Kamino Explained: The Complete Guide

What is Kamino?

Kamino (Kamino is Solana's largest DeFi protocol by TVL, offering lending, borrowing, automated liquidity vaults, one-click leverage, and — since its December 2025 rebrand — modular credit infrastructure including fixed-rate markets, off-chain collateral, and RWA integration) is Solana's largest DeFi protocol by TVL (~$1.5B as of May 2026), combining lending, automated liquidity vaults, and one-click leverage in a single app — and a December 2025 rebrand expanded it into a full-stack institutional credit platform with six new product lines. Last verified: 2026-05-31.

Kamino's original pitch was consolidation plus automation: fold lending, borrowing, automated concentrated-liquidity management, and one-click leverage into one Solana-native app, and automate the hardest part of LPing — constant rebalancing that a Uniswap-v3-style position demands. That made it the chain's dominant DeFi venue. The December 2025 rebrand and the launch of Kamino Lend V2 (mainnet, May 2025) took the protocol further: from a monolithic lending pool to a modular credit primitive where third parties can build custom lending markets. Combined with Solana's low fees and institutional integrations (Anchorage Digital, Securitize, Backed/xStocks), Kamino is pursuing DeFi's institutional layer.

The Kamino short answer

1. Solana's largest lender + liquidity-vault manager. Lend, borrow, or auto-managed LP, in one app. ~$1.5B TVL, ~$1.15B active loans (DefiLlama, May 2026).
2. Vaults automate concentrated liquidity. Kamino handles the range rebalancing that's the hard part of v3-style LPing on Orca and Raydium.
3. V2 = modular credit infrastructure. Kamino Lend V2 (live since May 2025) adds risk-tiered Earn Vaults, Margin Leverage, RWA markets, and lets builders spin up custom lending markets.
4. KMNO seasons drive incremental yield. Season 5 (Nov 2025, 100M KMNO) was the first to add borrow incentives; boosted APYs vest over six months and fall to base when seasons end.
5. Supply-only is low-risk; borrowing/Multiply isn't. Keep the two mentally separate.

🔴 Live: Incentives & Current State

Last updated 2026-05-31 — we refresh this section as campaigns change. Confirm the current season at kamino.com.

Kamino is Solana's largest DeFi protocol by TVL as of May 24, 2026 (~$1.5B on DefiLlama), generating ~$63M annualized in fees and ~$9M annualized in revenue. Kamino Lend V2 is live on mainnet. Season 5 reward vesting is active; watch kamino.com for Season 6 announcement.

What's live right now (May 2026)

• Kamino Lend V2 is live on mainnet — modular lending, 10 new markets at launch, Earn Vaults (three risk tiers: Conservative/Balanced/Aggressive managed by Steakhouse Financial and Re7 Labs), Margin Leverage trading, and RWA integration starting with ACRED (Securitize tokenized private credit).
• Season 5 reward vesting. Season 5 launched Nov 7, 2025 with up to 100M KMNO over three months — the first season to include borrow incentives (4.5M KMNO/week for USDC borrows against SOL and cbBTC collateral). The earning window has closed; vesting runs six months, meaning rewards unlock through mid-2026.
• Season 6: No official announcement as of May 31, 2026. Check kamino.com for launch.
• Anchorage Digital integration (live Feb 2026). Institutions borrow against staked SOL held in Anchorage custody via Kamino — staking yield plus borrowing liquidity simultaneously.
• Tokenized collateral. xStocks (Backed Finance, Chainlink-priced tokenized equities, 60+ stocks/ETFs) and Superstate Opening Bell (tokenized public equities, eligible non-US investors) are accepted as collateral. First major DeFi lender to do so.
• KMNO token (May 2026). Price ~$0.019–0.021, market cap ~$77–96M, FDV ~$193M, circulating supply ~4.7B of 10B total (47%). ATH was $0.2478. Next scheduled unlock: May 30, 2026 (Core Contributors vesting).

Season history at a glance

How to qualify and claim

1. Lend, borrow, or LP via vaults during an active season — genuine, sustained activity earns the most.
2. Stake KMNO to multiply rewards (3% base boost; +0.1%/day; Season 4 boosts carry forward).
3. Target incentivized vaults for boosted APYs (watch when incentives move).
4. Claim season rewards — they vest over six months; wait for the full bonus or claim early at a penalty.

Caveat: Most headline APYs are reward-driven and vest over months — when a season ends or incentives shift, yields fall to base rates. Do not over-leverage via Multiply just to farm.

For the general method, see our guide to finding crypto airdrops.

How Kamino works

Kamino combines a lending market, automated concentrated-liquidity vaults, and one-click leverage in one Solana app — and Lend V2 adds modular markets, risk-tiered Earn Vaults, Margin Leverage, and RWA integration. Last verified: 2026-05-31.

