Skip to main content

​
What is BULK

BULK is an L0 - a specialized execution layer that runs sophisticated risk, order book, and matching systems natively. Each BULK validator operates a dedicated binary (bulk-agave) alongside the standard Solana/Agave validator on the same machine, sharing the same identity keys. Stake weight is proportional to the validator’s Solana stake. Solana handles what it does best: decentralized asset custody, deposits, and withdrawals. BULK handles what requires purpose-built infrastructure: low-latency order matching, BULKBFT consensus on transaction ordering, and real-time risk management.

​
Stake Inheritance

BULK validators inherit their identity and stake weight from the Solana validator they run alongside. This means:
  • Day-one economic security. BULK’s initial validator cohort represents ~5% of Solana’s total stake, operated by 20+ independent entities.
  • Aligned incentives. Validators earn a share of exchange revenues (12.5%). Misbehavior in BULK Net results in protocol penalties (jailing), creating direct economic consequences.

​
Architecture

The core architecture separates pure protocol logic from I/O. Protocol crates (bulk-consensus-proto, bulk-core-proto) contain deterministic state machines - decision algorithms, type definitions, risk calculations. No network calls, no disk I/O, no Solana dependencies. I/O layers (bulk-consensus, bulk-relay, bulk-core) wrap these and handle network transport, database persistence, and Solana integration. This means the consensus and execution logic can be verified, simulated, and tested independently of any specific network implementation.

​
Order Lifecycle

​
1. Order Ingress

Traders submit signed transactions via the HTTP API or WebSocket. The ingress layer hashes each transaction for deduplication and broadcasts it to the validator set via authenticated Noise-protocol channels.

​
2. Consensus

Validators exchange compact transaction sketches (minisketch) and reconcile to agree on the transaction set for each round. BULKBFT consensus produces a CommittedBatch - the canonical set of transactions for that round, agreed upon by a supermajority. See BULKBFT Consensus for protocol details.

​
3. Deterministic Ordering

The committed batch is deterministically ordered using a multi-layered fairness scheme: Fisher-Yates shuffle seeded by the consensus-derived batch timestamp, then separation into priority queues (cancels, then post-only, then regular orders). See Fair Ordering for the full design.

​
4. Execution

Every validator processes the ordered batch through the identical matching engine. Pre-flight margin checks, book matching, risk callbacks, and state updates are all deterministic. Any validator that produces a different output state is immediately detectable. See Matching and Execution for the executor pipeline.

​
5. Settlement

Deposits and withdrawals settle on Solana.