Rakurai

Rakurai is software for Solana validators, the computers that build blocks and secure the network. The name is also a Japanese word for a lightning strike. This page is about the Solana project. Rakurai changes one key part of the validator: the scheduler. It picks what goes into each block, and in what order. Better picks fit more paying trades into each block, so the validator earns more in fees and tips. Rakurai shares part of that gain with people who stake SOL. You can get it through its raiSOL token, or through native staking that compounds each epoch. Since September 2026 it also runs TIN, a network that sends paid trade flow to Rakurai validators.

How the Rakurai validator client works

Rakurai is a copy of the Jito JTO$0.338-1.0% validator software with Rakurai's own scheduler built in. Solana's rules stay the same. Only the way blocks are filled changes.

Each validator gets a short turn, called a slot, to build a block. A plain scheduler can leave space unused, or pick trades that clash over the same accounts and slow each other down. Rakurai's scheduler ranks new trades by what they pay. It then packs the ones that don't clash, and keeps doing so as trades arrive through the slot. On X, Rakurai argues this matters more as Solana's slots get shorter.

Per Rakurai's validator docs, Rakurai "replaces your client rather than adding a sidecar". To run it, an operator builds the software, signs up on-chain, and installs each new scheduler release.

Four on-chain programs sit alongside the client, according to the Rakurai programs docs:

• the Activation Program, a multisig-controlled contract that authorises which validators run Rakurai;
• the Reward Distribution Program, which pays out block rewards, tips, subscription fees and backrun profit through separate collection accounts and Merkle claims each epoch;
• the Tip Manager Program, which collects tips through eight tip accounts and forwards the validator's share;
• the Client Config Program, which holds scheduler settings for block engines, pre-confirmations and tip-based priority.

Rakurai says it charges validators no fee to run the client today, and its docs say it plans to charge "a small commission on the block rewards earned" in future.

Rakurai validator rewards: does it earn more?

Yes, on the data so far. Outside studies from 2026 show Rakurai validators earning more per block than a typical Solana validator. How much more depends on who measures it and how.

Syndica's study of March 2026 blocks found Rakurai validators earned 17% more than the typical validator, after adjusting for block time. The edge held across almost all Rakurai validators, not only the best ones. Rakurai ran about 6% of stake in that month.

Figment gives an operator's view. It moved its main Solana validator to Rakurai on 2 March 2026. In Figment's write-up, its rewards rose 54%. Figment rose from 8th to 1st among 11 large validators it tracks. It also said Rakurai did not get there by making blocks run late.

Rakurai's own figures change often. Its website claims blocks 50% bigger than average. In a post on X on 1 September 2026, it claimed rewards 13% above average. These are the project's claims. See the validator data on this page for live numbers.

Rakurai TIN: Transaction Inclusion Network and MEV revenue share

TIN, the Rakurai Transaction Inclusion Network, links Rakurai validators to landing services. Traders, bots and apps pay these services to get their trades into blocks fast. Rakurai turned TIN on for all its validators on 16 September 2026.

Before TIN, a validator that wanted this paid trade flow had to run extra relay software or strike private deals with each service. With TIN, each landing service signs up once with Rakurai. Your validator then connects to the nearest one by itself.

Rakurai's TIN docs list three ways a validator earns from it:

• Tips: a tip is SOL sent to one of eight Rakurai tip accounts. The scheduler counts it as a reason to place a trade earlier, on top of the normal priority fee.
• Pre-confirmations (P2C): Rakurai streams each trade once it is too late for anyone to jump ahead of it. Searchers can then place follow-on trades, called backruns, right behind it. Per the docs, the stream is free to services that share 65% of their backrun profit. Reselling it costs $50 per million updates, paid in SOL.
• Backrun share: the validator's cut of that profit is paid into its own on-chain account.

CircularFi was the first partner. It began sending Rakurai pre-confirmations to its searchers on 16 September 2026. On 13 October 2026, Rakurai named it TIN's first full trade-flow and MEV partner. Rakurai says more services will join. TIN is new, so no outside study yet shows how much it adds.

raiSOL liquid staking and auto-compounding native staking

You can stake with Rakurai in two ways: hold raiSOL, its liquid staking token, or delegate SOL natively to a Rakurai-powered validator with auto-compounding. Both draw on the same extra block rewards.

raiSOL is a stake pool token. You put in SOL and get raiSOL back. It earns staking rewards, MEV tips and a share of block rewards. Rakurai listed the pool address in a 2024 proposal on the Sanctum CLOUD$0.044+0.4% research forum. You can check its yield, fees and validators on our raiSOL stake pool page.

