The Solana Foundation just launched ‘Frontier Traders,’ a new, invite-only community for top-tier trading firms and market makers (MMs) working with emerging assets. Members get sweet perks like trading rebates across Solana, faster Remote Procedure Call (RPC) access, and a structured voice in shaping Solana’s onchain market structure. VIP enrollment closes June 18.
What is Frontier Traders?
“Your edge isn’t in the venue. It’s in the network.” Frontier Traders is Solana’s network-wide loyalty program that tracks your activity across every decentralized exchange (DEX), perps platform, and lending market. Instead of being stuck with exchange-specific rewards, you get rewarded for your total contribution to the ecosystem.
The program has three VIP tiers based on trailing 30-day DEX volume and gross time-weighted open interest.
- VIP 1 requires $500 million to $2 billion in volume and $16 million to $66 million open interest (OI).
- VIP 2: $2 billion to $5 billion volume and $66 million to $166 million OI.
- VIP 3: Over $5 billion in volume and over $166 million OI.
Market makers with competitive liquidity are reviewed separately. But those who don’t qualify for VIP can still participate in spot and perps trading campaigns, starting with a SpaceX ($SPCX) campaign featuring a 25,000 prize pool.
What members get: Rewards, infrastructure, influence
The program offers three core benefits:
- First off, you get rewards for your activity, regardless of the venue. The program tracks your Solana trades across the board (DEXs, perps, and lending) and gives you rebates based on that. It’s paying off, too: takers are grabbing a 2.6 basis point rate [that’s 6.5 times cheaper than what you’d see on centralized exchanges (CEXs)], and top makers are already hitting over $6 billion in volume, that’s triple Binance’s maker volume.
- Next, you get infrastructure that’s actually built for heavy lifting: think priority RPC access, your own dedicated account manager, first access on Asset Express launches, and direct hookups with other big players in the Solana DeFi ecosystem institutions.
- Finally, you get a seat at the table. We’re talking quarterly check-ins, exclusive private events, and a real say in the roadmap. Is not just another rebate program but a way for top-tier members to help shape Solana’s institutional market structure.
Why this matters for Solana’s institutional push
Frontier Traders shifts Solana’s perception from a “retail chain” to an institutional contender by aggregating volume into a single scoreboard. High VIP thresholds ($500 million monthly volume and $16 million open interest) specifically target hedge funds and proprietary firms rather than retail traders. Plus, it’s a game-changer because it actually gives market makers credit for everything they do across different venues like Drift and Zeta, so they aren’t just stuck getting recognized by one platform at a time.