The standout original feature is the liquidity vault: on a concentrated-liquidity DEX, an LP must pick a price range and keep adjusting it as the market moves — earn well in range, earn nothing (and accrue impermanent loss) out of it. Kamino's vaults automate that rebalancing with a managed strategy. The lending side (K-Lend) works like Aave: supply assets to earn, post collateral to borrow, health-factor-triggered liquidation. Kamino Lend V2, live on mainnet since May 2025, restructures this as modular lending — third parties and curators can deploy custom markets with their own risk parameters, collateral, and fee structures — making Kamino a foundational credit layer rather than a single pool.

Worked examples: vaults, Multiply, and V2 Earn Vaults

A liquidity vault auto-manages your LP range so you earn fees hands-off; Multiply loops a position to amplify yield — and liquidation risk; V2 Earn Vaults add curator-managed risk tiers to the lending side. Last verified: 2026-05-31.

Liquidity vault. Deposit into a SOL/USDC vault:

• A manual concentrated LP would need you to set a price range and re-set it every time SOL moves out of range. Kamino's vault auto-rebalances, keeping your liquidity active and compounding fees — for a management fee.
• During a reward season, KMNO incentives can push stablecoin vault APY well above the base trading-fee yield. When the season ends, it reverts to the base rate.
• You still bear impermanent loss on volatile pairs — stablecoin vaults minimize this.

Multiply (leverage loop). JitoSOL example:

• Kamino, in one click, supplies your JitoSOL, borrows SOL against it, buys more JitoSOL, and repeats — looping to ~3x exposure to staking yield.
• Upside: ~3x the JitoSOL staking yield (plus any KMNO rewards).
• Risk: a moderate SOL/JitoSOL move or a borrow-rate spike can hit your health factor and liquidate the loop. Use low leverage and monitor constantly (same discipline as Aave borrowing).

V2 Earn Vaults. New in Lend V2:

• Three risk tiers — Conservative, Balanced, Aggressive — managed by professional curators (Steakhouse Financial, Re7 Labs).
• Curators set the collateral, LTV, and asset mix within each vault; you pick your risk tier.
• Designed so casual depositors get optimized, managed exposure without picking individual markets.

The pattern: liquidity vaults are a convenience layer over LPing; Multiply is leverage with one-click ease (but still leverage); V2 Earn Vaults extend that managed-product model to the lending side.

KMNO, seasons, and staking

KMNO is the governance and rewards token; five consecutive seasons have distributed large KMNO allocations to active users, and staking it boosts rewards and earns protocol fees — but the token trades ~91% below its ATH with ongoing unlock pressure. Last verified: 2026-05-31.

Tokenomics snapshot (May 2026):

Kamino has run five consecutive reward seasons distributing billions of KMNO to lenders, borrowers, and LPs. Season 5 (Nov 2025) was the first to include borrow incentives — 4.5M KMNO/week for USDC borrows against SOL collateral (4M/week) and cbBTC collateral (500K/week). Staking KMNO multiplies rewards (3% base boost, +0.1%/day accrual). Rewards vest over six months — claim early at a penalty, or wait for the full bonus. The ~53% of total supply still locked and unlocking through 2027 is a persistent dilution risk. Much of KMNO's utility remains reward-multiplication rather than direct cash flow; the token's value depends on continued protocol growth.

Kamino V2 and the institutional push

Kamino's December 2025 rebrand and the live Kamino Lend V2 (launched May 2025) transform it from a single-pool Solana lender into modular credit infrastructure with institutional-grade features: fixed-rate markets, off-chain collateral, RWAs, and a developer BuildKit. Last verified: 2026-05-31.

At Solana Breakpoint 2025 (Abu Dhabi, Dec 12, 2025), Kamino announced six new products alongside a rebrand:

Kamino Lend V2 launched on mainnet in late May 2025 (announced on Kamino's official X account), built on the battle-tested V1 codebase (14 audits, formal verification). At launch: 10 new markets, $285K+ monthly incentives, $4B in AUM. The modular layer enables permissioned KYC markets, fixed-rate borrowing, peer-to-peer lending, and RWA financing.

Anchorage Digital (Feb 13, 2026): Tri-party deal with Anchorage Digital and Solana Company. Institutions borrow against natively staked SOL in Anchorage custody — earning staking yield and unlocking liquidity simultaneously. Anchorage monitors LTV/margin/liquidation 24/7.

Tokenized collateral (2024–2026):

• Superstate Opening Bell (Dec 2024): tokenized publicly traded company shares as collateral; eligible non-US investors borrow stablecoins against them.
• xStocks by Backed Finance (2025): Chainlink-priced tokenized equities covering 60+ stocks/ETFs (AAPL, TSLA, etc.), issued under the Swiss DLT Act, acquired by Kraken Dec 2025.
• ACRED by Securitize (V2 launch): tokenized private credit fund as collateral in the RWA markets.

Caution: newer and exotic collateral (tokenized equities, private credit) carries more oracle and liquidity risk — thinly traded assets are harder to price and liquidate safely. For lower risk, stick to SOL, LSTs, and stablecoins.

How to earn on Kamino

Connect a Solana wallet, lend/borrow or deposit into a vault, stake KMNO to boost rewards, use Multiply leverage cautiously, and claim vesting season rewards. Last verified: 2026-05-31.

