What is Rakurai?
Rakurai is a new Solana validator client focused on optimizing block scheduling, low-latency, and high-throughput infrastructure. Rakurai’s architecture is purpose-built to maximize rewards through block packing efficiency and MEV capture. Importantly, they do not resort to block timing game manipulation with intentional delays past the target block time of 400ms. Unlike modified clients who intentionally delay block production, Rakurai achieves their outperformance through optimizing transaction scheduling and block construction within Solana’s protocol parameters.
Figment migrated our primary Solana validator to Rakurai on March 2, 2026. This upgrade represents the work of our Protocol, Product, and DevOps teams. We continuously research, test, stress-test, and upgrade our Solana validator infrastructure to maintain our position as the best-in-class, protocol-compliant staking provider.
What does this mean for Solana delegators staked with Figment?
Early testing and comparative results show Rakurai delivering meaningful SRR uplift. Across the first two post-migration epochs (934–935), Figment’s Rakurai validators compound gross rewards rate rose from 6.85% to 7.17% — a gain of 32 basis points. Comparable Rakurai validators are running 20-45 bps above the Firedancer/Agave baseline, and we expect the validator to continue converging toward the top of that range as the rolling average catches up.
Early Performance Results
Comparing 300 post-migration blocks to 299 pre-migration blocks on Figment’s Rakurai validator.
| Metric | Post-Migration | |
| Non-vote Transactions / Block | ↑ ~49% | |
| Compute Unit Consumption | ↑ ~48% | |
| Total Revenue per Block | 0.083 SOL (2.3x) | |
| Validator Rewards | ↑ +54% | |
| Priority Fees | ↑ +60% | |
| Jito MEV Tip Capture | ↑ ~5x | |
| Block Production Time | ≦400ms |
Source: Figment internal telemetry, March 2, 2026. 300 post-migration vs 299 pre-migration blocks.
Post-Migration SRR Performance
With three epochs of data now available (epoch 933 pre-migration, epochs 934–935 post-migration), Figment’s Rakurai validator compound gross rewards rate shows a clear upward trajectory. The following data is sourced from Trillium, a third-party Solana validator performance tracker:
| Epoch | Figment Compound Gross Rewards Rate | Status |
| 933 | 6.85% | Pre-Rakurai |
| 934 | 6.87% | First Rakurai epoch |
| 935 | 7.17% | +32 bps gain |
Competitive Comparison (Epochs 933–935):
With Figment’s primary validator already at 7.17% after just two Rakurai epochs, it’s well on its way to converging with top Rakurai operators. Figment ranked #1 in compound gross rewards rate among all 11 tracked institutional validators in epoch 935 — up from 8th in epoch 933 pre-migration. Nine out of ten competitors saw flat or declining SRR over the same period.
| Validator | Epoch 933 | Epoch 934 | Epoch 935 | Change (933→935) |
| Figment | 6.85% | 6.87% | 7.17% | +32 bps |
| Coinbase 02 | 7.01% | 7.50% | 6.99% | -2 bps |
| Coinbase 03 | 7.16% | 7.04% | 6.99% | -17 bps |
| Coinbase 04 | 7.20% | 7.01% | 6.93% | -27 bps |
| Coinbase 05 | 6.70% | 6.70% | 6.79% | +9 bps |
| Coinbase | 6.99% | 6.93% | 6.70% | -29 bps |
| Twinstake | 7.15% | 6.96% | 6.88% | -27 bps |
| Kiln1 | 7.12% | 7.07% | 6.86% | -26 bps |
| Kiln2 | 6.79% | 7.20% | 6.77% | -2 bps |
| Helius | 6.77% | 6.77% | 6.84% | +7 bps |
| Everstake | 7.03% | 6.88% | 6.84% | -19 bps |
Why This Matters for Delegators
Higher rewards, no timing games. Rakurai achieves superior block packing and MEV capture through optimized transaction scheduling. We do not delay block production. Zero increase in block time post-migration.
Protocol-compliant infrastructure. As Solana’s Alpenglow upgrade (expected Q3 2026) and JIP-23 stake pool penalties target timing game abuse, Figment’s infrastructure is already heavily aligned with Solana’s goal: Increase Bandwidth, Reduce Latency.
Competitive gross SRR: Figment’s Rakurai validator reached 7.17% Compound Overall SRR within two epochs of the Rakurai migration, narrowing the gap to top Rakurai validators and pulling decisively ahead of Agave Jito operators. Projected performance of ~7.25%+ puts Figment’s Rakurai validator in line with Solana’s highest-performing validators. Importantly, there are no reputational, security, or regulatory risks compared to running modified closed-source clients.
Institutional-grade operations. Figment continues to run fully transparent, auditable infrastructure backed by enterprise SLAs and 24/7 monitoring.
Next Steps
We will continue monitoring performance over the coming epochs. Early results after two post-migration epochs are strong and consistent with the broader Rakurai validator cohort. We will share updated data as the rolling SRR fully converges and will work closely with the Rakurai team to further optimize performance.
