Complete guide to Kamino Finance on Solana. Learn how to lend, borrow, and use automated vaults to earn yield. Covers Kamino Lend V2, eMode, Earn vaults, the KMNO token, and risk management.
Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. If you sign up through them, MadeOnSol may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. This never affects our rankings, ratings, or reviews.
Tools mentioned
Live health scores, average ratings, and direct links on MadeOnSol.
Telegram trading bot for Solana — snipe new tokens, set limit orders, auto-sell, and copy trade with built-in MEV protection
MCP server powered by Solana Agent Kit for on-chain actions
DeFi ecosystem directory with curated Solana project listings and analytics
Browser-based IDE for developing and deploying Solana programs
Native Solana support inside the MetaMask browser wallet
Access Solana DeFi data via API
KOL trading intelligence, DEX trade streaming, and deployer analytics. Free tier: 200 requests/day.
Pro & Ultra include a 5-day free trial — by card, cancel anytime.
from madeonsol_x402 import MadeOnSolClient
client = MadeOnSolClient(api_key="msk_your_key")
# KOL convergence signals — what are whales accumulating?
signals = client.kol_coordination(period="24h", min_kols=3)
# KOL PnL leaderboard
leaders = client.kol_leaderboard(period="7d")Keep reading
Comparisons
Compare the top Solana lending protocols side by side. Covers rates, collateral types, TVL, risk levels, liquidation mechanics, and which protocol to use for different strategies.
DeFi
Guide to automated DeFi vaults and structured products on Solana. Covers Kamino vaults, Drift vaults, Cega, Dual Finance, auto-compounding strategies, covered calls, and risk management.
DeFi
A practical guide to farming points across Solana DeFi protocols. Covers Kamino, Drift, Marginfi, Tensor, and Jupiter points programs with stacking strategies and capital efficiency tips.
DeFi
A tiered guide to earning yield on Solana in 2026. Covers conservative strategies (staking, lending), moderate approaches (LP, liquid staking), and aggressive plays (leveraged LP, yield looping) with realistic APY ranges and risk levels.
DeFi
Discover 7 proven ways to earn passive income on Solana in 2026 — from native staking and liquid staking to DeFi lending, LP provision, yield vaults, RWA yield, and DePIN node rewards. Realistic APY ranges included.
Guides
The complete guide to stablecoins on Solana in 2026. Compare USDC, USDT, PYUSD, and UXD. Learn how to get stablecoins on Solana, earn yield through Kamino, Drift, and Meteora, and use Solana Pay for payments.
Enjoyed this article?
Real-time KOL trades, Pump.fun deployer intel, and 1,200+ ranked Solana tools — free to explore.
Open the KOL TrackerIf you have idle assets sitting in your Solana wallet, you are leaving money on the table. Kamino Finance is the largest DeFi protocol on Solana by total value locked, consistently holding between $2-3 billion in TVL. It is the go-to place for lending, borrowing, and earning automated yield on Solana.
Kamino started as a concentrated liquidity vault manager, but it has grown into a full-suite DeFi platform. Today, most users know it for Kamino Lend — a lending and borrowing market that rivals Aave on Ethereum — and for its Earn vaults that automate yield strategies so you don't have to babysit positions.
This guide covers everything you need to know: how lending and borrowing work, what Elevation Mode is, how to use Earn vaults, what the KMNO token does, and what risks to watch out for.
Kamino didn't become the #1 protocol on Solana by accident. A few things set it apart:
If you are doing anything with DeFi on Solana, you will almost certainly interact with Kamino at some point. You can compare yields across Kamino and other protocols on our yields page.
Kamino Lend is the core product. It works like other overcollateralized lending markets: you supply assets to earn interest, and you borrow against your collateral by paying interest.
When you supply an asset (say, SOL or USDC), it goes into a lending pool. Borrowers pay interest on what they borrow, and that interest gets distributed to suppliers. Your supply earns yield continuously — no lockups, no minimum deposits.
What you can supply:
| Asset Type | Examples | Typical Supply APY |
|---|---|---|
| Stablecoins | USDC, USDT, PYUSD |
| 4-10% |
| SOL & LSTs | SOL, JitoSOL, mSOL, bSOL, JupSOL | 2-8% |
| Major tokens | ETH, BTC (wBTC) | 1-5% |
| Other | JTO, JUP, HNT | Variable |
Supply rates fluctuate based on utilization — the percentage of the pool that is currently borrowed. Higher utilization means higher rates for suppliers, but also means withdrawals can temporarily be constrained if utilization hits 100%. If you are deciding which dollar token to supply in the first place, our Solana stablecoins guide breaks down USDC, USDT, PYUSD, and the yield-bearing options.
To borrow, you first supply collateral. Each asset has a Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratio that determines how much you can borrow against it. For example, if SOL has an 80% LTV and you supply $1,000 worth of SOL, you can borrow up to $800 worth of another asset.
Key borrowing concepts:
Common borrowing strategies:
Beyond standard overcollateralized borrowing, Solana lending markets also enable uncollateralized borrowing within a single transaction — useful for arbitrage, collateral swaps, and self-liquidation. We cover the mechanics in our explainer on how Solana flash loans work.
This is one of Kamino's most powerful features, and it is often overlooked by newer users.
