Man, it feels like just yesterday, but it was actually two weeks before Catstanbul when Meow hit me up with a classic bombshell: “Yo Aaron, we need to get Ultra Mode out by Catstanbul.” Just like that. No spec, no code, not a single line written – just this big idea, this wishful thinking about creating the perfect swap experience.
Honestly, it was absolutely insane how we pulled it off. Those two weeks were a blur of caffeine, code, and zero sleep. We were scrambling like mad, building this thing from scratch, and we literally deployed the prototype V1 just 15 minutes before I had to walk onto the Catstanbul stage to show Ultra Mode to the world for the first time. Wild times. If you’d like to see how that initial reveal went down, you can check out the recording here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVKkVgmI2Eo.
But wow, what a journey it’s been since then. That V1 was just the beginning. We’ve been heads-down for the past few months, cooking up a bunch of exciting upgrades behind the scenes. So, let’s talk about what makes Ultra V2 tick.
Juno: The Engine Upgrade
First off, let’s talk about Juno. We actually announced this a few days back, but it’s the core part of Ultra now. Ultra automatically taps into the greatest and latest version of Juno. This means it comes packed with support for Metis v1.5, Metis v1.6, JupiterZ, Hashflow, DFlow, and we’ve got even more integrations lined up. It’s all about giving you access to the best routes, period.
Unsure what Juno is? You may wish to catch up on it here: https://x.com/AaronCQL/status/1914166637663604777.
Best-in-Class Execution: Speed, Smarts, and Safety
For Ultra, we didn’t just want good execution. We wanted the best.
- Dynamic Broadcast Mode: From the classic Priority fee, to Jito bundles, to up and coming Nozomi, Ultra looks at historical and real-time data to pick the best broadcast mode for your specific trade. The goal? Optimal gas fees and lightning-fast execution. We’re seeing 90% of all trades land within 2.4 seconds, with the average being a speedy 1.3 seconds.
- Dynamic Gas Fees: Ultra figures out the best gas fee based on the current network state and your trade size. Bigger trades need to land faster? It might bump the fee slightly to make sure it gets there, but only when necessary.
- Best-in-Class MEV Protection: According to https://sandwiched.me/, users of Ultra have the lowest rate of MEV across all platforms. Keeping your trades safe from MEV searchers is our top priority. This is an ongoing battle, and we’re committed to finding novel ways to minimise MEV attacks for you.
- Proprietary Broadcasting Engine: Jupiter maintains a massive network of RPC providers and nodes (costing millions a year, by the way). We painstakingly profile each and every one to ensure they’re MEV-resistant, blazing fast, and extremely performant. This whole setup feeds into our own broadcasting engine, built right into Ultra, ensuring every transaction gets broadcasted in the most optimal way possible.
Going Gasless: Swap Without SOL
This brings me to one of my favourite upgrades: gasless support. It’s the classic onboarding problem: send some USDC from your favourite CEX to a fresh wallet, but since that wallet doesn’t contain any SOL, you can’t actually do anything with the USDC. Ultra solves that. You can swap any token, even when your wallet does not have any SOL. We handle the network fees behind the scenes. To enable this feature, we may collect a slightly higher fee depending on the specifics of a swap to cover costs, but the whole process is invisible to you. You just need to click swap.
RTSE V2: Smarter Slippage Estimation
The V1 of the Real-Time Slippage Estimator (RTSE), released back in Catstanbul, has just gotten a massive V2 upgrade:
- We added Exponential Moving Average (EMA) calculations for price volatility. This helps estimate slippage more accurately, reflecting actual trading behavior – it avoids sudden drops in the estimate but is still sensitive enough to catch intense bursts of volatility.
- We added a new mechanism that bumps slippage incrementally if multiple previous attempts failed due to slippage. It’s an extra layer of sensitivity, especially for tokens that suddenly become extremely popular.
- We also now track and analyse slippage incurred per AMM. This data feeds back into our quoting, helping us favour routes that are less volatile and more resistant to slippage.
Search That Actually Works
Okay, let’s be real, our old search wasn’t great. It prioritised tokens based on volume refreshed hourly, which was slow (new launches took ages to appear) and easily gamed (hello, wash trading). We heard the complaints loud and clear – new tokens not showing up, impersonators ranking higher than verified ones. No more. We’ve switched to a special blend of multiple real-time on-chain metrics: organic volume, liquidity, organic score, you name it. This drastically improves the chances that the token you’re searching for is the one that pops up first.
JupShield: Trade with Confidence
Safety first! JupShield is our way of helping you avoid scams and sketchy tokens.
- On our UIs: It flags potential red flags directly in the interface before you swap. Things like low liquidity or potentially malicious tokens get highlighted, letting you make a more informed decision and significantly reducing the chances of getting rugged.
- On Ultra API: This isn’t just for our UI. Integrators using the Ultra API can easily surface these warnings to their users too, without needing extra third-party tools.
World-Class Support: We Got Your Back
Trading shouldn’t be stressful. We continue our promise of giving you a world-class support team, dedicated 24/7 specifically for Ultra users. Whether you have a question, hit an edge case, or encounter an unexpected issue, our team is there to help ensure you get the best possible trading experience. Seriously, just head to https://support.jup.ag/hc/en-us if you need to reach us.
API Integrators: Custom Fees Are Here
And finally, one last feature note for the builders:
- Custom Fees: Ultra API integrators can now plug in their own custom fee structures. Want to earn revenue by integrating Ultra? Now you finally can.
- Fully RPC-less: Integrating Ultra is easier than ever. You don’t need any external RPCs for a full end-to-end integration. The Ultra API even provides extra endpoints for things like user balances and broadcasting transactions.
Interested in taking it out for a spin? Visit: https://dev.jup.ag/docs/ultra-api/!
Shoutout to the Team
None of this happens in a vacuum. It takes an incredible team pulling together.
- For Metis: Huge props to Desmond, Zheng Yu, and Pierre for helming it, Melvin for being the brains behind it, Bryan and countless others who chipped in to help with AMM integrations. Special thanks to the infra wizards Zhiyang, Zamiel, and Bing – too many sleepless nights were spent ensuring our users get the reliability they deserve.
- For Ultra API: Shoutout to Pelvis, the legend who hacked out the initial version in just two weeks, before passing the torch to Wei Liang, who’s been cranking out features like a madman despite his many other responsibilities.
- For RTSE: Cheers to Desmond and Jonah, staring at data all day long to nail that slippage estimation.
- For JupiterZ: Thanks to Andrea for the initial development, and to Ioan and John, working around the clock with our MM partners to give you the best quotes.
- For Data and Search: John laid the foundations, and now Jacob and Yong Jie are doing their absolute best to perfect that search experience (we know, we know, it’ll never be truly perfect!).
- For jup.ag: Huge props to Farkit, Michael, Ryan, and Aidan for the total overhaul of the UI that you’ve been enjoying
- For DevRel: YY for the technical documentation and ensuring Ultra API is easy to integrate
- For Support: Xian, Denda, Rakuuna, Flabber, Veeto, Noc, and many many others working behind the scenes
And of course, countless other members in the team, for providing whatever help necessary, whenever it’s needed, even when it’s 3AM in the morning. Ultra V2 is a testament to this incredible collective effort. It’s been a ride, and we’re stoked for you to experience the perfect swap.