What Is Jito in Solana?
Jito is the primary MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) infrastructure on Solana. It provides a modified validator client that supports transaction bundles and tips, allowing users to pay for guaranteed transaction ordering and inclusion.
Jito components
- Jito-Solana — a fork of the Agave validator client that accepts bundles and processes tips. The majority of Solana validators run Jito-Solana.
- Block Engine — the off-chain service that receives bundles from searchers and traders, selects the highest-value bundles, and forwards them to Jito-Solana leaders.
- Bundles — groups of up to 5 transactions that execute atomically and in order. If any transaction in the bundle fails, the entire bundle is dropped.
- Tips — SOL payments sent to Jito tip accounts as the last instruction of a bundle. Tips incentivize validators to include the bundle.
JitoSOL
JitoSOL is Jito’s liquid staking token. SOL staked through Jito earns staking rewards plus a portion of MEV tips earned by Jito validators.
How bundles work
A searcher constructs a bundle (up to 5 transactions), adds a tip transaction, and submits it to the Jito Block Engine. The Block Engine forwards winning bundles to the current leader. The leader places the bundle at the top of the block, executing all transactions atomically.
FAQ
Do I need Jito for every transaction? No. Jito bundles are primarily used for MEV extraction (arbitrage, liquidations) and by applications that need guaranteed ordering. Regular transactions can use standard sendTransaction.
How much should I tip? Tip amounts vary with demand. During high MEV activity, tips can reach thousands of lamports. Monitor recent tip levels to stay competitive.
What percentage of validators run Jito? The majority of Solana validators by stake weight run Jito-Solana (as of 2026-10-20).
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