what's Firedancer?
Firedancer is an independent, high-performance validator client for the Solana blockchain, developed by Jump Crypto. Written from scratch in C++, it aims to enhance Solana's transaction processing speed, security, and network resilience by introducing client diversity. The software reimplements core Solana primitives with optimizations drawn from low-latency trading expertise, enabling theoretical throughput of up to 1 million transactions per second in benchmarks. Key features include a restrictive sandbox for security, minimal system calls, and modular architecture allowing hybrid use (e.g., Frankendancer combines Firedancer components with existing Solana labs code). It supports Solana's proof-of-stake consensus while reducing risks from single-client dominance, helping prevent network outages. Firedancer is open-source on GitHub, with ongoing development including QUIC protocol for efficient transaction ingest.
Firedancer shipped Q4 2025, missing its 100K TPS target.
Shipped in Q4 2025 but did not achieve 100K TPS.
Alpenglow and multiple concurrent proposers are on the horizon as upcoming infrastructure developments, according to Breakpoint 25 conference takeaways.
Solana violates a safety rule that Ethereum treats as non-negotiable following the live launch.
Solana co-founder announces removal of the beta designation following mainnet launch, having previously stated he would remove it once the project reaches 33% stake on mainnet.
Firedancer officially launches on Solana mainnet after running on validators for 100 days and successfully producing 50,000 blocks.
Firedancer full client is now available and currently undergoing audit.
Firedancer blocks are now live on Solana mainnet, announced at Breakpoint conference.
Firedancer release date to be announced this week at Solana Breakpoint conference.
Firedancer targets 1M TPS and sub-100ms latency with deployment expected in Q1-Q2 2026.
All Firedancer Transaction Processing Units drop transactions that sell SOL or SOL LSTs or involve short positions, with Agave client planning to adopt similar behavior.
REV scheduler deprecated by Firedancer team, eliminating the previous arrangement where Jito had 85% slot exclusivity.
Figment's main Solana validator migrates to Frankendancer, with early data showing consistently higher rewards from denser blocks and stronger MEV capture with stable latency.
Frankendancer, an early version of the validator client, has secured over 25% of total staked SOL on Solana, representing 106.28M SOL.
Firedancer powers multiple validators within Marinade Finance's select validator network on Solana.
Kevin Bowers, architect of Firedancer and chief science officer of Jump, presents at day 2 of an industry event discussing performance-focused development. Partnership with AptosLabs confirmed.