Firedancer's testnet launch was announced at Solana's Breakpoint conference, marking a significant milestone in Solana's journey toward global adoption. Let's explore its purpose and understand why it is essential to transition towards multiple validation clients, thereby enhancing network security and stability.
Benefits of Multiple Validation Clients
Generally, any PoS network would like to have more than one client, and clients must be developed by independent teams using different programming stacks because of security and stability matters. The Proof of Stake (PoS) network will benefit from two separate validation clients. Still, the benefits will increase with more clients and more evenly distributed stake among them.
You may wonder what number of validation clients are counted as decent for the PoS network, and this is an excellent question. We believe resilience and reliability are the most important things for the Solana ecosystem. From that perspective, the Solana cluster must "survive" the outage of one validation client, which means there should not be more than 33.3% of stake on each validation client because if there is more stake, it will cause a halt of the cluster because of BFT consensus. Thus, the mandatory condition to sustain the outage of one validation client is to have four clients in the cluster with ~25% of a stake each (again, it should not be more than 33.3%). To secure the network, the cluster must have a fairly distributed stake across all available validation clients. It looks like a challenge to achieve this for different reasons.
Solana Validation Client Diversity
Currently, the Solana ecosystem offers 2 production-ready clients:
Although Jito Labs is an independent team, technically, the Solana client built by Jito represents a set of patches applied on top of the vanilla Solana Labs client. Currently, 42.5% of the stake is working on the Jito client, which already includes two clients and two teams, which undoubtedly increases efficiency. However, both clients will be affected by almost the same set of bugs, including security vulnerabilities of the Rust compiler and Rust dependencies used for building the executable binaries. This situation is undesirable for the Solana ecosystem, which is heading to get its place as a PoS network ready to run world-level enterprise applications!
Introduction of Firedancer
A new client for Solana called Firedancer was announced in 2022 and made a splash in Breakpoint 2022 when Firedancer engineering team lead Kevin Bowers from Jump Trading presented Firedancer, working progress, and exciting insights regarding performance optimizations applied in Firedancer. Let’s quickly review the high-level attributes of Firedancer:
- Written in C language
- Client development funded and guided by an independent company (Jump Trading/Jump Crypto)
It must be mentioned that Firedancer is designed to be highly efficient in utilizing hardware at 100% and, as a result, to bump TPS up to 1M (which is frankly insane).
Considering everything we discussed above, it is fair to say that Firedancer will be the first genuine new client developed from scratch by an independent team. Once it’s released, it secures the network significantly. For example, suppose there is a bug discovered, a security vulnerability, or performance degradation related to the Solana labs client; the validators can agree to move temporarily to the Firedancer client to give time to Solana labs to troubleshoot the problem and provide enough time to make a well-tested patch. Having several validation clients gives more opportunities to provide decent service for end users, so we strive to see Firedancer adoption in the Solana cluster.
