This is a segment from the Lightspeed newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe . Solana is up. At $151.30, SOL is back at monthly highs , reversing an oh-so-steep early April dip. It’s pretty well outperforming broader crypto markets, which aren’t doing too badly themselves as they ride a wave of short squeezes, ETF inflows, and a sudden softening of trade war rhetoric. Some ecosystem tokens caught the bullish wave, too, including Jupiter’s JUP, which is up 25% on the week. Yesterday, a report from Blockworks Research laid out all the ways in which Jupiter is becoming irreplaceable. Jupiter now commands 95% of DEX aggregator volume and 80% of perpetuals trading on Solana. It generates north of $280 million in annualized revenue and still trades at one of the lowest P/S ratios in DeFi. Since launching in 2021 as a swap router, Jupiter has made no secret of its intent to become Solana’s super-app: home to perps, its own launchpad, a mobile wallet, a memecoin terminal, and more recently, NFT integrations via its DRiP Haus acquisition. Its liquidity index fund, JLP, is now the third-largest TVL pool on Solana — behind only Jito and Kamino. Its recent API upgrades (here’s looking at you, Ultra Mode) are quietly reshaping user behavior. I mean, come on. It’s pulling in $5–10 million in optional monthly fees. Jupiter’s routing upgrades (Juno), cross-chain testnet (Jupnet) and rapid-fire acquisitions (SolanaFM, Coinhall, SonarWatch, Ultimate Wallet, Moonshot) signal a protocol building not just liquidity, but full-stack control. It’s a surgical level of vertical integration rarely seen: data, analytics, interface and distribution, all consolidated under a single roof. Its treasury is buying back JUP at speed; so far, they’re over $20 million repurchased in under two months. Risks worth watching mostly deal with looming token unlocks. The Jupiter team took heat recently-ish over its compensation and governance transparency. Plus, competition sharpens when winners emerge — Kamino, Titan and Drift aren’t going quietly. But Jupiter is digging a deep moat, and it’s doing this without relying on mercenary incentives. Ultra Mode usage is on the ascent. Aggregator dominance is stable. Perps volumes remain consistently above $25 billion per month. While macro flows, ETF optimism, and geopolitical thawing may have sparked the week’s rally, Jupiter has helped things along by scaffolding Solana’s commercial core. Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters: Blockworks Daily : Unpacking crypto and the markets. Empire : Crypto news and analysis to start your day. Forward Guidance : The intersection of crypto, macro and policy. 0xResearch : Alpha directly in your inbox. Lightspeed : All things Solana. The Drop : Apps, games, memes and more. Supply Shock : Bitcoin, bitcoin, bitcoin.
