MEV on Solana: Architecture, exploits, and the road ahead

There are moments in blockchain when speed is more than just an advantage—it’s the difference between profit and loss. That’s where Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) comes in. 

On Solana, the concept of MEV takes on a unique form, shaped by its high throughput and parallel processing. Unlike Ethereum, where MEV focuses on transaction reordering in a mempool, Solana operates differently. Its architecture enables flash loans, arbitrage, and instant transaction sequencing to happen faster and with less friction.

MEV on Solana vs. Ethereum: What’s the difference?

On Ethereum, the public mempool lets searchers observe pending transactions, spot opportunities, and strategically place their transactions. It’s a race of gas fees and timing, where visibility is everything.

Solana, on the other hand, eliminates the traditional mempool. Thanks to its deterministic leader schedule powered by Proof of History (PoH), transactions are sent directly to the appointed leader for that slot. This structure prioritizes speed and parallelism, where transactions don’t just wait their turn—they are processed simultaneously across multiple cores through Sealevel.

Below is a side-by-side comparison to highlight these differences:

Unlike Ethereum's public mempool, Solana relies on private relays and direct routing to validators. This shifts the competition from gas bidding to low-latency infrastructure.

"In high-frequency trading, milliseconds matter. Optimized infrastructure gives you the edge to capture value before it’s gone."

— Maximize your MEV potential with RPC Fast’s dedicated Solana nodes.

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Technical mechanisms enabling MEV on Solana

Unlike Ethereum, where MEV is primarily gas-based, Solana's high throughput and parallel processing create new ways for searchers to extract value. 

Parallel processing (sealevel runtime)

One of Solana's defining features is its Sealevel parallel processing engine. Unlike Ethereum’s single-threaded EVM, Solana processes thousands of transactions simultaneously, as long as they don’t touch the same state. This is possible because each transaction on Solana must declare which accounts it will interact with before execution. If there’s no overlap, those transactions can be executed in parallel.

To put it into perspective:

• Solana can handle up to 65,000 transactions per second (TPS) under optimal conditions. Ethereum, even after the Merge, averages around 30 TPS.
• This parallelism not only boosts throughput but also enables atomic arbitrage—multiple trades can be executed across different DEXes within a single transaction, without waiting for one to complete before starting the next.

Imagine a bot spotting a price discrepancy between two Solana DEXes—say, Orca and Raydium. It can execute an arbitrage trade across both simultaneously, rather than waiting for confirmation from one before acting on the other. This gives MEV searchers a massive edge in capitalizing on micro-arbitrage opportunities that would otherwise be impossible on single-threaded chains like Ethereum.

Flash loans and atomic execution

Solana also supports flash loans, which allow MEV searchers to borrow large amounts of liquidity for a single transaction, execute arbitrage or liquidation strategies, and repay the loan—all within the same block. If any step fails, the entire transaction is rolled back, and no money is lost.

Here’s why this matters:

• Solana’s low latency (block times of around 400ms) enables faster execution of flash loan-based strategies.
• Bots can borrow millions of USDC, execute a price correction on a DEX, and repay the loan—all within microseconds.
• Unlike Ethereum, where gas fees can eat into profit margins, Solana’s low transaction costs (often less than $0.00025 per transaction) make it viable to attempt even small arbitrage trades.

A common strategy is a triangular arbitrage:

1. Borrow 1 million USDC from a flash loan provider like Solend.
2. Swap USDC for SOL on Raydium if there’s a price gap.
3. Sell the SOL back for USDC on Orca at a profit.
4. Repay the flash loan with interest, and pocket the difference.

All of this happens in a single atomic transaction—if one step fails, the whole process rolls back without any loss. 

Transaction ordering and priority fees

Even without a public mempool, transaction ordering remains a critical battleground for MEV on Solana. Here’s how it works:

• Solana uses a deterministic leader schedule, where validators are pre-selected to process transactions during specific slots.
• This predictability means that low-latency RPC connections are crucial for MEV searchers to get their transactions included in the right order.
• Solana’s recent introduction of priority fees allows bots to pay extra to incentivize validators to include their transactions first, similar to gas tips on Ethereum.

For example, if a bot detects a large trade about to happen on Orca, it can submit a backrun transaction with a higher priority fee to execute right after the initial trade. The bot effectively captures the price rebound before the market corrects.

This mechanism is why MEV searchers increasingly rely on dedicated RPC nodes with direct validator access—latency is everything. A 50ms delay could mean the difference between a successful backrun and a missed opportunity.

Arbitrage opportunities on Solana

Arbitrage is the bread and butter of MEV, and Solana’s architecture supercharges it. With parallel processing and low transaction costs, searchers can:

• Exploit price discrepancies across Orca, Raydium, Serum, and other DEXes almost instantly.
• Perform cross-exchange arbitrage between centralized exchanges (CEX) and DEXes.
• Capture value from large trades that temporarily skew prices, executing corrective trades in microseconds.

Large trades on platforms like Raydium have been known to cause brief price spikes, occasionally leading to discrepancies with listings on other exchanges like Serum.

The role of infrastructure: RPC and validator access

To succeed in this high-speed environment, searchers need optimized infrastructure:

• Dedicated RPC nodes that reduce latency and allow direct communication with Solana validators.
• Validator co-location to minimize network propagation time—some searchers even deploy nodes in the same data centers as validators to shave off milliseconds.
• Real-time WebSocket subscriptions to program logs, enabling instant reaction to market events.

