Jito’s Block Assembly Marketplace, better known as BAM, went from controlling roughly 14% of Solana’s total network stake to 28.1% in the span of a single quarter.

During Jito’s Q1 2026 earnings call held in late May, the protocol laid out numbers that paint a picture of accelerating adoption across nearly every metric that matters. The SOL staked to BAM validators more than doubled, jumping from 59.2 million to 119.3 million. The number of validators running BAM grew 56%, reaching 363 by the end of the quarter.

The numbers behind the surge

Protocol revenue for Q1 totaled $2.33 million, while gross tips processed hit $19.85 million. JitoSOL’s total value locked sat at approximately $1 billion in SOL terms.

The post-Q1 trajectory suggests this wasn’t a one-quarter blip. BAM’s stake share continued climbing to roughly 31-32% after the quarter closed. By late April, the network showed around 118 million SOL staked across 344 validators.

Buybacks paused, growth prioritized

Jito is explicitly choosing not to return capital to token holders through buybacks. Instead, it’s channeling revenue into BAM incentive programs designed to pull more validators into the ecosystem.

The mechanism for this is JIP-31, a DAO proposal that establishes early adopter subsidies for validators running BAM.

Institutional expansion and the Solana Company partnership

On May 6, 2026, Jito announced a strategic partnership with Solana Company focused on deploying BAM validators in the Asia-Pacific region. The deal also targets expanding access to JitoSOL products for institutional investors.