# How Protected Staking Rewards shield Solana stakers

> PSR is Marinade's on-chain insurance against validator underperformance: validators post a SOL bond that covers 100% of rewards lost to downtime between 50% and 99% uptime, or to commission changes.

Canonical HTML: https://app.marinade.finance/learn/how-protected-staking-rewards-work/

Protecting the reward performance of stakers is a crucial step in fulfilling Marinade's vision for helping to power a truly decentralized Solana network. In April 2024 Marinade introduced a one-of-a-kind product feature in Solana staking: Protected Staking Rewards (PSR).

[Download the "How PSR Works" PDF](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/664c7876d83b34499b5688a0/674418edcc0020d74dcc5766_How%20PSR%20works.pdf)

## What is PSR?

While slashing is not a common practice within Solana, validators can still struggle with downtime. PSR is a feature, invented by Marinade, that functions as performance protection for Solana stakers by covering any unexpected underperformance of a validator with a secure backup pool.

This pool is created automatically for everyone through a joint bond between Marinade and the validators. Any loss of performance due to validator commission changes, or prolonged downtime, is covered by the bond, providing insurance to any Marinade staker impacted.

## How it works

### Step 1 — creating a SOL bond

All validators that have received any Marinade stake create a SOL bond to guarantee the projected yield. For every 10,000 SOL eligible for Marinade staking, the validator must deposit 1 SOL into the bond.

The 1% downtime mark is not covered. Validators cover 100% of lost rewards if their uptime falls between 50% and 99%. Below 50% uptime, it is up to Marinade to cover all losses accrued by stakers.

### Step 2 — rewards loss compensation for stakers

If a commission change or extended validator downtime causes a loss of yield below the initial projection, the bond automatically grants stakers SOL to compensate for any rewards lost during the staking period.

### Step 3 — PSR ensures rewards consistency

The settlement deposited to stakers through our coverage allocations ensures that at all times the projected yield remains the same as the realized one. Secure rewards, less risk.

[Optimize your staking](https://app.marinade.finance/)