Key Takeaways
- Jason Li co-founded Solayer Labs, which began as a restaking protocol on Solana and now builds InfiniSVM, a hardware-accelerated blockchain.
- Li’s early career included roles at BlockShow and Intuition, gaining experience in the global fintech and blockchain industries.
- Li worked as a Senior Software Engineer at Youpi Inc., expanding his technical skills before co-founding Solayer Labs.
Who is Jason Li?
Jason Li is the co-founder and Head of Engineering at Solayer Labs, which began as a native Solana restaking protocol and now runs InfiniSVM, a hardware-accelerated blockchain built on the Solana Virtual Machine (SVM). He graduated Magna Cum Laude in Computer Science from UC Berkeley with a 3.93 GPA, where he was active in Blockchain at Berkeley and worked as a TA for security and operating systems courses. He also studied business at Haas and previously led the Robotics Club at Victoria Junior College in Singapore.
Early Career As Head Manager
Jason Li has become a prominent figure in the blockchain world, recognized for his technical expertise and business acumen. He began working in blockchain in 2017 as the Head Manager for Greater China at BlockShow (run by Cointelegraph), while also serving as a Fintech Trainer and Consultant at Intuition. These jobs gave him early experience in the global fintech and blockchain industries.
First Business Ventures
In 2018, Jason Li co-founded InkyLabs Inc., marking his first step into the business world. In 2019, he co-founded LoopChat and led the engineering team there until 2022. His time at LoopChat provided him with more hands-on experience in blockchain and decentralized technology. During this time, Li also became more focused on blockchain security, which led him to start MPCVault. As a board member of MPCVault, he worked with Multi-Party Computation (MPC), a crucial technology that helps protect cryptocurrency assets.
Engineering Role Before Solayer
Before fully committing to Solayer Labs, Jason Li worked as a Senior Software Engineer at Youpi Inc. from 2023 to 2024. During this time, he had the opportunity to refine and expand his technical skills, deepen his engineering expertise, and gain valuable experience in software development. These lessons and insights would later serve as the strong foundation for the technical leadership he would provide at Solayer Labs.
Founding Solayer Labs
In the first quarter of 2024, Jason Li co-founded Solayer Labs and became the Head of Engineering. Solayer Labs started as a restaking protocol built on Solana, designed to enhance scalability, security, and asset utilization across the network. It lets users restake their SOL or Solana-based liquid staking tokens (LSTs) into a new asset called sSOL. This new asset enables decentralized applications and facilitates verification services within the Solana ecosystem.
Growth and Innovation at Solayer Labs
Under Li’s leadership, Solayer created a single sSOL/SOL pool model to solve major liquidity issues that came with LST adoption. This model reduced price impact, lowered transaction costs, and made staking more efficient. In August 2024, Solayer announced a $12 million seed round led by Polychain Capital, with Binance Labs among the investors. Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko had backed its earlier pre-seed round.
Technical Innovations at Solayer Labs
One of Jason Li’s key technical contributions at Solayer Labs is the development of InfiniSVM, an architecture that leverages InfiniBand RDMA technology. InfiniSVM enables extremely fast communication between nodes, allowing blockchain performance to approach the limits of the hardware. Solayer targets more than 1 million transactions per second and network bandwidth above 100 Gbps. Its mainnet alpha went live in December 2025, with Solayer reporting sustained throughput of 300,000 transactions per second.
Scaling Solana with Solayer
In an episode of The Blockchain Report on Roxom TV, Jason Li, co-founder of Solayer, discusses the protocol’s rapid rise on Solana, with nearly $600 million in total value locked (TVL). He explains how Solayer’s Infinite SVM aims to handle 1 million transactions per second, improving blockchain performance with hardware support. Jason also discusses Solayer’s plans for an Emerald debit card and how they’re solving key issues like latency, security, and user experience in blockchain.
Ongoing Influence in Blockchain
Jason Li’s combination of technical expertise, leadership, and business acumen continues to drive the growth of blockchain infrastructure. His work, especially in the fast-growing Solana ecosystem, makes him an important figure in shaping the future of decentralized technologies.
Jason Li and the Infinite SVM on Solana
Jason Li’s journey in blockchain has been shaped by innovation and leadership. From his early roles at BlockShow and his startup experiences with InkyLabs, LoopChat, and MPCVault, to co-founding Solayer Labs, Li has shown strong technical and business skills. His work at Solayer Labs has led to groundbreaking developments, such as the Infinite SVM, which improves scalability and security on Solana. As he continues to make progress in the blockchain space, Jason Li remains a key figure in shaping the future of decentralized technologies.
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