Chainfeeds Summary:
Who's secretly taking your Sol?
Article source:
https://www.theblockbeats.info/news/60791
Article Author:
BlockBeats
Opinion:
BlockBeats: Just like Robinhood, applications on Solana can also sell "access rights" to market makers. RFQ (Request for Quote) is a direct manifestation of this logic. Unlike traditional AMMs, RFQs allow users (or applications) to directly request and execute trades from specific market makers. On Solana, aggregators like Jupiter have already integrated this model (JupiterZ). In this system, applications can charge these market makers connection fees, or more directly, package and sell bulk retail order flows. As on-chain spreads continue to narrow, the author predicts that this "selling of headcount" business will become increasingly common. Furthermore, a kind of alliance of interests is forming between DEXs and aggregators. Prop AMMs (Proprietary Market Makers) and DEXs are heavily reliant on the traffic brought by aggregators, and aggregators are fully capable of charging these liquidity providers and returning a portion of the profits to front-end applications in the form of "rebates." For example, when the Phantom wallet routes a user's transaction to Jupiter, the underlying liquidity provider (such as HumidiFi or Meteora) might pay Jupiter to secure the execution rights for the transaction. Jupiter, after receiving this "channel fee," then returns a portion of it to Phantom. While the above methods still involve some technical hurdles, the behind-the-scenes manipulation of "transaction fees" is blatantly blatant. On Solana, the fees paid by users are actually divided into two parts: Priority Fee: This is a fee within the protocol, paid directly to the validator. Transaction Tip: This is a SOL transferred to any address, typically paid to a "Landing Service" like Jito. The service provider then decides how much to give to the validator and how much to rebate to the application. Why is a Landing Service needed? Because communication on the Solana network is extremely complex when congested, ordinary transaction broadcasts are prone to failure. Landing service providers act as "VIP channels," promising users successful on-chain transactions through specially optimized processes. Solana's complex Builder Market and fragmented routing system have fostered this unique role, creating excellent opportunities for rent-seeking on the application side. Applications often induce users to pay exorbitant tips to "guarantee" a transaction, then share this premium with the landing service provider. Let's look at some data. In the week of December 1st to 8th, 2025, the Solana network generated 450 million transactions. Of these, Jito's landing service processed 80 million transactions, dominating (93.5% of the builder market share). The vast majority of these transactions were transaction-related Swaps, oracle updates, and market-making operations. In this massive pool of traffic, users often pay exorbitant fees for "speed." But is all this money actually used for acceleration? Not entirely. Data shows that inactive wallets (typically retail users) are paying outrageously high priority fees. Given that the block size wasn't full at the time, these users were clearly overcharged. Applications exploit users' fear of "failed transactions" to induce them to set extremely high tips, then pocket this premium through agreements with local service providers.
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