To get out, Rakurai's staking API docs list two routes. A standard unstake waits for your stake to unlock. An instant swap to SOL goes through Jupiter JUP$0.242-1.2%. The swap is faster but trades at the market price. In October 2026, Rakurai's website was still promoting "+25% boosted block rewards" on raiSOL as a 2026 campaign.

Native stakers keep their own stake account. Rakurai's auto-compounding restakes your block rewards and MEV tips every epoch, so you don't have to claim rewards or manage a growing pile of stake accounts. Native staking suits you if you want SOL in your own stake account. raiSOL suits you if you want a token you can use in DeFi.

Who Rakurai is for

Rakurai suits two groups. One is validator operators who want more income per block under the same Solana rules. The other is SOL holders who want a share of that income, as a token or as a native stake.

For operators, the cost is control. You run Rakurai's copy of the Jito software, install each of its releases, and rely on its programs to pay out rewards. It is free to run for now. TIN adds paid trade flow without extra relay software. Figment's switch shows a large operator decided the trade was worth it.

For stakers, raiSOL fits if you want Rakurai's extra yield plus a token you can swap or use in DeFi. It fits less well if you want the most widely used liquid staking token. Bigger tokens have deeper markets and more apps that accept them. Native staking with auto-compounding fits if you want to keep SOL in your own stake account.

Is Rakurai safe? Audit, custody and risks

Rakurai has passed a security audit by Hashlock, which rated it "Secure". The audit came before TIN, though. Running or staking with Rakurai also carries the usual risks of validator software and stake pools.

Hashlock's audit page dates the review to December 2025. It covered the scheduler, the on-chain programs and the raiSOL token. A May 2026 press release reported one high, eight medium and six low-risk findings. All were fixed or acknowledged before the final report. TIN went live in September 2026. The public summary does not say whether TIN's parts were checked.

The main risks to weigh:

• Who can change the code: the docs say a multisig, a wallet that needs several signers, controls the Activation Program. We could not confirm who can upgrade each Rakurai program, because the docs we read do not list their addresses.
• Shared failure: many validators run the same Rakurai software. One scheduler bug would hit all of them at once.
• Reliance on Rakurai: validators depend on its releases. Its docs say the software is free today, with a fee planned.
• Stake pool risk: raiSOL carries the usual code, validator and price-gap risks of any liquid staking token.
• Trade streaming: under TIN, your trades are streamed to searchers so they can place backruns. Rakurai says this happens only once no one can jump ahead of you.

Rakurai vs Jito, Harmonic and Firedancer: alternatives

Rakurai's main rivals are other validator software that competes on block rewards. These are Jito-Agave, Harmonic, and Firedancer with its mixed form, Frankendancer.

An RPC Fast comparison, updated July 2026, says Jito-Agave is still the most used. It gives Rakurai credit for high income per unit of block space and steady block times. Its main knock on Rakurai is a smaller user base and thinner public docs than Jito. It puts Harmonic a little ahead on rewards, but with slower blocks. Syndica's March 2026 data fits: Rakurai led on Jito tips, and Harmonic led on priority fees. RPC Fast values Firedancer for a different reason. It is a separate codebase, so Solana leans less on one set of code.

For stakers, raiSOL competes with JitoSOL, mSOL and other liquid staking tokens. Solana Compass runs its own validator and liquid staking token, so we compete with Rakurai for stake. If you are choosing a validator, you can compare validators by commission and performance, or see how staking SOL with Solana Compass works.

Rakurai team, funding and history

Rakurai's CEO is Ali Rizvi. He is a former Apple engineer with over 20 years in chip design and fast trading systems, per the seed round news.

The team won the infrastructure track at Colosseum's Renaissance hackathon in 2024. It proposed raiSOL on the Sanctum forum in September 2024. At that time, the higher yields still depended on a protocol change that had not yet shipped.

In March 2025, Rakurai raised a $3 million seed round led by Anagram Ventures. Colosseum, Slow Ventures, Robot Ventures, Crypto.com, P2P.org, GlobalStake and Cyber Fund also took part. At the time, P2P.org said Rakurai's stake had grown almost fivefold since late January 2025.

Figment moved its main validator to Rakurai in March 2026. The Hashlock audit results were published in May 2026. TIN launched in September 2026, with CircularFi as its first partner.