Marinade Appoints Ex-Fidelity, BNY Mellon Exec Hadley Stern As Chief Commercial Officer

Marinade, Solana’s first liquid and native staking protocol, has announced the appointment of Hadley Stern as Chief Commercial Officer.

Stern’s previous roles include the Global Head of Digital Asset Custody at the banking giant BNYM and the founding President at Fidelity Digital Asset Services.

In 2014, he led the launch of the Bitcoin Incubator at Fidelity Investments, which resulted in a series of major developments.

These include a Bitcoin mining operation, Bitcoin donations to Fidelity Charitable, and the founding of Fidelity Digital Asset Services.

According to the press release Stern will lead initiatives to strengthen the protocol’s position as a Solana staking solution.

Michael Repetny, CEO of Marinade Labs, noted Stern’s “deep understanding of digital asset management” and “unique insights.”

He commented that Stern’s inclusion into the team represents “a huge milestone” for Marinade and the Solana community.

“With Stern onboard we are confident Marinade will be the leading staking option for institutions with enhanced rewards, best decentralization, and best security model,” Repetny said.

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BIG WEEK INCOMING

— Marinade 🛡️ (@MarinadeFinance) September 9, 2024

To solidify decentralized finance (DeFi) as the standard system for financial services, Marinade argued, DeFi projects must appeal to retail and institutional investors.

Stern, they added, brings significant digital asset custody and traditional finance experience.

As such, he will be able to help blockchain technology achieve institutional adoption and Marinade become the staking market solution for any global institution.

According to Stern, Marinade’s staking marketplace model is “the best solution for validators, the Solana blockchain, and now, with Marinade Native, for institutions.”

“It is the model for how DeFi will become the standard system for financial services,” he added.

Marinade Native enables institutions building real-world products and businesses atop Solana to participate in the decentralized hardening of the network.

Marinade Joins Hands with Copper and Zodia Custody

Marinade also announced that it partnered with custody firms Copper and Zodia Custody to deliver institutional-grade security and regulatory compliance.

The partnerships will contribute to the overall adoption, stability, and safety of Solana, said the announcement.

“With sophisticated institutional digital asset infrastructures, institutions and investors can experience a protected, optimized SOL native staking experience,” it added.

Currently, Marinade boasts the third-highest total value locked (TVL) on the Solana blockchain, with $988.95 million, according to DeFiLlama.

It follows Jito, Kamino, and Jupiter, which recorded $1.744 billion, $1.378 billion, and $1.019 billion, respectively.

The Solana blockchain’s TVL stands at $4.709 billion at the time of writing (Wednesday noon, UTC).

Established in 2021, Marinade created Marinade Native, Protected Staking Rewards (PSR), and the Stake Auction Marketplace (SAM).

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1. Zero fees on Marinade liquid staking
2. Highest base APY due to SAM bids & optimization

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— Marinade 🛡️ (@MarinadeFinance) September 5, 2024

It serves over 100,000 users with more than 10 million SOL staked, said the team.

Furthermore, the recently launched SAM, an open public auction platform where validators can bid for staked SOL, saw more than 6 million stake distributed to validators.

In June, the project announced SAM as a part of its V2 upgrade.

Marinade enables staking rewards while eliminating smart contract risks through Marinade Native and PSR, it said