Introduction

One final monthly roundup covering 2025. What a year it has been! There is much more to come in 2026 though as BAM takes center stage over here at Jito HQ. December finished off on a strong note, with several major announcements from Jito Foundation announcing plans to come back to the U.S. as well as a much anticipated JIP for early adopters of BAM. 

Let’s get into it!

December Highlights

• Jito Foundation Comes Homes
• JIP-31 Early Adopter Subsidy Programme
• A Steelman Exploration
• Hiring: Head of Institutional Strategy & Development
• CSD Burns 3.7M in JTO 
• Solana Mobile Guardians
• New Video Series

Jito Foundation Comes Home

On December 17th, the Jito Foundation announced plans to move core operations back to the U.S. In an X thread and supporting article, Jito Labs co-founder and CEO, Lucas Bruder, stated that for years the industry has dealt with hostile enforcement and de-banking, making it difficult to operate in the U.S. While the code may have been onshore, the core operations could not be. But with all of the work that’s gone into approaching regulators over the last year, it’s finally time to make the move!

Read the full blog from Lucas Bruder here.

JIP-31 Early Adopter Subsidy Programme

On December 22nd, a new JIP was put forward for discussion proposing a BAM Early Adopter Subsidy Programme to incentivize further BAM client adoption amongst Solana validators. If passed, the proposal would put a temporary pause on JTO buybacks and instead redirect 100% of protocol revenue to eligible BAM validators. After the proposed programme is finished, the original buyback schedule would resume. For the full breakdown and methodology used, refer to the Jito Network forum here.

A Steelman Exploration

Taking @mert advice, on December 3rd the team released an in-depth steelman article, looking at 9 myths surrounding BAM (Block Assembly Marketplace). From concerns around centralization and validator revenue to ACE and TEEs, the article explores every argument made against BAM. 

The future of block-building is moving from fragmented scheduling to a transparent, verifiable marketplace. BAM is leading the way, ensuring Solana wins.

“Realities, Myths, and Misconceptions of BAM: A Steelman Exploration” here. 

Hiring For Head Foundation Role

The Jito Foundation is growing! On December 4th, a new position for a Head of Institutional Strategy & Development was announced with the team looking for someone remote in NY or London. If you’re someone who is passionate about accelerating the adoption of Solana and Jito Network products, apply here!

CSD Burns 3.7M in JTO

On December 18th, the Cryptoeconomics subDAO (CSD) burned a total of 3,761,746 JTO tokens. These tokens were accumulated as part of the initial buybacks. Refer to the transaction details here. A new buyback sequence targeting 11M JTO will run until January 12, 2026.

Solana Mobile Guardians

On December 3rd, the Jito Foundation announced that it has joined as one of the 1st Solana Mobile Guardians. Helping securing the ecosystem through verifying device authenticity, reviewing dApp submissions, and enforcing community standards.

Learn more here.

New Video Series

On December 8th, the team began releasing a series of videos analyzing each of the steelman arguments from the “Realities, Myths, and Misconceptions of BAM: A Steelman Exploration” article. Refer to the entire BAM Series below:

BAM Series #1: The Centralization Critique

BAM Series #2: The Right Kind of Competition

BAM Series #3: The Neutrality Principle

BAM Series #4: The Latency Question

BAM Series #5: Validator Rewards

BAM Series #6: Growth Over Extraction

BAM Series #7: Why ACE Matters

BAM Series #8: TEE Security

Jito Foundation at BP25

Massive shoutout to all of the partners who made Breakpoint 2025 a massive success. The Jito Foundation and Labs teams were busy attending to MEV Day, Liquidity After Dark, Accelerace and of course the main conference.

Co-founder and CEO of Jito Labs, Lucas Bruder on the Absolute Cinema stage at Breakpoint 2025 BAM-piling the crowd! 💥

Head of Governance, Nick Almond, alongside Tushar Jain of Multicoin Capital proposed “The Solana Constitution” during Day 2 of the conference. Here Nick’s segment below.

Accelerace hosted alongside DoubleZero and Solana Mobile!

In The Media

Lightspeed Podcast

On December 2nd, Lightspeed Podcast hosted co-founder and CEO of Jito Labs, Lucas Bruder, for a discussion on BAM. They cover why BAM was built, who it’s for, what it’s solving, the current roadmap as well as concerns around TEEs. Watch the full episode here. 

JET Europa

The Jito Expansion Team (JET) Europa has finished up 3 months preaching the word of Jito in Europa. From direct protocol BD work to hosting in-person events and speaking conferences, the JET Europa team has been hustling from week 1. Look out for more of their content in 2026!

Drift Protocol

On December 4th, Drift V3 was announced during which it was revealed that Drift is building a BAM plugin for order priority, that enforces cancel-before-take, protecting market makers from toxic flow & allowing them to quote aggressively while deepening liquidity across markets!

Switchboard

During Breakpoint 2025, Switchboard revealed they’re building a Just-in-time oracle update BAM plugin, allowing for more efficient, cheap and timely Solana. 

DeFi App Competition

On December 5th, DeFi App announced a $2,000 JTO perps trading competition to reward active traders. Qualifying traders who made it into the Top 50, were entered into a raffle to win!

P2P

Solana OGs, P2P, have been tinkering with BAM since the early days on testnet. Below they highlight what BAM delivers and how they’re involved in shaping the future of Solana’ block space economy. 

DeFi Decoded

Jito Foundation CCO Thomas Uhm appeared on an episode of DeFi Decoded to talk about JitoSOL ETFs & options. Watch the full episode below!

Crypto In America Live

Head of Foundation Brian Smith appeared on a live episode of Crypto In America to discuss the recent news of the Jito Foundation coming back to the U.S. Watch the full broadcast here!