Audit log

Every state-changing event for Jito Labs: moderation decisions on community submissions, plus corrections and updates from the news pipeline. URL-based decisions carry three independent witnesses — the original source, an Internet Archive snapshot taken at submission time, and a Solana memo signed by our publicly-disclosed publisher key.

1. #1publishby system:backfill

   2026-05-28 18:54:33Z
   Score: ? → ? (no score change)
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   chain

   ●mainnet-betaslot 422,778,718

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   5nVznmt6FpBQ…WZ5QcpVkcopyexplorer ↗

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   Db16tLqPK6M7…o8VMZGSEcopysha256 → base58

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   {"actor":"system:backfill","investigation_id":"cf559946-8df4-4bb2-91ad-39ab82c7b4cd","kind":"publish","page_slug":"jito-labs","published_at":"2026-05-28T18:54:33.861Z","sequence_num":1,"snapshot":{"content_type":"investigation","entity_name":"Jito Labs","sections":[{"content":"Jito Labs, Inc. was co-founded by Lucas Bruder (CEO) and Zano Sherwani (CTO). Brian Smith serves as Chief Operating Officer. The company's primary products are: (1) the Jito-Solana validator client, a fork of the canonical Solana Labs client optimized for MEV revenue; (2) the Jito Block Engine, an auction-based block builder that accepts 'bundles'—atomically executed transaction sequences—from searchers who attach priority tips; (3) the JitoSOL liquid staking pool, which distributes MEV rewards to stakers; and (4) the Jito Relayer, which filters transaction flow to reduce validator resource load. As of early 2026, the Jito-Solana client operated on validators securing approximately 94% of Solana's staked SOL, making it the dominant validator client on the network. JitoSOL reported a TVL of approximately $2.9 billion and a market capitalization near $820 million, positioning it as Solana's leading liquid staking protocol by TVL. The JTO governance token launched via airdrop on December 7, 2023, distributing 100 million tokens (10% of total supply) valued at approximately $165–225 million at launch prices.","heading":"Company Overview","severity":"low","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"Jito Labs official documentation — What is Jito?","type":"official","url":"https://docs.jito.wtf/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Jito on Solana: Project Review — Solana Compass","type":"research","url":"https://solanacompass.com/projects/jito"},{"credibility":2,"name":"JTO Airdrop: $225 Million Distributed — Decrypt","type":"news_article","url":"https://decrypt.co/209010/jito-airdrop-hands-out-225-million-solana-users"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Jito Liquid Staking TVL — DeFi Llama","type":"on_chain","url":"https://defillama.com/protocol/jito-liquid-staking"}]},{"content":"Jito Labs raised $2.1 million in an undisclosed seed round. In August 2022 it closed a $10 million Series A co-led by Multicoin Capital and Framework Ventures, with participation from Alameda Research, Solana Ventures, Delphi Digital, Robot Ventures, and angel investors including Solana Labs co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko, Austin Federa, and others. The participation of Alameda Research—which subsequently collapsed in the FTX bankruptcy in November 2022—has been noted in some analyses of Solana-ecosystem conflicts of interest, though no formal regulatory action has arisen from that association. In October 2025, the Jito Foundation announced a $50 million strategic investment from a16z crypto via a private token sale, described as one of the largest single commitments by a16z into a staking protocol.","heading":"Funding History","severity":"low","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"Jito Labs Raises $10M Series A — The Block","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/163011/jito-labs-raises-funding-solana-mev-infrastructure"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Jito Labs $10M Raise Announcement — Jito Official Blog","type":"official","url":"https://www.jito.wtf/blog/announcing-our-10m-raise/"},{"credibility":1,"name":"a16z crypto Makes $50M Strategic Investment in Jito — Jito Foundation","type":"official","url":"https://www.jito.network/blog/a16z-crypto-makes-50-million-strategic-investment-in-jito/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"A16z Crypto Invests $50M in Solana's Jito — The Block","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/374934/a16z-crypto-invest-50-million-solana-jito-private-token-sale"}]},{"content":"Jito Labs introduced a public mempool within its Block Engine that allowed searchers to observe pending transactions—an architectural feature that enabled