- Jito’s native token, JTO, jumped 3% intraday on October 16, 2025, following a16z’s $50 million investment.
- The $50 million investment by Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto arm, acquiring locked JTO tokens, signals strong institutional confidence in Jito’s liquid staking and MEV solutions.
- The funding will fuel Jito’s Block Assembly Marketplace and node expansion.
Andreessen Horowitz’s crypto arm has announced a $50 million investment in Jito, acquiring a substantial allotment of the protocol’s native JTO tokens.
Jito, an important infrastructure layer on the Solana blockchain, offers liquid staking and maximum extractable value (MEV) extraction.
a16z investment of $50m in staking protocol
Andreessen Horowitz’s (a16z) $50 million infusion into Jito marks the venture firm’s largest single commitment to a Solana staking protocol.
It eventually emphasizes strategic token purchases over traditional equity. In exchange for the investment, a16z received non-circulating JTO tokens, locking them for an extended period.
Brian Smith, executive director of the Jito Foundation. highlighted the deal’s novelty:
If you’re accepting long-term alignment where you can’t sell for a while, then there’s traditionally some modest discount associated with that.
This structure, particularly 16z’s prior $55 million LayerZero and $70 million EigenLayer investments, prioritizes ecosystem growth over quick flips.
The capital to accelerate Jito’s roadmap, including BAM node expansion.
📣🚨NEWS: @a16zcrypto has made a $50M strategic investment in Jito!
With BAM live on mainnet, Jito’s growing momentum across DeFi, and institutional adoption continuing to accelerate via JitoSol ETF’s, things are just getting started.
Accelerate Jito. pic.twitter.com/pKGhLyvkdI
— Jito (@jito_sol) October 16, 2025
Strategically, it aligns a16z with Solana’s high-throughput ethos, where Jito’s MEV tools mitigate front-running risks plaguing other chains.
This infus