Breakpoint 2025: Keynote (Jito Lucas Bruder)

Jito Labs is betting big on Solana becoming the world's premier trading venue for any asset, and they've built the infrastructure to make it happen. At Breakpoint 2025, CEO Lucas Bruder revealed BAM – a groundbreaking programmable scheduler that promises to give applications unprecedented control over how transactions are ordered and executed.

Summary

Lucas Bruder took the stage at Breakpoint 2025 to introduce BAM, which stands as Jito Labs' answer to the next evolution of Solana infrastructure. While Solana has already won what Bruder calls "the speed war" – with a 6x increase in transactions per second over recent years – he argues that speed alone isn't enough for capital markets to truly flourish on-chain.

BAM addresses four critical properties that markets need: transparency, fairness, verifiability, and customizability. The system operates through two main components – BAM nodes that schedule transactions and produce cryptographic attestations, and BAM validators that execute those transactions. The magic happens through plugins, which allow different applications to define their own sequencing rules tailored to their specific market needs.

Already processing hundreds of millions of transactions across tens of thousands of blocks, BAM currently runs on 8% of Solana's stake. Performance metrics show it's comparable to other validator clients on the network, demonstrating that these advanced features don't come at the cost of speed. Looking ahead, Jito Labs is preparing to open-source the software, add multiple operators for decentralization, and implement even faster performance through their fire dancer implementation called "Fire BAM."

Key Points:

Solana's Speed Advantage and the Need for More

Solana has demonstrated remarkable progress in raw throughput, achieving a 6x increase in transactions per second over recent years. Block space has similarly expanded, growing from 48 million compute units at the start of the year to 60 million, with expectations of reaching 100 million compute units early next year. Bruder anticipates this growth will continue exponentially beyond that milestone.

However, Bruder emphasized that speed is merely the foundation. For Solana to become the dominant venue for trading any asset – including the securities that other speakers at the conference discussed – markets need additional properties. These include transparency (users knowing the rules), fairness (consistent application of those rules), verifiability (cryptographic proof rather than promises), and customizability (recognizing that different markets have different needs).

What BAM Actually Does

BAM functions as a transparent, verifiable, and customizable scheduler for Solana. At its core, the system consists of BAM nodes that handle transaction scheduling and produce cryptographic attestations, paired with BAM validators that execute the scheduled transactions.

The attestation system is particularly important for institutional adoption and trust. Through what Jito internally calls "BARS" (BAM Attestation Report Service), traders and applications can understand exactly how the market operates and what software is running inside a BAM node. This level of transparency addresses a key concern for sophisticated market participants who need to verify the integrity of the systems they're trading on.

Application Controlled Execution (ACE)

Perhaps the most transformative feature of BAM is its support for Application Controlled Execution, or ACE. This capability allows on-chain applications to implement their own ordering rules and create custom market microstructures through plugins.

A common example Bruder highlighted is "maker priority" – a sequencing rule that provides better conditions for market makers. When makers receive preferential treatment in execution, it encourages more liquidity provision, which ultimately results in better prices for all users. The key insight is that market microstructure becomes fully programmable, meaning DEXs, perpetual exchanges, and other trading venues can optimize their markets for their specific use cases.

Technical Architecture and Privacy

BAM achieves its properties through the use of Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs). These secure hardware enclaves ensure transaction privacy by keeping transactions encrypted until execution. The use of TEEs allows BAM to provide provable guarantees about what code is running without exposing sensitive transaction data.

Currently, approximately seven BAM nodes are operational, with the vision expanding to tens or hundreds of nodes run by multiple operators globally. The performance overhead from BAM is described as "very small," maintaining the speed advantages Solana is known for while adding these sophisticated features.

Roadmap and Future Development

Jito Labs has an ambitious development roadmap for BAM. The most requested feature from applications – ranging from AMMs to perpetual DEXs and other trading-intensive venues – is already in development. Open-sourcing the BAM software is expected within a few months, which Bruder characterized as extremely important for the project's credibility and adoption.

Decentralization efforts will focus on onboarding multiple operators to run BAM nodes across the world. Performance improvements continue through their fire dancer implementation called "Fire BAM," suggesting that the best performance is yet to come.

Facts + Figures

• Solana has achieved a 6x increase in transactions per second over recent years
• Block space has grown from 48 million to 60 million compute units in 2024
• Expectations are for 100 million compute units capacity early next year, with exponential growth thereafter
• BAM currently operates on 8% of Solana's total stake
• The system has processed tens of thousands of blocks over the past few months
• Hundreds of millions of transactions have been processed through BAM
• Approximately seven BAM nodes are currently running
• Jito envisions tens to hundreds of BAM nodes operated by multiple parties globally
• Open-source release of BAM is expected within a few months
• BARS (BAM Attestation Report Service) is being developed for market transparency
• Fire BAM (fire dancer implementation) is in development for improved performance

Top quotes

• "Speed alone isn't enough, though. Markets need more."

• "BAM is a transparent, verifiable and customizable scheduler for Solana."

• "Different markets have different needs."

• "ACE allows the market microstructure to become fully programmable."

• "When any asset can be traded on Solana, any market and application can define its own rules, then Solana will become the best venue to trade any asset, including securities."

• "Don't just promise it – verify it."

• "The performance overhead from BAM is very small."

• "Job's not finished."

Questions Answered

What is BAM and what problem does it solve?

BAM is programmable infrastructure for internet capital markets, specifically designed as a transparent, verifiable, and customizable scheduler for Solana. It solves the problem of markets needing more than just speed – they need transparency, fairness, verifiability, and customizability. While Solana has won the "speed war" with dramatic increases in transactions per second and block space, BAM adds the sophisticated features required for serious capital markets to operate on-chain, including the ability for applications to define their own market rules.

How does Application Controlled Execution (ACE) work?

ACE allows on-chain applications like DEXs and perpetual exchanges to implement their own transaction ordering rules through BAM plugins. For example, an application could implement "maker priority" where market makers receive preferential execution, encouraging more liquidity and resulting in better prices for all traders. This makes market microstructure fully programmable, meaning each application can optimize its market for its specific use case rather than accepting one-size-fits-all execution rules.

What makes BAM verifiable and why does that matter?

BAM nodes produce cryptographic attestations that prove exactly what software is running and how transactions are being processed. Through the BARS (BAM Attestation Report Service) system under development, traders can understand and verify the rules of the market rather than simply trusting promises. This verification capability is essential for institutional adoption and sophisticated traders who need cryptographic guarantees about execution fairness and system integrity.

What is the current status of BAM deployment?

BAM currently runs on approximately 8% of Solana's stake, with around seven BAM nodes operational. It has processed tens of thousands of blocks and hundreds of millions of transactions over the past few months. Performance metrics show it's comparable to other validator clients on the network, meaning the additional features don't significantly impact speed. The system uses Trusted Execution Environments for transaction privacy and security.

What's next on the BAM roadmap?

Jito Labs plans several major developments for BAM. The most requested feature from trading applications is currently being built. The software will be open-sourced within a few months to enable broader scrutiny and adoption. Multiple operators will be onboarded to run BAM nodes globally for decentralization. Performance improvements continue through Fire BAM, their fire dancer-based implementation. The BARS attestation service will provide greater transparency into system operations.

How does BAM maintain privacy while being transparent?

BAM achieves this balance through Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs), which are secure hardware enclaves. Transactions remain encrypted within the TEE until execution, protecting sensitive trading information. However, the system can still produce cryptographic attestations proving what code is running and how the market operates. This allows traders to verify fairness without exposing individual transaction details, combining privacy with transparency.