Every blockchain is a marketplace for transactions. Applications submit transactions on behalf of users and validators help execute (e.g. land) transactions in exchange for fees and staking yield. Solana’s success has also brought a core challenge whereby applications still struggle to consistently execute transactions.
Around 25% of Solana transactions fail to execute. Translation failure rates exceed 40% during times of peak congestion.
Solana’s future as the ecosystem for Internet Capital Markets requires the ability for applications to guarantee transaction execution for users.
Today, we’re excited to announce our Seed Round investment in Raiku, a marketplace for blockspace on Solana, in partnership with Jump Crypto, Lightspeed Faction, Reciprocal Ventures, Initial Ventures and Hashkey Capital. Raiku already has partnerships with some of the most trusted validators in crypto, including Figment, Kiln, Staking Facilities, Blockdaemon, Chorus One, H2O Nodes, among others.
Although Solana will continually strive to be faster, its high demand for transactions will likely continue to outstrip its available supply of blockspace. Raiku emerges as a solution to offer a more reliable transaction experience for applications and users.
Raiku offers a two-sided execution marketplace and blockspace market that aligns incentives for developers, validators, and institutions.
Raiku consists of a few core components
Coordination engine – power slot auctions, transaction scheduling, and guarantees transaction inclusion
Slot marketplace – The marketplace for Solana blockspace
Raiku sidecar – Native client integration with Solana validators
Global accounts – Support for external execution environments and shared state
By creating a dedicated coordination network for transactions, Raiku can enable validators to offer pre-confirmations, or the ability to pre-book blockspace. With new transaction types, validators gain new non-MEV revenue mechanisms and the ability to earn more for high priority transactions. In exchange, institutions, applications, and users will enjoy a better transaction experience that is more reliable and consistent.
Solana’s vision for Internet capital markets demand speed and transaction certainty. Raiku offers high-performance block building, using Solana’s core validators to ensure fast, predictable transactions with guaranteed block inclusion.
We’re incredibly excited to back Robin and the Raiku team as they re-imagine the future of blockspace market structure on Solana. If you’re interested in working with Raiku, reach out to build with Raiku or become a validator.