Solana Study Exposes Wider Spreads Outside Aggregators
Key Summary
Academic researchers found that Solana trades routed outside aggregators experience wider realized round-trip spreads at five of six major proprietary automated market makers. The September preprint analyzed historical data, showing that pool access does not guarantee comparable execution terms. Non-aggregator flow recorded wider spreads in 68% to 83% of matched cells across the primary sampled venues. ZeroFi bucked the trend with a small negative matched median premium. Wallet fees and custom routing paths further complicate net execution costs for active traders.
Key Bullets
- A September study revealed wider realized round-trip spreads for Solana trades routed outside aggregators at five of six major proprietary liquidity venues.
- Non-aggregator flow recorded wider spreads in 68% to 83% of matched cells with reported exact sign-test p-values below 0.001.
- ZeroFi broke the broader trend by showing a small negative matched median premium in the historical data sample.
- Phantom disclosure documents list a 0.85% fee for most swaps alongside variable network fees on Solana.
Solana Spreads Widen Outside Aggregators
Solana trades routed outside aggregators faced wider realized round-trip spreads at five of six major proprietary liquidity venues according to academic research published Sept. 29. The preprint by Ozan Solmaz, Lioba Heimbach and Jason Milionis examined historical automated market makers on Solana, Base and Monad. Access to the identical public liquidity pool failed to deliver comparable trading terms for end users. The historical association demonstrates that routing class directly impacts execution quality.
Researchers paired consecutive fills on opposite sides of the same pool within 25 slots and trade sizes within a factor of two. Non-aggregator spreads were wider in 68% to 83% of matched cells for the first five venues tested. ZeroFi ran counter to this pattern by posting a small negative matched median premium. Proprietary operators can update prices directly without waiting for a trade to alter pool reserves.
Venue Mechanics and Fee Structures
A proprietary automated market maker allows a single operator to provide inventory and adjust quotes independently. This mechanism helps operators mitigate stale-price losses when incoming trades arrive before pool reserves adjust to broader market moves. Aggregator routing on Solana typically searches across multiple venues and can split orders to optimize execution paths. Jupiter serves as a primary routing provider utilizing managed order paths where multiple providers compete.
Wallet interface fees impose additional costs that operate independently of underlying pool spreads. Phantom disclosures checked Nov. 2 indicate a 0.85% fee for most swaps alongside variable network fees. Slippage tolerances permit price deterioration between quote and execution without establishing a fixed fee. Net execution costs require accounting for wallet charges, routing classes and underlying pool spreads simultaneously.
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