1. Connect a Solana wallet (Phantom, Solflare) at kamino.com.
2. Lend, borrow, or use a vault — V2 Earn Vaults offer Conservative/Balanced/Aggressive tiers for easier risk calibration.
3. Stake KMNO to boost rewards and earn fees.
4. Use Multiply or Margin Leverage carefully — keep leverage low and watch liquidation.
5. Claim and track season rewards (they vest six months).

For Solana context, see our Jupiter guide, Jito guide, and best lending protocols.

Kamino vs Aave

Both are over-collateralized lenders with health-factor liquidation; Kamino is Solana-native with integrated auto-LP vaults, modular V2 markets, and one-click leverage, while Aave is the larger, multi-chain EVM blue chip with deeper liquidity. Last verified: 2026-05-31.

Use Kamino if you're on Solana and want lending plus integrated automated liquidity, leverage tools, and institutional-grade RWA/fixed-rate products. Use Aave for the deepest, most battle-tested multi-chain lending (see Aave guide).

Risks and what to avoid

Risks include smart-contract risk, liquidation (especially via Multiply and Margin Leverage), vault-strategy and oracle risk, Solana-specific risks, reward-driven APYs that fall when seasons end, and KMNO token unlock dilution through 2027. Last verified: 2026-05-31.

• Leverage/liquidation. Multiply and Margin Leverage amplify returns and liquidation risk. A normal market move can liquidate a looped position. Keep leverage low; watch health factor constantly.
• Vault-strategy risk. Automated rebalancing manages impermanent loss but does not eliminate it; volatile pairs can still lose significantly.
• Oracle and collateral risk. Higher on newer features — tokenized stocks and private credit are harder to price and liquidate than SOL or USDC.
• Reward dependence. Boosted APYs are largely KMNO incentives that vest over months. When a season ends, yields drop to base rates.
• KMNO dilution. ~53% of total supply (5.3B KMNO) remains locked and unlocking through 2027. The May 30, 2026 Core Contributor unlock is the next scheduled event.
• Solana risk. Network-level issues (downtime, congestion) affect all Solana DeFi.
• V2 smart-contract risk. V2 is newer code (audited, built on V1 foundation) — curated markets add a layer of third-party risk from curator decisions.

Kamino concentrates several risk types (leverage, vaults, oracles, RWAs, token unlocks) in one place. Size positions accordingly; keep supply-only deposits separate from leveraged plays.

Safety checklist

1. Know your risk tier — supplying ≠ borrowing ≠ Multiply/Margin Leverage.
2. For Multiply, use low leverage and watch the health factor (same as Aave borrowing).
3. Prefer stablecoin or blue-chip vaults to minimize impermanent-loss risk.
4. Be cautious with exotic collateral (tokenized stocks, private credit) — more oracle/liquidity risk.
5. Treat boosted APYs as reward-driven — they fall when a season ends.
6. Account for KMNO unlock pressure — ~53% of supply still locked through 2027.
7. Verify the URL is kamino.com.

Glossary

• K-Lend — Kamino's lending market (supply/borrow, health-factor liquidation); now V2.
• Earn Vaults — V2 risk-tiered (Conservative/Balanced/Aggressive) curator-managed lending vaults.
• Liquidity vault — auto-managed, rebalanced concentrated-liquidity position on Orca/Raydium.
• Auto-rebalancing — the vault shifting your LP range to keep liquidity active.
• Multiply — one-click leverage (looping) product.
• Margin Leverage — V2 margin-trading interface via lending markets.
• Health factor — how close a borrow position is to liquidation (below threshold = liquidated).
• KMNO — governance/rewards token; stake to boost vault APYs and earn fees.
• Reward season — a multi-month KMNO distribution period (rewards vest ~6 months).
• Modular markets (V2) — isolated lending markets with custom risk parameters, deployable by third parties.
• xStocks — tokenized stocks/ETFs by Backed Finance (Swiss DLT Act), accepted as Kamino collateral.
• ACRED — Securitize tokenized private credit fund; accepted as collateral in Kamino V2 RWA markets.

Looking ahead

Kamino's trajectory in 2026 is modular credit infrastructure and institutional DeFi — V2 is live, RWA collateral is expanding, and off-chain custody integrations are pulling regulated capital onto Solana. Last verified: 2026-05-31.

Kamino Lend V2's modular design makes it a platform others build on, not just a DeFi app users visit. Three signals worth watching: (1) whether TVL recovers from ~$1.5B toward its ~$3.7B 2024 peak as V2 markets attract new capital; (2) whether KMNO gains utility beyond reward-multiplication (governance, fee accrual, fixed-rate market collateral) to support the token price amid ongoing unlocks; and (3) how deep the institutional push goes — the Anchorage/xStocks/Securitize integrations are live, but real-world asset volume in DeFi is still small relative to crypto-native lending. Those determine whether Kamino cements its lead or faces pressure as Solana DeFi competition (Marginfi, Drift, Solend successors) intensifies.

For context, see our Jupiter guide, Jito guide, Aave guide, and best lending protocols.