Stake-Weighted QoS

Overview

Blink Labs’ SWQoS is a routing layer that gives your transactions privileged network paths via our partner validators who collectively control ~3% of active stake. By leveraging stake-weighted connections, we reduce the probability that your transactions are delayed or dropped under load, especially in latency-sensitive scenarios (e.g. trading, wallets).

In practice, SWQoS complements — but does not replace — priority fees. While tip/fee mechanisms affect ordering inside a block, stake-weighted routing gives you a higher-quality connection to the leader before your transaction even enters the leader’s queue.

How It Works

  1. Client → RPC Your client submits the transaction to Blink Labs’ RPC endpoint. We look for MEV recovery opportunities.

  2. RPC → Staked Validator Peer We forward the transaction through one of our partner validators, who maintain stake-weighted QUIC/TPU connections.

  3. Validator → Leader The staked peer relays your transaction directly into the leader’s pipeline, increasing delivery reliability and reducing packet drop.

  4. Leader → Processing Once inside, ordering and inclusion depend on priority fees, blockspace congestion, and execution success.

Why ~3% Stake Matters

Our validator partners collectively control ~3% of total active stake, giving Blink Labs meaningful capacity without overconcentration. This ensures:

  • Consistent throughput across multiple trusted operators.

  • Decentralization and resilience by avoiding reliance on a single node.

  • Practical scaling for many customers without prohibitive capital requirements

Usage Models

Blink Labs offers three flexible ways to access SWQoS, depending on your application and strategy:

  1. Per-Transaction Tips

    • You specify a tip per transaction (via Jito or other channels).

    • Ideal for latency-sensitive use cases where you only need priority on select transactions (e.g. arbitrage trades).

    • Complete control: you decide when speed matters most.

  2. Subscription Mode

    • Blink Labs dynamically applies the optimal priority fee for each transaction, balancing cost and landing speed.

    • Ideal for wallets or apps that want consistent low-latency delivery without fine-tuning fees per user action.

  3. Automatic Inclusion with Higher-Than-Average Fees

    • Any transaction you send with a priority fee above the current network average is automatically routed through SWQoS.

    • Ensures that transactions already signaling urgency via fees also benefit from the fastest delivery path.

    • Useful for traders who already bake tipping strategies into their algorithms.

SWQoS vs. Priority Fees

The two mechanisms complement each other: routing gets you in quickly, fees keep you near the front.

  • SWQoS improves delivery reliability and latency into the leader’s pipeline.

  • Priority fees optimize ordering once your transaction is in the leader’s queue.

Considerations & Limitations

  • Load and saturation risk If many users saturate our stake-weighted routing capacity, there is risk of queuing or backpressure within our infrastructure. We monitor and scale capacity accordingly.

  • Not a guarantee of block inclusion Even via stake-weighted paths, your transaction might still fail or be dropped if it conflicts, has insufficient tip, or hits other resource limits.

  • Complementarity with priority fee design SWQoS is not a replacement for smart tipping. Users must still consider tip strategies, block congestion, and instruction size to maximize success.

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