Jito (JTO)

Jito (JTO) is the governance token of the Jito Network, a set of services on the Solana blockchain best known for JitoSOL, a liquid staking token, and for the infrastructure that lets traders pay validators to include and order their transactions. JTO holders vote through the Jito DAO on the network's fees, parameters and treasury.

JTO is distinct from JitoSOL. JitoSOL represents staked SOL and earns staking rewards; JTO is a separate token that carries votes, not a claim on staked SOL. The software, including the Jito-Solana validator client and the block engine, is built by the company Jito Labs, while the Jito Foundation supports the DAO. On Ethereum the closest comparison for JitoSOL is Lido's stETH.

Staking SOL normally means handing coins to a validator and waiting days to get them back. JitoSOL works like a coat-check ticket. You hand over SOL, get a ticket in return, and the ticket slowly becomes worth more SOL as rewards build up. Meanwhile you can sell the ticket, lend it or use it elsewhere, instead of being stuck in the queue.

The other half of Jito is a fast lane at a busy toll gate. Traders who badly want their transaction processed first, or in a set order, can add a tip. Validators running Jito's software collect those tips, and much of the money ends up shared with ordinary stakers. JTO gives a say in how that whole arrangement is run.

Jito Labs was founded in 2021 by Lucas Bruder and Zano Sherwani. It released a modified Solana validator client and a block engine that accepts "bundles", groups of transactions submitted with a tip, so that the value traders compete for, known as maximal extractable value or MEV, would be paid openly to validators instead of being captured through spam. The JitoSOL stake pool followed in 2022 and became one of the largest liquid staking tokens on Solana.

The JTO token launched on 7 December 2023, when 90 million tokens, 10 percent of the 1 billion supply, were airdropped to JitoSOL holders and other early users based on a points programme. The drop was widely seen as a boost to Solana's decentralized finance scene after the collapse of FTX. In March 2024 Jito switched off its public mempool, the waiting room of pending transactions, after it was used for sandwich attacks on traders. In September 2025 it launched the Block Assembly Marketplace (BAM), a new system for building blocks with more transparent ordering rules.

JitoSOL does not rebase; the number of tokens in a holder's wallet stays the same. Instead the pool's SOL grows as staking rewards and MEV tips arrive, so each JitoSOL is redeemable for more SOL over time:

• $\text{Total SOL in the pool}$ is all SOL the pool has delegated to validators, plus rewards earned.
• $\text{JitoSOL in circulation}$ is the number of tokens issued to depositors.
• $\text{SOL per JitoSOL}$ is the redemption value of one token.

For example, a pool holding 13,200,000 SOL against 12,000,000 JitoSOL gives $13{,}200{,}000 \div 12{,}000{,}000 = 1.1$, so each JitoSOL can be exchanged for 1.1 SOL. A holder of 500 JitoSOL has a claim on 550 SOL, less any fees. The pool spreads deposits across many validators, a form of delegated staking, and charges a small fee on rewards that goes to the DAO.

• Governance. JTO holders vote on Jito Improvement Proposals that set stake pool fees, validator rules and spending from the treasury, a form of governance run by a DAO.
• Fee direction. Governance has voted to route shares of the fees from Jito's stake pool, block engine and related services to the DAO treasury, and to use some revenue for buybacks of JTO.
• Restaking. Jito's restaking system, launched in 2024, lets JitoSOL and other tokens secure additional services.
• Trading and collateral. JTO and JitoSOL are listed on major exchanges and used across Solana decentralized exchanges and lending markets.

In August 2025 staff at the US Securities and Exchange Commission said that liquid staking, and the receipt tokens it creates, generally do not involve the offer of securities, provided the provider plays a hands-off, administrative role. The statement was guidance, not a binding rule. Weeks later the asset manager VanEck filed to launch an exchange-traded fund that would hold only JitoSOL, and in March 2026 Nasdaq filed to list it. As of the latest available reports, the fund had not begun trading.

Critics argue that Jito's dominance of Solana block building concentrates power over transaction ordering, and BAM validators briefly held more than a third of staked SOL in 2026. MEV also means some traders pay more than others for the same trade. JitoSOL holders face smart-contract and validator risk, and the token can trade below its redemption value in a sell-off. JTO itself gives votes rather than a direct claim on fees, and its price fell more than 90 percent from its December 2023 high.

• Jito Network
• Jito Labs