad debt. Basically, the attacker pushed the price of $USDH from $1 to $8, then borrowed a large sum of other tokens based on the inflated collateral size. On the good side, the Solend smart contracts weren't hacked. On the bad side, Solend DAO had to pay the bad debt from its treasury.

As of 2023, Solend remains one of the biggest lending protocols on Solana. Even though Solana as a whole took a major hit following the FTX collapse, the Solend community is committed to help the protocol thrive.

How does Solend work?

Solend allows users to lend and borrow crypto without an intermediary. Its mechanics are quite simple: users who supply collect an APY from the users who borrow. The borrow APY is split across the entire pool, so Supply APY = Borrow APY * Utilization. For example, if there is 2 SOL in a pool, and 1 SOL is lent out at 20% APY, the suppliers of the 2 SOL will receive 10% APY each.

The utilization rate refers to the percentage of total lending supply that is currently being borrowed. It is a measure of the level of demand for borrowing on the platform.

For example, if the total lending supply on Solend is 1,000 SOL and there are currently 500 SOL being borrowed, then the utilization rate would be 50% (500/1,000).


A high utilization rate indicates that there is strong demand for borrowing on the platform, which can lead to higher interest rates for borrowers and higher earnings for lenders. However, a very high utilization rate can also increase the risk of liquidation events for borrowers, as the value of their collateral may be more likely to fall below the required collateralization ratio.

Solend's utilization rate is dynamic and changes in response to changes in demand and supply on the platform. As more users deposit funds to lend or borrow, the utilization rate may increase, and vice versa.

The liquidation target is set algorithmically. Luckily, the Solend interface gives you a visual representation in the form of a "health factor." Liquidation can happen when the price of your collateral shrinks. When your account is open to being liquidated, third party liquidators will repay 20% of your loans by selling the equivalent amount in collateral. The liquidators will also collect an additional 5% on the amount (20%) they liquidated, as a bounty to secure the protocol. 

Solend Pools

The majority of Solend TVL sits in a global main pool and a series of smaller isolated pools and permissionless pools. 

When users deposit funds into Solend, they are deposited into the global main pool. These funds are then used to fund loans for borrowers who use their own crypto as collateral. The interest earned by lenders is also added to the global main pool.

The global main pool is constantly changing as users deposit and withdraw funds, borrow and repay loans, and earn interest on their deposits. The liquidity in the main pool is what enables users to borrow and lend different cryptos on Solend.


In addition to the global main pool, Solend also has separate liquidity pools for each individual asset that is supported on the platform. These asset-specific pools are used to facilitate borrowing and lending for specific cryptos, while the global main pool is used to support borrowing and lending across all assets on the platform.

Tokens can be listed in the main pool if they do not represent an increase in risk, mainly by having reliable oracles or thick liquidity to assist in liquidations. Most tokens will be listed on Isolated pools first before proceeding to Main pool after sufficient time.

Permissionless pools allow anyone to create an isolated pool on Solend. The creator decides and earns 20% of origination fees generated in that pool. Therefore, a successful Permissionless Pool means success for the pool creator.

Solend cTokens

Solend cTokens are interest-bearing tokens that represent a user's share in a specific pool of lent crypto on the Solend platform. When a user deposits tokens into Solend's lending pools, they receive an equivalent amount of cTokens in return. These cTokens can then be used to redeem the underlying crypto and any interest earned on the deposit.

For example, if you deposit 100 SOL into the SOL lending pool on Solend, they would receive 100 cSOL in return. The cSOL represents the user's share in the SOL lending pool, including the user's deposit plus any interest earned on that deposit.


The value of cTokens is constantly changing as users deposit and withdraw funds, and as interest rates change based on supply and demand for each cryptocurrency on Solend. Users can track the value of their cTokens and redeem them for the underlying asset at any time.

cTokens allow users to earn interest on their crypto deposits without the need to actively manage their lending activities. By holding cTokens, users can passively earn interest on their cryptocurrency deposits and benefit from the liquidity and accessibility provided by the Solend platform.

How to make money on Solend?

Solend made a name for itself by providing the best borrowing and lending services in the Solana ecosystem. Need to increase your purchasing power? With Solend you can easily deposit collateral and power up your trading strategy – no questions asked. And the best part, you don't have to sell any of your tokens as long as you stay above the liquidation threshold.


To borrow on Solend, follow these steps:

1. Open the Solend app

2. Navigate to the "Pools" tab and select the desired pool

3. Select the token you would like to borrow and click on the "Borrow" tab

4. Input the amount you desire to borrow

5. Confirm and approve the transaction

Once you've borrowed the asset, you can check the health factor of your loan on the right side of the app. Remember, the lower the utilization rate the lower the interest. As the utilization rate increases, so will the interest that you have to pay for the loan. The app will notify you when your loan is close to liquidation, so you can add more collateral. Each lending pool comes with its own parameters i.e utilization rate, interest rate, liquidation penalty. Therefore, we recommend reading them carefully before borrowing funds.

Lending on Solend is even simpler. You can supply assets to any of the 19 pools and earn interest on your idle crypto tokens. The fee percentage varies depending on the asset.


To lend on Solend, follow these steps:

1. Open the Solend app

2. Navigate to the "Pools" tab and select the desired pool

3. Select the token you would like to borrow and click on the "Lend" tab

4. Input the amount you desire to lend

5. Confirm and approve the transaction

6. Profit

Your lending position will be displayed in your wallet in the form of a cToken. For example, if you lend USDC, your lending position will show up as cUSDC. cTokens will accumulate interest just by holding them – no action is required. The underlying tokens plus the interest can be redeemed at any time. You can also mint cTokens directly through the "Mint" tab. 