*Authors: Anton Yakovlev Lead SRE @ P2P Solana team*
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<p>Having all MEV relays connected to the validator is already a widespread industry practice. Every operator utilizes it to collect more bids and extract more MEV rewards. But is it maximum?</p><p>The team at <a href="http://p2p.org/?ref=p2p.org">P2P.org</a> constantly explores new opportunities and technologies to increase staking yield. We are thrilled to announce that we have made a step forward to MEV maximization, <strong>allowing our clients to extract an additional 10% more from block rewards*.</strong></p><p>Let’s dive into how our team has been able to achieve this as one of the first staking validators in the industry.</p><div class="kg-card kg-button-card kg-align-center"><a href="https://p2p.org/start?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=article_mev&utm_campaign=brewards" class="kg-btn kg-btn-accent">Get special offer for ETH staking!</a></div><h3 id="exploring-opportunities">Exploring opportunities</h3><p>The validator has four seconds from the beginning of its slot to create, sign, and propagate the block to the network. By default at 0.0 sec validator requests bids from connected MEV relays, waiting some time for response, chooses the most profitable one and sign it. </p><p>But what if some builder finds a new MEV opportunity with a higher bid a little later than the start of the slot? Likely, validator will lose this opportunity.</p><p>We observe numerous examples when bids increased drastically during the first seconds of the slot. There are cases when the bid has risen from 0.05 to 300 ETH. Charts below demonstrate it.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/2023/11/Untitled-9.png" class="kg-image" alt loading="lazy" width="1658" height="720" srcset="https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/size/w600/2023/11/Untitled-9.png 600w, https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/size/w1000/2023/11/Untitled-9.png 1000w, https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/size/w1600/2023/11/Untitled-9.png 1600w, https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/2023/11/Untitled-9.png 1658w" sizes="(min-width: 720px) 720px"></figure><div class="kg-card kg-callout-card kg-callout-card-red"><div class="kg-callout-emoji">🧐</div><div class="kg-callout-text">Every 4th block, reward increases more than 10% during the 1st second</div></div><h3 id="why-do-builders-increase-their-bids-over-time">Why do builders increase their bids over time?</h3><p>Let's delve a bit deeper to understand why builders increase their bids over time. The general reasons are as follows:</p><ul><li>Builders strive for inclusion and need to raise their stakes to outperform competitors in a dynamic block auction occurring on relays.</li><li>The market landscape updates more frequently than the Ethereum block time, causing the potential extracted value to fluctuate as time passes and more information/order flow becomes available.</li></ul><p>Several examples illustrate these points:</p><ul><li>A new DEX swap in the mempool creates a new MEV opportunity.</li><li>Changes in the USDC/ETH price on some centralized exchanges (CEX) just after the slot starts can lead to arbitrage opportunities on decentralized exchanges (DEX) before they disappear in the next slot.</li></ul><h3 id="looking-for-the-golden-mean-in-delaying-mev-request">Looking for the golden mean in delaying MEV request</h3><p>Historical data shows that waiting more time before requesting MEV may increase block rewards up to 15% on average. </p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/2023/11/Untitled--1-.png" class="kg-image" alt loading="lazy" width="1868" height="998" srcset="https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/size/w600/2023/11/Untitled--1-.png 600w, https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/size/w1000/2023/11/Untitled--1-.png 1000w, https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/size/w1600/2023/11/Untitled--1-.png 1600w, https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/2023/11/Untitled--1-.png 1868w" sizes="(min-width: 720px) 720px"></figure><p>However we can’t delay the MEV request too much for two reasons:</p><ol><li>The validator has 4 seconds to request/receive bids, sign the block, and send it to the MEV relay, leaving enough time for block propagation within the network. High delay in MEV request shifts block propagation and can lead to block misses.</li><li>Late blocks due to high delay will lead to an increased number of forks and reorgs since some nodes won’t receive new blocks timely.