Kamino
Kamino is a Solana DeFi protocol offering lending, borrowing, and yield generation to retail crypto users and institutional investors. The platform focuses on capital-efficient strategies including borrowing against staked SOL and real-world asset collateral deployment, with institutional distribution via Anchorage Digital's Atlas network.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2021
- Headquarters—
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingSoftware
What Kamino does
Kamino is a Solana-based decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol founded in 2021 that provides lending, borrowing, and yield-generation services to both retail DeFi users and institutional investors. The protocol enables users to lend and borrow crypto assets with algorithmically set utilization-based rates, and is differentiated by capital-efficient strategies such as borrowing against natively staked SOL while continuing to earn approximately 7% staking rewards, and by its $587M in real-world asset (RWA) deployment TVL across 41 tokens.
The platform is built on Solana for low-cost, high-throughput settlement and integrates with Anchorage Digital's Atlas network to provide institutional-grade 24/7 collateral management, automated loan-to-value monitoring, and rules-based liquidations via a tri-party custody model. Kamino has implemented a "spec is law" invariant security approach that reverts transactions violating predefined assumptions, and supports liquid staking tokens (e.g., SOL Strategies' STKESOL), tokenized asset collateral (via Superstate), and structured credit instruments as composable building blocks. The protocol operates with a headcount of 11-50 and runs as a self-serve product with no publicly disclosed pricing tiers.
Kamino generates revenue through transaction fees on lending and borrowing activities and RWA deposit fees, with credit instruments representing roughly 80% of on-chain RWA usage due to higher yields (around 6%) enabling profitable looping strategies. Institutional distribution runs through Anchorage Digital's Atlas network (with named counterparties including Solana Company/HSDT, Cantor Fitzgerald, and Spark), while retail access is wallet-based on Solana. The protocol has faced material headwinds: a -28% drop in deposits to $1.3B and -26% drop in borrows to $460M following Jup Lend's launch, and approximately $280M of losses tied to the April 2025 Kelp DAO / rsETH exploit — both of which the company is responding to with an institutional pivot and a Series 2 capital raise.
Kamino firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Kamino
- Website
- https://kamino.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2021
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Kamino is a Solana DeFi protocol offering lending, borrowing, and yield generation to retail crypto users and institutional investors. The platform focuses on capital-efficient strategies including borrowing against staked SOL and real-world asset collateral deployment, with institutional distribution via Anchorage Digital's Atlas network.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Kamino industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Lending Protocol
- NAICS
- Other Financial Vehicles (525990), Securities, Commodity Contracts, and Other Financial Investments and Related Activities (523), Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525)
- SIC
- Finance Services (6199), Security & Commodity Brokers, Dealers, Exchanges & Services (6200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Decentralized Lending & Borrowing Protocols (FSADAMAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Yield, Vaults & Asset Management (vault strategies, robo-vaults, structured yield) (FSAPAEAG), Institutional DeFi & On-Chain Liquidity Infrastructure (Permissioned DeFi, Lending) (FSAGAMAG), Lending Protocol Infrastructure (Oracles, Rate Models, Vaults) (FSADAFAN), DeFi Asset Management & On-Chain Index Protocols (FSADAMAK)
Keywords
Kamino business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Lending Interest Fees: Kamino generates revenue through interest fees on lending and borrowing activities within its DeFi markets. The protocol facilitates institutional and retail lending with variable rates based on asset type and utilization.
- RWA Deposit Fees: Revenue generated from RWA collateral deposits in lending markets, with credit instruments representing 80% of on-chain usage due to higher yields (~6%) enabling profitable looping strategies
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels2 records
Kamino product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Kamino is a Solana-based DeFi protocol providing algorithmic lending and borrowing markets where users can supply and borrow crypto assets, deploy real-world assets (RWA) as composable collateral, and earn yield through strategies including borrowing against natively staked SOL. The protocol supports both retail self-serve wallet access and institutional-grade borrowing through Anchorage Digital's Atlas tri-party custody model with 24/7 automated LTV monitoring.
Product overview
Kamino is a Solana-based DeFi protocol offering a unified lending and liquidity platform. The core product enables users to lend and borrow crypto assets while earning yield, with support for institutional-grade collateral management through partnerships with Anchorage Digital Atlas and integration with liquid staking tokens and tokenized assets from partners like Superstate and SOL Strategies.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Kamino Lend
- Institutional Borrowing via Atlas (Staked SOL Collateral)
- RWA Collateral Deployment Markets
Quantifiable outcome
- ~$7% yield on staked SOL while maintaining borrowing power
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Kamino
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Kamino technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
Feature4 records
Kamino partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.
- Cantor FitzgeraldmajorCantor Fitzgerald selected Anchorage Digital (with Kamino integration) as its qualified custodian and collateral manager for its tokenized Bitcoin financing business, representing a major institutional partnership for on-chain borrowing capabilities.
- Anchorage DigitalcoreStrategic partnership where Anchorage Digital provides 24/7 automated collateral management through its Atlas system, enabling Kamino to offer institutional-grade borrowing against natively staked SOL with LTV monitoring and rules-based liquidations. The Atlas network has grown to nearly 600 participants with up to $4B in assets under custody.
- Solana Company (HSDT)coreLaunched first Digital Asset Treasury (DAT) enabling institutions to borrow against natively staked SOL while earning staking rewards (~7%). The tri-party custody model serves as a repeatable blueprint for institutional participation in Solana's DeFi ecosystem, with all collateral remaining in borrower's segregated account at Anchorage Digital.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Kamino competitors and assessment
Company assessmentMarket position
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Kamino social profiles
Digital presenceKamino financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Kamino leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Kamino funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors8 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Kamino M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Kamino
What does Kamino do?
Kamino is a Solana-based DeFi protocol providing algorithmic lending and borrowing markets where users can supply and borrow crypto assets, deploy real-world assets (RWA) as composable collateral, and earn yield through strategies including borrowing against natively staked SOL. The protocol supports both retail self-serve wallet access and institutional-grade borrowing through Anchorage Digital's Atlas tri-party custody model with 24/7 automated LTV monitoring.
Is Kamino a public or private company?
Kamino is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Kamino founded?
Kamino was founded in 2021. It employs 11 to 50 people.
How does Kamino make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Lending Interest Fees are the primary driver. The others are RWA Deposit Fees.
Does Kamino have an API?
No public API is recorded for Kamino.
What industry is Kamino in?
Kamino's product category is Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Lending Protocol. Its primary akta.pro industry code is FSADAMAA, Decentralized Lending & Borrowing Protocols, with a secondary code of FSAPAEAG, Yield, Vaults & Asset Management (vault strategies, robo-vaults, structured yield). Its NAICS code is 525990 and its SIC code is 6199.