sandwich attacks against retail users. A sandwich attack occurs when a bot places a buy order immediately before a victim's transaction and a sell order immediately after, profiting at the victim's expense. In January 2024, a single MEV bot earned approximately $1.8 million in seconds by front-running a large purchase of the meme token dogwifhat (WIF). Following a six-week period during which Jito Labs attempted engineering countermeasures, the company announced on March 8, 2024 that it would permanently suspend its public mempool. CEO Lucas Bruder stated the team had 'been attempting to minimize the impact of negative MEV for months' but that mitigation efforts 'became a cat-and-mouse game with MEV searchers.' The Jito Block Engine's bundle and block-building functionalities continued operating after the mempool shutdown. In 2025, on-chain researchers (0xGhostLogs) published findings that 23 validators operating within the Jito ecosystem had continued conducting 'wide sandwich' attacks—where front-running and back-running transactions are placed across separate blocks rather than the same block, circumventing earlier detection. Researchers estimated these attacks extracted between 30,000 and 60,000 SOL per month, with a record 87,000 SOL extracted in January 2025, totaling more than 529,000 SOL over the preceding year, affecting an estimated 222,272 victims. Jito's JitoSOL Blacklist Committee responded by banning 15 additional validators from receiving delegated stake. Jito Labs CEO Lucas Bruder subsequently stated that 'malicious extraction now represents a very small fraction of blockspace activity.'","heading":"MEV Infrastructure and Sandwich Attack Controversy","severity":"high","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"Jito Ends Mempool Function — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/business/2024/03/08/solana-client-developer-jito-announces-end-of-mempool-function"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Jito Bans 15 Additional Validators After Sandwich Attack Data — Cryptopolitan","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cryptopolitan.com/jito-bans-15-additional-validators-after-data-emerges-of-widespread-sandwich-attacks/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Jito Cracks Down on Validators After MEV Abuse Report — CoinMarketCap","type":"news_article","url":"https://coinmarketcap.com/headlines/news/jito-bans-15-additional-validators-after-data-emerges-of-widespread-sandwich-attacks/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Solana MEV Report: Trends, Insights, and Challenges — Helius","type":"research","url":"https://www.helius.dev/blog/solana-mev-report"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Quantifying the Threat of Sandwiching MEV on Jito — ACM Internet Measurement Conference 2025","type":"research","url":"https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3730567.3764493"}]},{"content":"On January 30, 2025, plaintiffs Diego Aguilar, Kendall Carnahan, and Michael Okafor filed a class action in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (Case No. 1:25-cv-00880-CM, before Judge Colleen McMahon) against Baton Corporation Ltd. (operating as Pump.fun) and its co-founders. On June 25, 2025, Judge McMahon ordered the case consolidated with a related action. On July 22, 2025, plaintiffs filed a consolidated amended complaint that substantially expanded the defendant list to include Jito Labs, the Jito Foundation, CEO Lucas Bruder, and COO Brian Smith, alongside Solana Labs, the Solana Foundation, and several executives from those entities. The amended complaint alleged that Jito Labs functioned as a 'knowing, intentional participant' in a civil RICO enterprise—characterized as a '$500 million crypto crime cartel'—rather than a neutral infrastructure provider. Plaintiffs alleged that Jito's MEV tooling, specifically the Block Engine and bundle priority mechanism, 'enabled sophisticated traders to front-run retail orders on Pump.fun, extracting value from unsophisticated users' and that Jito Labs 'controls transaction priority' within the alleged scheme alongside Solana Labs and Pump.fun. Jito Labs retained Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP as counsel. On September 5, 2025, Skadden filed a motion to dismiss arguing that plaintiffs 'failed to plead that Jito Labs had any relationship with, involvement in or control over the Pump.fun platform.' On September 26, 2025, plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed all claims against Jito Labs and its CEO without any settlement payment or other consideration; the court approved the dismissal on September 30, 2025. Notably, the CEO had not yet been served at the time of dismissal. On December 9, 2025, Judge McMahon granted plaintiffs