Jito (JTO): The DAO Behind Solana’s MEV Tips and JitoSOL
Liquid staking, BAM and a token airdropped in 2023
Jito is Solana infrastructure that collects the extra income validators earn from ordering transactions (MEV) and passes it on to stakers through liquid staking. JTO is the governance token of JitoDAO, which runs the project.
1. What it is and who built it
Validators that build Solana blocks can earn ‘tips’ from users for ordering transactions, and this extra income is called MEV (value captured by whoever orders transactions). Jito Labs built ‘Jito-Solana’, a modified validator program that collects these tips reliably, and many Solana validators run it. The same team launched JitoSOL, a receipt token for SOL deposited with Jito.
JTO appeared on 7 December 2023 with an airdrop (a free distribution) to users and validators, and its total supply is 1 billion. Holders vote on Jito Improvement Proposals (JIPs) covering fee splits, subsidies and use of the treasury. On the Crypto Nation map, JTO stands in Solana City, because it was first issued on Solana.
2. Liquid staking and MEV tips
Staking SOL with a validator earns rewards but locks the SOL up. Depositing with Jito returns JitoSOL, which can keep working in other DeFi apps while staking rewards and a share of MEV tips build up in its exchange rate. Such tokens are called liquid staking tokens.
On the validator side, Jito’s block engine takes bundles (groups of transactions sent together) with tips, places them in blocks and splits the tips between validators and stakers. But its public queue of pending transactions (the mempool) was abused for sandwich attacks, where someone slips trades before and after yours for profit, and Jito shut it down in March 2024.
3. Uses and milestones
JitoSOL is one of the widely used liquid staking tokens in Solana DeFi, serving as collateral and a trading asset. JTO holders have voted on fee splits and subsidies, including a proposal sending Jito Labs’ share of block-engine and BAM fees to JitoDAO.
BAM, the Block Assembly Marketplace, was confirmed live on Solana mainnet on 25 September 2025. It is an open-source framework replacing Jito’s proprietary block engine, stressing transparency, privacy and plug-ins that let apps set their own ordering rules. In July 2026 JTX, a self-custody trading platform, began phased early access, and JIP-38 sends four-fifths of its platform fees to buying and burning JTO for at least a year.
4. Things to know
Jito’s income depends on Solana activity and the MEV market. According to the analytics site Solana Compass, protocol revenue in Q2 2026 fell for the fifth straight quarter, MEV tip income dropped sharply, and JitoSOL’s deposits and share of liquid staking also declined.
The profitability of BAM subsidies and of JTX is unproven, and a DAO treasury made up mostly of JTO means funding can swing with the token. Rival validator software such as Harmonic, Rakurai and Frankendancer exists, and projects like Raiku compete with BAM. If one program shapes blocks for many validators, it also invites debate about decentralization.
Written from information public up to October 2026. It does not recommend or rate any coin and is not investment advice. If something is wrong, please tell us through the contact page.