</li></ol><p>Speaking about the second point, the plot below shows that 95% of blocks utilize bids submitted before 1.1 sec. Having that, we have about <a href="https://reorg.pics/?ref=p2p.org">0.1% reorgs currently</a>. Increasing MEV requesting delay too much may increase the number of reorgs drastically.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/2023/11/Untitled--2-.png" class="kg-image" alt loading="lazy" width="1968" height="994" srcset="https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/size/w600/2023/11/Untitled--2-.png 600w, https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/size/w1000/2023/11/Untitled--2-.png 1000w, https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/size/w1600/2023/11/Untitled--2-.png 1600w, https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/2023/11/Untitled--2-.png 1968w" sizes="(min-width: 720px) 720px"></figure><p>P2P.org team has conducted enhanced experiments and infra optimisations to find a golden mean between maximizing block rewards and staying healthy for the network (not producing missed or late blocks). </p><p>This allowed us to roll out the MEV Maximizer feature for our clients, the first of its kind in the industry.</p><h3 id="maximizing-rewards">Maximizing rewards</h3><p>MEV Maximizer feature allows validators to catch larger MEV rewards. Chart below demonstrates a few examples of the block rewards increase for the particular slots:</p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/2023/11/image-11.png" class="kg-image" alt loading="lazy" width="1942" height="978" srcset="https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/size/w600/2023/11/image-11.png 600w, https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/size/w1000/2023/11/image-11.png 1000w, https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/size/w1600/2023/11/image-11.png 1600w, https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/2023/11/image-11.png 1942w" sizes="(min-width: 720px) 720px"></figure><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/2023/11/image-9.png" class="kg-image" alt loading="lazy" width="1960" height="1020" srcset="https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/size/w600/2023/11/image-9.png 600w, https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/size/w1000/2023/11/image-9.png 1000w, https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/size/w1600/2023/11/image-9.png 1600w, https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/2023/11/image-9.png 1960w" sizes="(min-width: 720px) 720px"></figure><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/2023/11/image-10.png" class="kg-image" alt loading="lazy" width="1960" height="1020" srcset="https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/size/w600/2023/11/image-10.png 600w, https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/size/w1000/2023/11/image-10.png 1000w, https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/size/w1600/2023/11/image-10.png 1600w, https://p2p.org/economy/content/images/2023/11/image-10.png 1960w" sizes="(min-width: 720px) 720px"></figure><div class="kg-card kg-callout-card kg-callout-card-red"><div class="kg-callout-emoji">🔥</div><div class="kg-callout-text"><strong>10% more block rewards</strong> - that is what our clients already get*</div></div><p>It's fair to mention that not every block shows such a significant increase in rewards, and the 10% block rewards increase was gotten for randomized sample of 4000 blocks comparing value of maximum bids change over time for discovered slots and initial bids at 0.0 slot time. A client with only a few validators due to a low number of proposed blocks may be unlucky and receive zero increase, or conversely, they may receive an extra-large MEV of 10 ETH or more.</p><p>Speaking about yield, block rewards (or execution rewards) account for 30% of total rewards, increasing APR by <code>10% x 30% = 3%</code> from 4.20% to 4.33% currently. So, if you have 250 validators, you can expect to receive an additional ±10 ETH in rewards per year, the calculations are the following <code>250 validators x 32 ETH x 0.13 % extra APR</code> .</p><p>Stake with <a href="http://p2p.org/?ref=p2p.org">P2P.org</a> to get early access to the newest technologies & unique perks, increasing your revenue.</p><div class="kg-card kg-button-card kg-align-center"><a href="https://eth.p2p.org/auth?utm_source=blog&utm_medium=article_mev&utm_campaign=hrewards" class="kg-btn kg-btn-accent">Stake ETH with P2P.org in 1 click</a></div><h3 id="other-exclusive-p2porg-perks">Other exclusive P2P.org perks</h3><ol><li><a href="https://p2p.org/economy/eigen-layer-restaking-with-p2p-org-guide/">Restaking with Eigen Layer</a>. 