Elevation Mode (eMode) lets you borrow at much higher LTV ratios when your collateral and borrowed asset are highly correlated. The logic: if you supply JitoSOL and borrow SOL, the risk of liquidation is extremely low because both assets move in lockstep. Kamino recognizes this and lets you borrow up to 95% LTV instead of the standard 75-80%.
eMode groups on Kamino:
| eMode Group | Collateral | Borrow | Max LTV |
|---|---|---|---|
| SOL-correlated | JitoSOL, mSOL, bSOL, JupSOL | SOL | Up to 95% |
| Stablecoin | USDC | USDT (or vice versa) | Up to 95% |
Why does this matter? It unlocks capital-efficient strategies:
eMode positions can still be liquidated — if the peg between correlated assets breaks (e.g., an LST depegs from SOL), your health factor drops fast. But under normal conditions, it is remarkably safe.
If managing leveraged lending positions and looping sounds like too much work, the Earn vaults handle it for you. You deposit a single asset, and the vault executes a strategy automatically — including rebalancing, compounding, and maintaining a healthy borrow position.
Kamino offers vaults across a risk spectrum:
Conservative vaults focus on stablecoin yield or simple LST looping with low leverage. Target APYs are typically 5-12%. Lower risk, steady returns. Good for capital you don't want to actively manage.
Balanced vaults use moderate leverage on correlated assets. Think JitoSOL/SOL looping at 3-5x effective leverage. Target APYs range from 10-20%. This is the sweet spot for most users.
Aggressive vaults push leverage higher or use less correlated assets. Higher target APYs (20%+), but more exposure to liquidation risk and market volatility. Only for users who understand the downside.
Each vault has target parameters: a target leverage ratio, target health factor range, and rebalancing thresholds. When market movements push the position outside these ranges, the vault automatically:
You don't need to do anything. Just deposit and withdraw when you want to. The vault handles the rest. Kamino's Earn vaults are one example of a broader category — for the full landscape of automated yield products on Solana, see our guide to DeFi vaults and structured products.
Kamino charges performance fees on vault profits (typically 10-15% of yield generated). There are no deposit or withdrawal fees. The fees are taken from profits, so you only pay when the vault makes money.
KMNO is Kamino's governance and utility token. Here is what it does:
KMNO is available on Jupiter and other Solana DEXs. If you are actively using Kamino, staking KMNO aligns your incentives with the protocol.
Here is the fastest path from zero to earning yield on Kamino.
Go to app.kamino.finance and connect your Solana wallet. Kamino works with Phantom, Solflare, and other major Solana wallets.
Make sure you have some SOL for transaction fees (0.01 SOL is more than enough for dozens of transactions on Solana).
Decide what you want to do:
If you are just supplying, there is not much to monitor — your balance grows over time.
If you are borrowing, keep an eye on your health factor. Kamino shows this prominently in the dashboard. Stay above 1.5 for comfort. If SOL drops 20% in a day and your health factor was already at 1.2, you could get liquidated.
For vault positions, the vault manages risk for you, but it is still worth checking periodically that the vault APY matches your expectations.
There are no lockups on Kamino Lend or most Earn vaults. To withdraw:
If you have an active borrow, you need to repay it before withdrawing collateral — or at least maintain your health factor above the liquidation threshold.
Kamino is a battle-tested protocol, but DeFi is never risk-free. Here is what can go wrong:
If you borrow and the value of your collateral drops (or the value of your borrowed asset rises), your health factor decreases. Below 1.0, liquidators can seize a portion of your collateral to repay your debt. You lose your collateral and still owe the remaining debt.
How to manage it: Don't borrow at max LTV. If the max LTV is 80%, borrow at 50-60% instead. This gives you a large buffer for price drops. Set up alerts or check your health factor regularly.
Kamino's contracts have been audited multiple times, and the protocol has been live for over two years without a major exploit. But smart contract risk never goes to zero. Don't put your entire net worth into any single DeFi protocol.
Kamino uses multiple price feeds to value collateral and determine liquidations. If an oracle provides a bad price (stale data, manipulation), positions could be incorrectly liquidated or, worse, the protocol could accrue bad debt. Kamino mitigates this with redundant oracles and price deviation checks, but the risk exists.
If you are using eMode with liquid staking tokens like JitoSOL or mSOL, you are betting that the LST maintains its peg to SOL. In a black swan event (validator slashing, protocol exploit), an LST could depeg. At 95% LTV in eMode, even a small depeg can trigger liquidation.
Some Earn vaults that manage concentrated liquidity positions (Kamino's original product) are exposed to impermanent loss. If the price of the underlying assets moves significantly, the vault's value may underperform simply holding the assets. The leveraged lending vaults (JitoSOL/SOL looping) do not have impermanent loss — they are pure borrow/lend strategies.
Kamino is not the only lending option on Solana. Drift offers borrow/lend alongside perps, and MarginFi was another option before its issues in 2024. But Kamino leads on:
For a broader comparison of yield opportunities across Solana protocols, check our yields page.
Kamino is the foundation of Solana DeFi. Whether you want to earn a simple 5% on stablecoins, run leveraged LST yield strategies at 20%+, or just borrow USDC without selling your SOL, Kamino handles it.
Start conservative. Supply a stablecoin or some SOL, see how the rates work, get comfortable with the interface. Then explore eMode and the Earn vaults once you understand the mechanics.
The protocol is not going anywhere — with $2-3B in TVL and deep integrations across the Solana ecosystem, Kamino is as close to essential infrastructure as DeFi gets.