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Can Solana finally match centralized exchanges in speed without losing its decentralization? Two new projects, @bulletxyz_ and @bulktrade, might be the ones to pull it off. --------------------------- The Problem with Solana Right Now Solana is easily one of the most active blockchains in trading and DeFi with projects like @DriftProtocol, @JupiterExchange, and @marginfi driving serious volume. But let’s be honest. Solana still struggles under pressure. Since everyone shares the same network, when activity spikes, things can slow down fast. Transactions lag, fees climb, and the network can get congested, a nightmare for professional traders who live and die by execution speed. For high-frequency traders making moves within seconds, even a brief slowdown can ruin a strategy. Platforms like Drift have done remarkably well despite these constraints, but when you compare Solana’s DEXs to newer, purpose-built exchanges like @HyperliquidX, you start to see what’s possible with a faster, more optimized architecture. That said, Solana’s community is fiercely loyal. Apps like Drift and Jupiter have built deep roots and that loyalty means there’s still plenty of volume, liquidity, and opportunity for the next generation of perpetual DEXs like Bullet and Bulk to thrive. --------------------------- The Next-Gen Solana DEXs: Bullet and Bulk Two upcoming exchanges Bullet and Bulk are reimagining how trading should work on Solana. Both have been built entirely from the ground up for traders, with fresh tech that promises smoother, faster, and more efficient execution than anything we’ve seen on Solana before. Bullet takes a high-speed approach. It uses a ZK-powered sequencer essentially a mini Layer-2 system to execute trades in milliseconds while maintaining flexibility and security. Meanwhile, Bulk integrates directly into Solana’s validator layer, staying fully native to the network and prioritizing decentralization. Despite their different designs, both share the same goals: faster trades, zero front-running, fair order execution, and smarter margin systems that scale with users. When compared to existing players, Bullet is all about speed, built with ZK proofs, low latency, and even potential zero-fee trading. Drift, on the other hand, still runs on Solana’s main layer (L1), which makes it more limited by network congestion. Bulk focuses on decentralization and composability but is still early in development, with its testnet yet to go live. Because both Bullet and Bulk operate in more specialized environments outside Solana’s traditional flow, they could easily dominate the next wave of trading innovation. --------------------------- Bullet: Built for Speed Right now, Bullet is the more visible of the two and is tailored for professional traders who need consistent execution and ultra-low latency. Trades are pre-executed instantly, with confirmations delivered in literal milliseconds. Behind the scenes, Bullet batches thousands of trades and finalizes them together, keeping things stable and efficient. With just one sequencer handling the process, transactions become predictable. No chaos, no front-running, no waiting for block space. There’s also no public mempool. Orders are processed fairly in FIFO order, ensuring a level playing field. And every trade is backed by zero-knowledge proofs, meaning everything can be verified cryptographically without sacrificing speed. In short, Bullet delivers what traders want most: instant execution, reliable confirmations, and transparent, provably accurate trading, all while keeping risk and margin management efficient. --------------------------- Bulk: Built for Decentralization Bulk takes a completely different route but aims for the same result. It stays entirely within Solana’s infrastructure, embedding its trading logic directly into validators, the computers that secure the network. The Bulk team believes that Layer-2 systems like Hyperliquid sacrifice too much decentralization, so their mission is to bring CEX-level speed (under 20 milliseconds) to DeFi without leaving Solana’s core. To make that happen, Bulk is built on Bulk-Agave, a customized fork of the Jito-Agave validator client. It also runs a companion program called BULK-Tile, which sits alongside validators to handle order matching and liquidations directly. This setup lets Bulk work asynchronously much faster than normal Solana transactions and keeps things stable even during market chaos, like the October 10, 2025 liquidation crash. Bulk is also designed to reward validators by sharing a portion of trading revenue with them (currently planned at 12.5%), aligning incentives across the ecosystem. With a team experienced in market making and derivatives, they’re bringing traditional market efficiency to on-chain trading. In essence, Bulk is creating a super-fast, validator-native trading layer that aims to match centralized exchanges in speed while staying completely transparent and decentralized. --------------------------- The Bigger Picture Both Bullet and Bulk are tackling Solana’s biggest pain point: speed. They just do it differently. If traders can get a DEX that’s lightning-fast, reliable, and self-custodial, they’ll use it. Solana users have already proven their loyalty, sticking with the ecosystem even through network slowdowns. @bulletxyz_ isn’t live yet, and @bulktrade is still pre-testnet, but both are setting the stage for what comes next, a future where Solana trading matches CEX speed while staying 100% on-chain. --------------------------- Disclaimer: This post is based on the @Delphi_Digital's article written by @trevor_flipper. Link to article in the second tweet.