Jito Experiences System-Wide Outage Amid Record Transaction Demand
Jito, a Solana-based platform that processes the majority of the blockchain's income, experienced a "system-wide outage." This incident affected Jito bundles, which allow traders to process multiple transactions simultaneously. The outage followed a record day where Jito processed 15 million bundles, surpassing its previous high of 13.9 million.
Approximately 90% of Solana validators use Jito's software, raising concerns about potential network outages. However, Jito co-founder Lucas Bruder confirmed that transaction processing continued during the outage, as bundles are only one component of the Jito-Solana client.
For a month, demand for access to the Solana blockchain has reached consecutive record highs, putting pressure on Jito and other infrastructure. Jito MEV tips, additional fees paid by traders for transaction prioritization, have doubled compared to levels during the recent memecoin craze, with users paying around $6.2 million in MEV tips yesterday.
The outage began at 4:00 AM Wednesday, was officially declared at 9:30 AM, and services resumed by 11 AM. Some Solana DeFi protocols, including Jupiter and Save, experienced disruptions during this period. Jito created a Telegram channel in late October to provide updates on its block engine, which optimizes transaction ordering; this channel indicated two prior system issues since Saturday.
During the outage, Solana's median priority fee spiked briefly, indicating increased costs for transaction placement on the blockchain. This phenomenon was observed by Blockworks Research analyst Dan Smith. Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko noted that while Jito is slower than standard transaction fees, its reliability can help lower median fees for all users.