By Azuma

On November 28, Jito, a liquid staking protocol on Solana, announced the launch of its governance token JTO and an airdrop of 100 million JTO (10% of total supply) to the community. While Jito initially confirmed that the airdrop would target JitoSOL users, Jito Solana validators, and Jito MEV searchers, it did not disclose how the 100 million JTO tokens would be allocated among these three groups. At that time, eligible addresses could not check their specific airdrop amounts.

In the early hours of December 5, Jito officially released these key details and launched an airdrop eligibility checker website.

Odaily Planet Daily Note: Jito officially reminds users that they can currently only view their airdrop allocation. Claiming has not yet started. Once claiming opens, the Jito Foundation will announce information through official channels. Do not click any links from unofficial sources.

Token Contract & Distribution Plan

According to information released by Jito this morning, the JTO token has already been minted on-chain but is not yet in formal circulation, apart from minor test transfers.

Token contract address:

jtojtomepa8beP8AuQc6eXt5FriJwfFMwQx2v2f9mCL

According to the disclosed distribution plan, JitoSOL users will receive 80% of the airdrop allocation (80 million JTO), Jito Solana validators will receive 15% (15 million JTO), and Jito MEV searchers will receive the remaining 5% (5 million JTO).

Notably, Jito emphasized that all past and current core contributors are excluded from the JTO airdrop, including any addresses belonging to such core contributors even if they meet the above criteria.

Airdrop Details for JitoSOL Users

Eligibility for JitoSOL users is determined by their ranking in the Jito points program. Only JitoSOL users with 100 or more points qualify for the airdrop.

To ensure fairer distribution, the Jito Foundation adopted a tiered allocation system across different point brackets. This measure aims to provide users with fewer points relatively larger rewards compared to proportional distribution, encouraging broader participation in Jito's ecosystem governance.

The airdrop snapshot period began on January 1, 2023, and ended on November 25, 2023. During this time, there were 9,852 qualifying addresses. After anti-Sybil checks and removal of core contributor addresses, ten final allocation tiers were established, as shown in the figure below.

Airdrop Details for Jito Solana Validators

Jito-Solana validators have played a critical role in expanding the network effect of the Jito-Solana client, which now accounts for 41% of the network’s total staked weight.

A total of 15 million JTO will be distributed to Jito-Solana validators according to the following rules:

• Operated the Jito-Solana client between epoch 366 and epoch 536;

• Operated the Jito-Solana client continuously for at least one epoch between epoch 527 and epoch 536. 

JTO allocation will be based on each validator’s share of the total staked amount within the Jito-Solana network, with a weighted calculation applied across every epoch since epoch 366. Ultimately, Jito-Solana validators will fall into four allocation tiers, as detailed in the figure below.

Note that only 50% of the JTO airdropped to Jito-Solana validators will be claimable at token genesis, with the remaining 50% unlocking linearly over 12 months.

Jito MEV Searchers

The final group eligible for the JTO airdrop consists of searchers who have used the Jito MEV search suite. This portion of the airdrop totals 5 million JTO tokens.

To qualify, Jito MEV searchers must have cumulatively contributed at least 1 SOL between epoch 366 and epoch 536.

Similar to the validator distribution method, eligible Jito MEV searcher addresses will be divided into five different tiers, with more active searchers receiving larger allocations. The specific distribution breakdown is shown in the figure below.

Additionally, only 50% of the JTO airdropped to Jito MEV searchers will be claimable at token genesis, with the remaining 50% unlocking linearly over 12 months.

Risk Warning

Jito stated that users will have an 18-month window to claim their airdropped JTO tokens. Any unclaimed tokens after this period will be transferred to the DAO treasury’s Realms wallet.

At the end of today’s announcement, Jito reiterated a risk warning, urging community members to remain vigilant against potential scams. Once the airdrop goes live, all users should carefully verify that websites they interact with use the jito.network domain and confirm the correctness of the token contract.

The Jito team will never proactively message users or request personal information. Please stay cautious.