Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, and Tarun Chitra chop it up about the latest news. This week, they are joined by Lucas Bruder, co-founder and CEO of Jito Labs, an infrastructure provider that mitigates the impact of maximum extractable value (MEV) on Solana — specifically spam and wasted block space. He and the gang discuss how the Jito airdrop this month helped rejuvenate Solana; how Jito differs from Flashbots, its counterpart on Ethereum; Solana’s potential scalability; and how Solana believers have been vindicated by the developments of the last few months. 

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Show highlights: 

• Why Jito is a crucial development in the Solana ecosystem and its potential impact on network performance
• What sets Jito apart from its counterpart on Ethereum, Flashbots, in terms of functionality and benefits
• Whether Solana's speed uniquely influences Jito's effectiveness compared to Flashbots
• Lucas' explanation of maximum extractable value (MEV) and how it operates within the Solana network, providing insight into its complexities and advantages
• Whether Solana's infrastructure could sustain block production if the AWS integration encounters disruptions
• How the Jito airdrop may have rejuvenated the Solana network, potentially marking an end to its "ice age"
• What recent surges in on-chain activity in Solana indicate about the network's health and user engagement
• Where MEV fees in Solana are directed and who benefits from this value accrual within the ecosystem
• Whether Solana dapps are evolving their architectures to mitigate MEV opportunities and enhance network security
• How Tarun envisions the design of Solana's fee market for optimal efficiency and fairness
• Whether Solana has the inherent capacity for infinite scalability and what potential bottlenecks might impede this growth

Hosts

• Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly 
• Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly 
• Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures

Guest:

• Lucas Bruder, CEO of Jito Labs

Links

MEV:

Previous coverage of Unchained on MEV: 

• Unchained: Why Is Ethereum Trying to Maximize Value From Users? Two Sides Debate
• The Chopping Block: Why the Once-Taboo MEV Is Now a Core Part of Ethereum
• CoinDesk: What Is MEV, aka Maximal Extractable Value?

Jito: 

• Unchained: Jito, Solana-Based Liquid Staking Protocol, Airdrops Governance Token
• Solana Validator 101: Transaction Processing
• Jito Block Engine Expands Access to All Solana MEV Traders

Solana’s recent activity and bull run:

• Unchained: 
• Anatoly Yakovenko on Solana’s Astounding Recovery and Its Future Plans
• Solana Takes the Lead in Daily Stablecoin Transfer Volume
• Solana Surges to $84, Flips Ethereum in Weekly DEX Volume
• Paxos Bringing Stablecoin Issuance on Solana, Diversifying Beyond Ethereum

Solana’s model:

• Solana
• Proof of History: How Solana brings time to crypto

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