0.5%-5pp. APR increase expected after Eigen Layer rewardslaunch in Q3 2024. Stake with Eigen Layer now to book this opportunity <code>already available</code></li><li><a href="https://p2p.org/networks/ethereum?ref=p2p.org">Opt-in MEV relays</a>. Configure your validator to remain regulatory-compliant or support decentralization <code>already available</code></li><li><a href="https://p2p.org/economy/a-step-by-step-guide-using-the-p2p-org-eth-staking-app-on-safe/">Stake ETH with Safe</a>. The first-of-its-kind app on the Safe Apps Ecosystem allows users to quickly and easily direct stake ETH with just a few clicks while maintaining full custody of their assets. <code>already available</code></li><li>Distributed validator staking powered by SSV. Don’t trust <a href="http://p2p.org/?ref=p2p.org">P2P.org</a>, set up in 1 click a decentralized validator backed by the best operators: Allnodes, Stakely, Huobi and <a href="http://p2p.org/?ref=p2p.org">P2P.org</a>. <code>coming soon</code></li></ol><p>*The calculation is based solely on the methods shown above. Results calculated using other methods may differ, including on the low side. IN ANY CASE THERE ARE NO GUARANTEED EARNINGS.</p>
<p></p><p>P2P.org is pleased to announce our new partnership with the OKX Wallet Web Extension, marking a significant milestone in making non-custodial staking more accessible and user-friendly to everyone. This integration with OKX, a leading cryptocurrency wallet owned and operated by OKX Exchange, enables users to connect with P2P.org's non-custodial staking and network validation services with unparalleled ease and security.<br></p><p><strong>Experience the Synergy of P2P.org and OKX Wallet in Just a Few Clicks</strong><br></p><p>Leveraging the seamless interface of the OKX Wallet Web Extension, users can now engage with P2P.org's platform in mere minutes:<br></p><p>1. <strong>Download and Set Up:</strong> Initiate by downloading the OKX Wallet extension for Chrome or Firefox and securely create or import your wallet.</p><p><strong> * Chrome web store download address: </strong><a href="https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/okx-wallet/mcohilncbfahbmgdjkbpemcciiolgcge?ref=p2p.org">https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/okx-wallet/mcohilncbfahbmgdjkbpemcciiolgcge</a></p><p><strong> * Firefox browser add-ons download address: </strong><a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/okexwallet/?ref=p2p.org">https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/okexwallet/</a> <br></p><p>2. <strong>Fund Your Wallet:</strong> Easily add funds through a direct transfer, QR code scan, or from OKX to the OKX Wallet Web Extension.<br>3. <strong>Connect and Go:</strong> Finally, connect your OKX Wallet to P2P.org's official web app to access our platform's features securely.</p><figure class="kg-card kg-image-card"><img src="https://lh7-us.googleusercontent.com/ssTIwkm6VdlhmJnHS6R1jR0pIpTmWnkd0eNIOj8th-pO-ddfiInUKCK6SnUeAghOlYHTI2TrSaplRACdtSAlRIgmf7g-EJfeelMxNRcgraQWNUGOefVCMj2cE5KCLziwlo9q668mQGLlTVIsGA7VNhU" class="kg-image" alt loading="lazy" width="602" height="411"></figure><p><strong>Unified Vision for a Decentralized Future</strong><br></p><p>Through this partnership, we're not just offering a tool but bridging the legacy of P2P.org's robust staking infrastructure with OKX's innovation in simplifying cryptocurrency adoption. Our unified aim is to deliver a superior, multi-chain experience that upholds privacy, security, and user sovereignty.<br></p><p><strong>Your Safety, Our Priority</strong><br></p><p>We at P2P.org, in alignment with OKX's commitment to security, remind users to safeguard their seed phrases and passwords. Our integration with OKX Wallet ensures you have a trusted companion for your staking strategy.<br></p><p>As P2P.org and OKX Wallet redefine the approach to Web3 services, we invite you to be part of this transformative journey. For a full breakdown of how to set up and manage your OKX Wallet Web Extension, please visit OKX Official Medium Post: <br><br><a href="https://medium.com/@okxweb3/access-p2p-org-using-the-okx-wallet-web-extension-3082367ac49b?ref=p2p.org">https://medium.com/@okxweb3/access-p2p-org-using-the-okx-wallet-web-extension-3082367ac49b</a> <br></p><p>Contact our 24/7 customer service on Telegram for support or inquiries.<br><a href="https://t.me/P2Pstaking?ref=p2p.org">https://t.me/P2Pstaking</a>. <br></p><p>To speak with OKX Wallet customer support, please visit: </p><p><strong>Discord</strong></p><p>English: <a href="https://discord.gg/e6EyvM5QwM?ref=p2p.org">https://discord.gg/e6EyvM5QwM</a> <br>Chinese: <a href="https://discord.com/invite/hkCGKbbbqf?ref=p2p.org">https://discord.com/invite/hkCGKbbbqf</a> <br><br><strong>Email</strong><br>[email protected]</p>
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