leave to file a second amended complaint, and indicated that Jito Labs was among the entities that could potentially be re-named based on new evidence, including more than 5,000 internal chat logs supplied by a confidential informant. The second amended complaint was due December 19, 2025; as of the date of this report, whether Jito Labs was re-named in that filing has not been confirmed in publicly available sources.","heading":"Civil RICO Litigation — Aguilar v. Baton Corporation","severity":"high","sources":[{"credibility":1,"name":"Aguilar v. Baton Corporation — CourtListener Docket","type":"court_filing","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69593359/aguilar-v-baton-corporation-ltd-dba-pumpfun/"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Jito Labs Wins Dismissal of Class Action — Skadden","type":"other","url":"https://www.skadden.com/about/news-and-rankings/news/2025/10/crypto-developer-jito-labs-wins-dismissal-of-class-action"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Pump.fun Class Action Expands with RICO Allegations — Wolf Popper LLP","type":"other","url":"https://www.wolfpopper.com/news/pumpfun-class-action-lawsuit-expands-with-consolidated-amended-complaint-adding-rico-allegations-and-new-defendants"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Solana and Jito Named in Pump.fun RICO Class Action — CoinGeek","type":"news_article","url":"https://coingeek.com/solana-and-jito-named-in-pump-fun-rico-class-action/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Pump.fun RICO Lawsuit Expanded to Name Solana, Jito Labs — MEXC Blog","type":"news_article","url":"https://blog.mexc.com/news/pump-fun-hit-with-expanded-rico-lawsuit-naming-solana-jito-labs-and-founders-as-500m-crypto-crime-cartel/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Burwick Law Names Solana and Jito Executives in Expanded RICO Case — The Block","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/363996/burwick-law-names-solana-and-jito-executives-in-expanded-rico-case-against-pump"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Judge Approves Expansion of Pump.fun Lawsuit After 5,000 Internal Chats Surface — Yellow","type":"news_article","url":"https://yellow.com/news/judge-approves-expansion-of-solana-pumpfun-lawsuit-after-5000-internal-chats-surface"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Pump.fun Lawsuit Update: Judge Permits Second Amended Complaint — Crypto Times","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2025/12/16/pump-fun-lawsuit-update-judge-permits-second-amended-complaint/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Burwick Law — Aguilar v. Baton Corporation Active Case Page","type":"other","url":"https://www.burwick.law/active-cases/pump-fun-and-solana-rico-lawsuit-aguilar-v-baton-corporation"}]},{"content":"The Jito-Solana validator client's adoption by validators securing approximately 94% of Solana's staked SOL raises systemic concentration concerns independent of any litigation. A single third-party client dominating network stake creates a single point of failure: bugs, exploits, or policy decisions within the Jito client could propagate across nearly the entire Solana network. Researchers and analysts have noted this as a material risk to Solana's claimed decentralization properties, analogous to Ethereum's historical concerns about client diversity. Jito Labs has publicly acknowledged these concerns and has positioned its open-source approach as a partial mitigation. The company has proposed the Block Assembly Marketplace (BAM) system as a long-term technical solution to mitigate MEV abuse while preserving legitimate priority auction mechanisms.","heading":"Network Concentration Risk","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"Jito Labs and the Future of Solana's MEV Infrastructure — AInvest","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.ainvest.com/news/jito-labs-future-solana-mev-infrastructure-2601/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Solana MEV Economics: Jito, Bundles, and Liquid Staking — QuickNode","type":"research","url":"https://blog.quicknode.com/solana-mev-economics-jito-bundles-liquid-staking-guide/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Jito Proposes Safer Solana Block Building Against Sandwich Attacks — Cryptopolitan","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cryptopolitan.com/jito-proposes-safer-solana-block-buildings-fully-protecting-against-sandwich-attacks/"}]}],"sources_used":[{"credibility":1,"name":"Jito Labs Official Documentation","type":"official","url":"https://docs.jito.wtf/"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Jito Labs $10M Raise — Jito Official Blog","type":"official","url":"https://www.jito.wtf/blog/announcing-our-10m-raise/"},{"credibility":1,"name":"a16z $50M Investment in Jito — Jito Foundation Blog","type":"official","url":"https://www.jito.network/blog/a16z-crypto-makes-50-million-strategic-investment-in-jito/"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Jito Labs Wins Dismissal of Class Action — Skadden","type":"other","url":"https://www.skadden.com/about/news-and-rankings/news/2025/10/crypto-developer-jito-labs-wins-dismissal-of-class-action"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Aguilar v. Baton Corporation Docket — CourtListener","type":"court_filing","url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69593359/aguilar-v-baton-corporation-ltd-dba-pumpfun/"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Quantifying Sandwiching MEV on Jito — ACM IMC 2025","type":"research","url":"https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3730567.3764493"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Jito Ends Mempool Function — CoinDesk","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.coindesk.com/business/2024/03/08/solana-client-developer-jito-announces-end-of-mempool-function"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Jito Labs Raises $10M Series A — The Block","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/163011/jito-labs-raises-funding-solana-mev-infrastructure"},{"credibility":2,"name":"A16z Crypto Invests $50M in Solana Jito — The Block","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/374934/a16z-crypto-invest-50-million-solana-jito-private-token-sale"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Jito JTO Airdrop — Decrypt","type":"news_article","url":"https://decrypt.co/209010/jito-airdrop-hands-out-225-million-solana-users"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Solana and Jito Named in Pump.fun RICO Class Action — CoinGeek","type":"news_article","url":"https://coingeek.com/solana-and-jito-named-in-pump-fun-rico-class-action/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Pump.fun RICO Lawsuit Expands to Name Jito Labs — MEXC Blog","type":"news_article","url":"https://blog.mexc.com/news/pump-fun-hit-with-expanded-rico-lawsuit-naming-solana-jito-labs-and-founders-as-500m-crypto-crime-cartel/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Pump.fun Class Action Expands with RICO — Wolf Popper LLP","type":"other","url":"https://www.wolfpopper.com/news/pumpfun-class-action-lawsuit-expands-with-consolidated-amended-complaint-adding-rico-allegations-and-new-defendants"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Burwick Law — Aguilar v. Baton Corporation Active Case","type":"other","url":"https://www.burwick.law/active-cases/pump-fun-and-solana-rico-lawsuit-aguilar-v-baton-corporation"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Burwick Law Names Solana and Jito Executives in Expanded RICO Case — The Block","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.theblock.co/post/363996/burwick-law-names-solana-and-jito-executives-in-expanded-rico-case-against-pump"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Jito Bans 15 Validators After Sandwich Attack Data — Cryptopolitan","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cryptopolitan.com/jito-bans-15-additional-validators-after-data-emerges-of-widespread-sandwich-attacks/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Solana MEV Economics: Jito, Bundles, and Liquid Staking — QuickNode","type":"research","url":"https://blog.quicknode.com/solana-mev-economics-jito-bundles-liquid-staking-guide/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Solana MEV Report — Helius","type":"research","url":"https://www.helius.dev/blog/solana-mev-report"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Judge Approves Expansion of Pump.fun Lawsuit — Yellow","type":"news_article","url":"https://yellow.com/news/judge-approves-expansion-of-solana-pumpfun-lawsuit-after-5000-internal-chats-surface"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Pump.fun Lawsuit Second Amended Complaint — Crypto Times","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2025/12/16/pump-fun-lawsuit-update-judge-permits-second-amended-complaint/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Jito Liquid Staking TVL — DeFi Llama","type":"on_chain","url":"https://defillama.com/protocol/jito-liquid-staking"},{"credibility":2,"name":"$5.5B Lawsuit Hits Pump.Fun, Solana and Jito — Hodder Law","type":"other","url":"https://hodder.law/pumpfun-solana-jito-lawsuit-2025/"}],"summary":"Jito Labs is a San Francisco-based software company that builds MEV (maximal extractable value) and liquid staking infrastructure for the Solana blockchain, most notably the Jito-Solana validator client and the JitoSOL liquid staking protocol. The company was named as a defendant in a civil RICO class action (Aguilar v. Baton Corporation, S.D.N.Y., No. 1:25-cv-00880) alleging it enabled insider front-running on the Pump.fun memecoin platform; plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed all claims against Jito Labs on September 26, 2025, without settlement payment, though the court later granted leave to refile and the broader case against co-defendants continues. Jito Labs previously suspended its public mempool in March 2024 after sandwich-attack bots exploited the feature, and subsequently took enforcement action against validators conducting such attacks in 2025.","timeline":[{"date":"2022-08-11","event":"Jito Labs closes $10M Series A co-led by Multicoin Capital and Framework Ventures, with participation from Alameda Research, Solana Ventures, Delphi Digital, and angel investors including Anatoly Yakovenko.","source":"Jito Labs official blog; Chainwire","source_url":"https://chainwire.org/2022/08/11/jito-labs-raises-10m-from-multicoin-capital-and-framework-ventures-to-build-performant-mev-infrastructure-for-solana/"},{"date":"2023-12-07","event":"JTO governance token airdrop claim window opens; 100 million JTO tokens (10% of supply) distributed to JitoSOL users, validators, and MEV searchers, valued at approximately $165–225 million at launch.","source":"Decrypt; CoinDesk","source_url":"https://decrypt.co/209010/jito-airdrop-hands-out-225-million-solana-users"},{"date":"2024-01-01","event":"MEV bot earns approximately $1.8 million in seconds by sandwich-attacking a large dogwifhat (WIF) purchase through Jito's public mempool.","source":"CoinDesk","source_url":"https://www.coindesk.com/business/2024/03/08/solana-client-developer-jito-announces-end-of-mempool-function"},{"date":"2024-03-08","event":"Jito Labs permanently suspends its public mempool functionality, citing inability to engineer a durable solution against sandwich attacks after a six-week remediation effort.","source":"CoinDesk","source_url":"https://www.coindesk.com/business/2024/03/08/solana-client-developer-jito-announces-end-of-mempool-function"},{"date":"2025-01-30","event":"Aguilar v. Baton Corporation class action filed in SDNY against Pump.fun (Baton Corporation) and its co-founders. Jito Labs not yet named.","source":"CourtListener","source_url":"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69593359/aguilar-v-baton-corporation-ltd-dba-pumpfun/"},{"date":"2025-06-25","event":"Judge Colleen McMahon orders consolidation of two separate Pump.fun-related class actions.","source":"Wolf Popper LLP","source_url":"https://www.wolfpopper.com/news/pumpfun-class-action-lawsuit-expands-with-consolidated-amended-complaint-adding-rico-allegations-and-new-defendants"},{"date":"2025-07-22","event":"Consolidated amended complaint filed naming Jito Labs, Jito Foundation, CEO Lucas Bruder, and COO Brian Smith as defendants in civil RICO claims, alleging MEV infrastructure enabled insider front-running on Pump.fun.","source":"Wolf Popper LLP; CoinGeek","source_url":"https://coingeek.com/solana-and-jito-named-in-pump-fun-rico-class-action/"},{"date":"2025-09-05","event":"Skadden files motion to dismiss on behalf of Jito Labs, arguing plaintiffs failed to plead any relationship between Jito Labs and the Pump.fun platform.","source":"Skadden official press release","source_url":"https://www.skadden.com/about/news-and-rankings/news/2025/10/crypto-developer-jito-labs-wins-dismissal-of-class-action"},{"date":"2025-09-26","event":"Plaintiffs voluntarily dismiss all claims against Jito Labs, Jito Foundation, Lucas Bruder, and Brian Smith without settlement payment or other consideration.","source":"Skadden official press release","source_url":"https://www.skadden.com/about/news-and-rankings/news/2025/10/crypto-developer-jito-labs-wins-dismissal-of-class-action"},{"date":"2025-09-30","event":"Court approves voluntary dismissal of all claims against Jito Labs.","source":"Skadden official press release","source_url":"https://www.skadden.com/about/news-and-rankings/news/2025/10/crypto-developer-jito-labs-wins-dismissal-of-class-action"},{"date":"2025-10-16","event":"Jito Foundation announces $50 million strategic investment from a16z crypto via private JTO token sale.","source":"Jito Foundation official blog","source_url":"https://www.jito.network/blog/a16z-crypto-makes-50-million-strategic-investment-in-jito/"},{"date":"2025-12-09","event":"Judge McMahon grants plaintiffs leave to file a second amended complaint after confidential informant supplies more than 5,000 internal chat logs; Jito Labs is among entities potentially subject to re-naming.","source":"Crypto Times; Yellow","source_url":"https://www.cryptotimes.io/2025/12/16/pump-fun-lawsuit-update-judge-permits-second-amended-complaint/"}]},"v":1}

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