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The RealValidator Team Editorial team

MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) on Solana is delivered through Jito's tip distribution system — separate from protocol inflation rewards. At epoch 971, gross Jito MEV runs at approximately 0.13% APY uniformly across active Jito-enabled validators in this directory. The differentiator for stakers is the Jito MEV commission the validator charges on top of base commission, which reduces what reaches the delegator.

A validator with 0% Jito commission passes 100% of MEV through. A validator with 100% Jito commission keeps all MEV revenue. This list ranks the Jito-enabled validators in the wiki directory by effective MEV passthrough to stakers, with total APY as the primary tiebreaker.

For the underlying mechanics — Jito Block Engine (the auction), Jito client (the validator software), and Jito Stake Pool (the separate LST program) — see the Jito MEV glossary entry which disambiguates all three.

Methodology

  • Universe: validators in this wiki's directory with is_jito = true on Stakewiz (running the Jito-Solana client)
  • Source: Stakewiz API, snapshot at epoch 971 (~2026-05-15)
  • Primary ranking metric: total APY (total_apy) descending — measures end-to-end yield to the staker including both inflation and MEV after all commissions
  • Tiebreaker: Jito MEV commission ascending — at equal total APY, the validator passing more MEV through is preferred
  • Excluded: non-Jito validators (no MEV ranking applies); validators where Stakewiz reports no jito_apy data

Top 10 by total APY among Jito-enabled validators (epoch 971)

Rank Validator Jito MEV commission Gross Jito APY Total APY (incl. MEV, post-commission) 30-day skip rate
1 Capital Alliance 0.0% 0.13% 6.03% 0.00%
2 Helius 0.0% 0.13% 6.02% 0.04%
3 Lord Validates-a-Lot 0.0% 0.13% 6.02% 0.00%
4 Bitwise Onchain Solutions 0.0% 0.13% 6.02% 0.01%
5 Forward Industries 0.0% 0.13% 6.02% 0.00%
6 HelixNode 0.0% 0.13% 6.02% 0.00%
7 nordstar 0.0% 0.13% 6.02% 0.00%
8 Staking Facilities 0.0% 0.13% 5.96% 0.06%
9 Jupiter 0.0% 0.13% 5.94% 0.01%
10 binance staking 0.0% 0.13% 5.92% 0.12%

Why "gross MEV is roughly uniform"

Jito tip flow is distributed across active Jito validators in proportion to leader-slot opportunities. Over a 30-day window, leader-slot share evens out so that two Jito-enabled validators of comparable performance both see roughly the same gross MEV APY — at this epoch, ~0.13%. The variance comes from two places: short-window leader-slot luck (negligible at the 30-day average) and a validator's individual relationship to the Jito Block Engine (whether it accepts the highest-tip bundles, whether it has connectivity that meets tip-delivery latency).

Because gross MEV is uniform, the practical MEV differentiator is what the validator commission structure passes through to delegators:

  • 0% Jito commission → full 0.13% MEV APY to stakers
  • 8% Jito commission (Jito Labs validator) → 0.12% MEV APY to stakers
  • 25% Jito commission (Galaxy) → 0.098% MEV APY to stakers
  • 100% Jito commission (Everstake) → 0% MEV APY to stakers (Everstake retains all MEV revenue at this epoch)

Validators outside the Jito ecosystem

Non-Jito validators in the directory — those running the standard Agave client or Firedancer/Frankendancer without the Jito-Solana MEV hooks — do not receive Jito MEV. Their inflation APY is unaffected; their total APY equals their base inflation APY. Stakers seeking MEV exposure must delegate to a Jito-enabled validator. Whether running the Jito client itself is desirable is a separate question — see the Jito client section of _solana.md vocabulary for the client-vs-Block Engine-vs-Stake Pool disambiguation.

Context: MEV under Alpenglow

Alpenglow (SIMD-0326, not yet on mainnet as of May 2026) reorganizes vote propagation and block dissemination but does not eliminate MEV. The Jito Block Engine continues to operate; what changes is the per-slot voting cost, replaced by the 1.6 SOL/epoch VAT. MEV revenue dynamics post-Alpenglow remain dependent on tip flow, not on the consensus mechanics. See the Alpenglow glossary entry for the broader transition.

Snapshot: Stakewiz API at epoch 971, 2026-05-15. Jito MEV APY estimates use Stakewiz's jito_apy field, derived from tip-distribution observations; gross MEV APY varies with network-wide priority-fee activity.