Price Prediction for Solend — Can it hit $1000?

Buying and hodling SLND — the native token of Solend— is one way of potentially making money on Solend.

By looking at its current price, it’s natural to think about the chance of SLND hitting $1000 per token. This can happen sooner, or way in the future, and is determined by a couple of ever changing factors.

Let’s examine the potential growth of the SLND token by analyzing its tokenomics. SLND’s current market cap sits comfortably at ${MARKET_CAP}. With {CIRCULATING_SUPPLY} SLND tokens being in circulation today, that means a price of {PRICE} per SLND.

How did we come to that calculation? It’s quite easy, the price of an SLND token is equal to its current market cap divided by the number of tokens in circulation. Dividing ${MARKET_CAP} by {CIRCULATING_SUPPLY} gives us a result of {PRICE} for each SLND coin. 

By changing the order in the simple formula above we can use it to calculate other things as well. This helps us a lot because we can deduce the market cap of SLND at different token prices. Then, we can use the result to compare it to the current state of the network and see what would be required for SLND to hit that price.

At a price of $1000 per token, that means the current market cap of SLND would equal ${{CIRCULATING_SUPPLY} * 1000}. Remember that we arrived at this number by multiplying the amount of circulating tokens by $1000.

Now let’s shift our attention to the fully diluted market cap.

Some blockchains may have their tokenomics built in a way that only a small percentage of tokens are circulating at the beginning. This can be misleading because we don’t have the full picture and only take into account the current number of coins released in the market.

The fully diluted market cap represents the total value of a coin if all tokens were in circulation. SLND’s whole supply of tokens is {MAX_SUPPLY - TOTAL_SUPPLY + CIRCULATING_SUPPLY} SLND which means that no more coins above that number will ever be created.

These tokens are not created at the discretion of a specific entity. They are created automatically by the network to reward different actors that keep it secure.

How does this impact the price of SLND? Taking into account the current price of an SLND token, that would result in a fully diluted market cap of ${MAX_SUPPLY - TOTAL_SUPPLY + CIRCULATING_SUPPLY * PRICE}. SLND coins that have been burned are not taken into consideration because they have been permanently removed from circulation.

Whether it seems gigantic or not, the number we came to above only takes into account the current price of an SLND token. Doing the same calculation but with a price of $1000 gives us a result of ${{MAX_SUPPLY - TOTAL_SUPPLY + CIRCULATING_SUPPLY} * 1000} for the SLND protocol fully diluted market cap.

These are all crucial details to know when calculating if SLND can reach the price of $1000 per token. If the diluted market capitalization is way too high, the token has little room left to grow. Blockchains in general have no cap on the value they can reach, whether that number seems possible it’s totally up to you.

The future of SLND depends solely on its growth as a network used by tens and hundreds of millions of users.

If you’re looking to add some SLND to your portfolio, the most trusted places to get some are Binance and Coinbase.


Ultimate Web3 Automation

A lil' more goodness

What is Arrakis Finance?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Saber Finance?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Balancer?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Status?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is MuesliSwap?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Across Protocol?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is SushiSwap?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Velodrome Finance?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Pangolin?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Metal?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Golem?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Orca?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Compound?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is ROOK?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Mango?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Harvest Finance?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Enzyme?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Origin Protocol?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Frax Finance?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is BENQI?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is OpenSea?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is iExec?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Yearn Finance?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Toros Finance?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is LooksRare?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Elk Finance?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Yield Yak?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Quickswap?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Pool Together?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Multichain (Anyswap)?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Thales?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Crabada?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Timeswap?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Abracadabra Money?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Sudoswap?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Injective Protocol?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Mixin?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is 0VIX Protocol?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Swaap Finance?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is BurgerCities?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Lyra?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Mean Finance?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is The Graph?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is AAVE?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Gods Unchained?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Synthetix?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Gelato?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is JustStable?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Aavegotchi?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is RociFi?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Perpetual Protocol?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Linear Finance?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is 0x Protocol?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Monolith?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Keep Network?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Dune Analytics?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Holochain?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Gnosis Safe?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is StakeDAO?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is 1Inch?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Angle Finance?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Magic Eden?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Pickle Finance?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is dYdX?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Ellipsis Finance?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Decentraland?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Convex Finance?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Dfyn?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Rocket Pool?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Shiba Inu?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is MakerDAO?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Penguin Finance?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Akropolis?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Francium?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Storj?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Saffron Finance?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Adamant Finance?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Raydium?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is SundaeSwap?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Synapse?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Reserve?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Alchemix?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Ankr?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Apricot Finance?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Trader Joe?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Router Protocol?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Alpaca Finance?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Index Coop?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is API3?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Band Protocol?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Hop Protocol?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Port Finance?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Augur?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Aragon?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is BadgerDAO?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Uniswap?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Cometh?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Request Network?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Chainlink?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is TrustSwap?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Set Protocol?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is MeanFi?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Saddle Finance?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Axie Infinity?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Serum?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Bonfida?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

What is Atlendis Protocol?

Dapps & Protocols

·

23 min

Stay in the loop

No spam, just certified good stuff

Stay in the loop

No spam, just certified good stuff

Stay in the loop

No spam, just certified good stuff

Stay in the loop

No spam, just certified good stuff

Stay in the loop

No spam, just certified good stuff