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October 27, 2022 • 4 minute reading time

Jito-Solana Is Now Open Source

Jito Labs
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The Jito Foundation is excited to open source Jito-Solana, the first third-party, MEV-boosted validator client for Solana.

Jito-Solana represents a meaningful improvement to Solana’s validator software. It was intentionally designed to earn MEV profits and optimize their distribution to network validators and stakers. In addition to enabling MEV rebates, Jito-Solana was also designed to combat spam and improve network efficiency.

As of today, Jito-Solana is now fully open source. Validators have been running Jito-Solana in both mainnet and testnet environments over the course of the last six months, having processed over one million bundles. Following that testing period and a successful audit, the Foundation is open sourcing the client and encouraging any interested parties to consider upgrading.

Basic Architecture

Jito is a suite of products that enables validators to earn more revenue from MEV while eliminating unproductive network spam. Jito-Solana is the centerpiece of this network and manages communication with our relayer and third-party block engines. Jito Labs Block Engine is the first integration but additional third-party products will be added as available.

The result for validators is a way to profit from the MEV extracted during their leader slots. This revenue is collected in a non-custodial fashion and set up for effortless distribution to validators and stakers based on each validator’s custom fee parameters.

Summary of Jito-Solana’s architecture

In addition to the client, the Jito Labs Block Engine connects relayers, searchers, and validators via an off-chain blockspace auction. The Block Engine simulates every transaction combination and forwards the highest paying batch of bundles to the leader for block inclusion.

The last component of the product suite is the Jito Relayer, which acts as an outsourced transaction processing unit (TPU) proxy. It filters and verifies transactions on a separate server to reduce the burden on validators. The relayer submits verified transactions to our Block Engine and the validator.

Benefits of Jito-Solana for Validators

Financially, validators should increase profitability as MEV tips generate incremental revenue with no associated cost. Our estimates suggest validator revenue could increase 20% or more as the client gains adoption across Solana. They will also benefit from improved network efficiency as the spam burden is greatly reduced.

Stakers and stake pools are expected to prioritize Jito-Solana validators for the economic and network benefits. This provides further economic rewards for early adopters.

Security and Reliability Considerations

We understand security and reliability are non-negotiable for validators. These principles were instrumental in the design of Jito’s solution from the outset.

Jito-Solana is a fork of Solana’s validator client with modifications to enable bundles as a primitive. The client and other products are fully open source to encourage review by the community. The client has completed a Neodyme audit and is in process with Halborn, two of the most respected auditors in the space. As an additional safeguard, the Foundation will be monitoring the rollout of Jito-Solana and aims to keep it below 33% of stake weight prior to completion of the Halborn audit.

Transaction fees are set up to be processed in a transparent and non-custodial manner. These fees can be passively deposited into the account of your choice.

Our system is globally distributed, designed with reliability as a nonnegotiable condition given the impacts of any downtime on validators and network security. Numerous redundancies were implemented across the relayer and core client so validators will always be functioning effectively.

Validators occasionally experience spikes with 15 Gb/s or higher network ingress. Almost all of this traffic is spam. Data from July 25, 2022 provided Certus One.

Eradication of Spam

Solana has experienced several periods of severe network congestion over the last year. The traffic is unsurprising given Solana’s low transaction fees. Solana Labs implemented several initiatives aimed at mitigating this congestion with promising early results.

Jito’s client supplements these efforts with an auction for specific transaction opportunities. Traders can now connect directly to Jito’s Block Engine and submit bundles with tips. This auction puts an explicit price on previously undervalued opportunities. It also renders spam bots ineffective since transactions are prioritized by the highest payer.

Note these ancillary fees will impact only a tiny portion of typical user activity. The auction targets sophisticated traders and casual users should only benefit.

The benefit may not be fully apparent until adoption reaches critical mass but the Foundation expects to see a material reduction in network congestion. This will improve the network experience for every Solana stakeholder.

Future Priorities

Jito’s founding mission was to minimize negative externalities while enabling validators and stakers to maximize their share of MEV rewards. Jito-Solana’s release is only the first step in this journey. The Foundation will be encouraging validator adoption, democratizing searcher access and improving transparency. As MEV matures, new mechanisms will require development along with enhancements of the existing program. The Foundation will be releasing more open source tools along the way.

There are some dilemmas inherent to MEV extraction. Jito Foundation has published its core priorities and plans to explore the tradeoffs openly with the Solana community in upcoming months. The Foundation will also be engaging with a broad array of stakeholders to gather alternative views. For now, the Foundation acknowledges MEV will persist in any environment and is working tirelessly to ensure it evolves in the healthiest manner possible.

Onboarding Process

Documentation is available and will be expanded considerably in upcoming weeks as we gather feedback from active users. The Jito Foundation will provide additional support as required. Below is a list of resources. Please reach out, and we look forward to working together on moving Solana beyond its beta phase.

Resources:

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