This is why infrastructure providers like RPC Fast are crucial. By offering low-latency, high-throughput RPC nodes, they give searchers the edge to react in real-time. A standard public RPC might be enough for regular users, but for MEV extraction, it’s simply not fast enough.

"The race for MEV depends on infrastructure that ensures faster transactions and higher success rates."

— Learn how RPC Fast provides the latency edge for seamless execution.

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The current state of MEV on Solana

MEV on Solana has grown rapidly alongside the network's expansion. With its high throughput, low latency, and parallel processing capabilities, Solana has become a playground for MEV searchers. Unlike Ethereum, where MEV is largely visible in the mempool, on Solana it happens in near-invisible microseconds. The network's architecture favors speed and concurrency, allowing MEV searchers to execute complex strategies almost instantly.

However, Solana's high-speed environment also comes with challenges. Over 60% of attempted trades fail due to network congestion, latency issues, or competition. This high failure rate emphasizes the need for optimized infrastructure.

MEV activities significantly contribute to Solana's transaction volume and validator revenues, showcasing how critical infrastructure is for searchers. Key strategies include:

• Arbitrage opportunities across DEXes like Orca, Raydium, and Jupiter Aggregator.
• Backrunning of large trades to capture value from price rebounds.
• Liquidation events on lending platforms like Solend and Mango Markets.

Optimized RPC connections, low-latency access to validators, and real-time state monitoring are critical for successful execution in Solana's competitive MEV landscape.

Emergence of Jito Labs and bundling auctions

If there’s one name that comes up consistently in the world of Solana MEV, it’s Jito Labs. They pioneered the concept of MEV bundles on Solana, allowing searchers to submit tightly packed groups of transactions to validators running the Jito-Solana client.

• These bundles execute atomically—either all the transactions in the bundle go through, or none do.
• Jito’s system operates a kind of off-chain auction where searchers bid for block space, effectively paying validators for the privilege of getting their transactions included first.
• Over 65% of Solana validators are currently running Jito’s client, allowing for more predictable MEV execution and smoother backrunning opportunities.

This bundling model has made Solana’s MEV extraction more structured and competitive. Validators are directly incentivized to include profitable bundles, and searchers are guaranteed execution if their bid is high enough.

In fact, in Q1 2025, Jito bundles accounted for over 22% of total validator rewards, dominating non-base-fee revenue streams and cementing its role as a key driver of MEV on Solana.

Infrastructure arms race: Validators and RPC nodes

The rise of MEV on Solana has triggered a sort of infrastructure arms race. Searchers looking to stay competitive have been forced to:

• Run their own validator nodes to reduce latency.
• Co-locate their nodes in data centers near the Solana clusters for faster transaction propagation.
• Utilize private RPC endpoints that prioritize their transactions over public RPC pools.

It’s no longer enough to simply write good arbitrage logic—you need the fastest path to validators, low-latency messaging, and instant access to on-chain events. 

By bypassing the congestion of public RPC endpoints, searchers can send transactions directly to the leader in real-time, shaving off milliseconds that make the difference between winning or losing an MEV race.

MEV bot landscape on Solana

The ecosystem has also seen a surge in open-source and proprietary MEV bots specifically optimized for Solana’s architecture:

• Jupiter aggregator bots: Designed to snipe price discrepancies across DEX pools in microseconds.
• Flash loan arbitrage bots: Leveraging Solend and Mango Markets for high-volume, atomic trades.
• Geyser plugin trackers: Subscribing directly to program logs to detect high-value trades in real time.

Why infrastructure matters: The edge of RPC Fast

"In Solana MEV, speed defines the winners. The right infrastructure allows you to execute faster and more reliably."

— See how RPC Fast optimizes your MEV strategies on Solana.

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A recent deployment with Magneta Labs showcased exactly what optimized infrastructure can achieve. 

Tasked with running high-availability Solana nodes based on OVHcloud, our solution didn’t just improve stability—it redefined performance metrics. During peak trading sessions on Solend, our nodes consistently outpaced public RPC by 15% in transaction success rates. 

For searchers running arbitrage cycles on Orca and Raydium, the difference was immediate: 18% lower latency meant faster execution and more opportunities captured. Missed trades turned into completed cycles. Failed attempts shrank, and throughput increased.

For Magneta Labs, this wasn’t just technical improvement—it was a competitive advantage. While public RPCs battled congestion, their strategies executed flawlessly, capturing more MEV with precision timing. This is what happens when speed is backed by real infrastructure, purpose-built for Solana’s demands.

Why RPC Fast is the MEV searcher’s best ally

Now that you understand how MEV works on Solana, the real question is: why do you need it? 

Optimized infrastructure like RPC Fast is not just a technical upgrade—it’s a gateway to capturing more value, more often. 

• First, it reduces the number of failed transactions. With RPC Fast, you get low-latency, direct access to validators, cutting down on missed opportunities and increasing your success rate. 
• Second, it enables better positioning in the block. Solana's architecture doesn’t rely on gas auctions like Ethereum, so speed and validator prioritization matter more. 
• Finally, it lowers costs. On Solana, failed transactions cost 0.000005 SOL each. For high-frequency searchers, those costs add up quickly. 

However, with the right RPC setup and optimized node access, the need for brute-force spamming is drastically reduced, resulting in cleaner, more efficient blockspace usage.