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• Flowra launches an open auction for Solana blockspace and MEV.
• Early tests showed a 20.6% increase in compute units per block.
• Programmable policies give Solana validators more control over blocks.

Flowra has launched an Open Orderflow Auction (OOA), a new block-building framework for Solana designed to introduce greater competition into the network’s maximal extractable value (MEV) market and potentially increase validator revenue.

The Seoul-based blockchain infrastructure company said the system allows registered searchers to compete for transaction inclusion through a transparent auction instead of relying on closed orderflow channels.

Flowra said the approach could improve price discovery while allowing validators to capture more of the value generated by MEV.

Flowra opens Solana block building to competition

The Open Orderflow Auction is intended to create an open marketplace for Solana blockspace, allowing searchers to compete through bids for transaction inclusion.

Flowra’s approach is inspired by competitive block-building models that have emerged on Ethereum.

The company said open bidding on Ethereum has contributed to higher proposer revenue and believes Solana’s high throughput and low-latency architecture could support a similar model.

In early testing on a single validator, a Flowra-enabled setup increased compute units per block by 20.6%.

The validator moved from 84% of the network average to 101%, according to the company.

Flowra also reported higher block fees than comparable validator software, alongside 100% block production and 99.999% block engine uptime during the test.

The results are based on early testing rather than a broader network-wide deployment.

Programmable policies give validators more control

Alongside the auction system, Flowra is introducing Programmable Block Policy, which allows validators to establish their own transaction inclusion policies at the block-building layer.

The company said the feature is designed to provide validators with greater operational flexibility, including the ability to meet regulatory and institutional compliance requirements without modifying the underlying Solana protocol.

Flowra recently announced a collaboration with compliance infrastructure provider Honeypot to bring sanctions and risk screening to this layer.

According to Flowra CEO Harry Hwang, Solana’s technical performance has helped make it a leading blockchain network, but its MEV market remains concentrated.

“By opening block building to transparent competition, we’re creating a more efficient market for blockspace,” Hwang said. He added that the system would give validators greater control over block construction while providing verifiability and auditability.

The company’s architecture separates these block-building policies from changes to the underlying network protocol, according to the announcement.

Flowra targets institutional validators

Flowra is currently onboarding institutional-grade validators to its Open Orderflow Auction, with a broader rollout planned as participation in the Solana ecosystem expands.

The OOA is now available to validators and searchers participating in the Solana ecosystem, although the company did not provide details on the number of participants currently using the system.

Flowra describes itself as a blockchain infrastructure company focused on validator and orderflow solutions for Solana. Its products include validator infrastructure, delegation programs and MEV-related technologies.

The company said its broader objective is to improve transaction transparency, value distribution and incentive alignment among validators, users and builders.

The launch comes as Flowra seeks to apply a more market-based approach to Solana’s block-building process.

Its initial testing suggests potential improvements in block utilization and validator fees, while the Programmable Block Policy adds a mechanism for validators to customize transaction inclusion.

The broader impact of the system will depend on adoption among validators and searchers as Flowra expands its rollout across the Solana ecosystem.

XRP price extended its breakout above $1.40 on Aug. 21 as regulatory optimism, whale accumulation and forced short covering lifted the token from its recent $1.00 floor.

XRP price action today

According to data from crypto.news, XRP (XRP) price was trading near $1.39 at the time of writing after reaching $1.43. The token gained about 20% over the previous 24 hours, with its daily candle up 9.5% from an opening price of $1.27.

The move marked a sharp reversal from the decline that pushed XRP to approximately $0.99 earlier this week. Buyers first reclaimed $1.10 before driving the price through resistance between $1.18 and $1.26.

Breaking that band accelerated the rally because XRP had traded below it since its June sell-off. The token also cleared its May and July swing highs, ending a sequence of lower highs visible on the daily chart.

The 4-hour chart shows that XRP reached $1.43 before pulling back toward $1.31 and then recovering. Buyers defended the dip, allowing the token to return to the upper $1.30 range.

Momentum has expanded with the rally. The 4-hour Awesome Oscillator rose to 0.2332, its highest reading on the displayed chart, showing that short-term buying pressure remains stronger than the recent price trend.

What is driving the XRP rally?

The recovery followed President Donald Trump’s Aug. 19 meeting with crypto executives, including Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse. Trump called on Congress to pass what he described as a “fair version” of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act.

The proposed legislation would establish a federal framework for digital assets and divide oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Its passage remains uncertain because Senate Republicans would need Democratic support to reach the required 60 votes.

XRP may be particularly sensitive to the debate because Ripple spent years contesting the SEC’s claims over its token sales. A clearer statutory framework could reduce the policy uncertainty facing US exchanges and companies using digital assets, although Trump’s comments do not guarantee that Congress will pass the bill.

Broader liquidity conditions also supported the cryptocurrency market. The US Treasury raised the maximum size of planned buybacks for certain longer-dated government bonds from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation. The announcement initially weighed on long-term yields and the dollar, helping high-risk assets attract demand, though Treasury yields later recovered.

XRP-specific buying added to the move. Crypto analyst Ali Martinez, known as Ali Charts, said wallets tracked as whales acquired more than 300 million XRP in 96 hours. His Santiment-based chart showed their combined holdings rising from about 16 billion to nearly 16.3 billion tokens.

Ripple, Clearpool, and Cicada Partners also announced plans to build an institutional lending market on the XRP Ledger. The proposed system would use the RLUSD stablecoin and XRPL’s planned lending and single-asset vault features.

The credit platform is still under development and depends on the relevant XRPL amendments. It should therefore be treated as a future network catalyst rather than active lending volume.

XRP technical indicators turn bullish

The daily chart recorded a bullish Supertrend reversal as XRP crossed $1.14. The indicator had remained bearish throughout most of the token’s decline from above $2.00 in January.

XRP’s daily Chaikin Money Flow also jumped to 0.17. A reading above zero indicates that buying volume is outweighing selling volume, supporting the price breakout with stronger capital inflows.

On the 4-hour chart, XRP trades well above its major moving averages. The 20-period simple moving average has risen to $1.12, while the 50-, 100-, and 200-period averages sit between $1.04 and $1.07.

The wide distance between the market price and those averages confirms the strength of the breakout but also raises the likelihood of short-term volatility. A rapid rally can leave limited support immediately below the price if buyers begin taking profits.

The first support area sits between $1.34 and $1.35, where XRP consolidated after its initial spike. A deeper pullback could test $1.26, the upper boundary of the former resistance range.

The daily Supertrend level near $1.14 represents the broader bullish invalidation zone. Losing that level would place XRP back below its breakout structure and raise the risk of a decline toward the clustered moving averages around $1.04–$1.07.

Liquidation map points to $1.48

CoinGlass’s three-day XRP liquidation heatmap shows that price advanced through several clusters of short liquidation leverage between $1.10 and $1.40. Those forced closures likely added buying pressure as bearish traders repurchased XRP to cover their positions.

Remaining liquidity is concentrated above the market around $1.43–$1.45, followed by another band near $1.47–$1.48. A clean move above the intraday high could draw XRP toward those levels as exchanges close additional leveraged shorts.

The heatmap also shows large liquidity bands below the price. The closest clusters sit near $1.34, $1.29, and $1.26, while a heavier concentration appears between $1.20 and $1.22.

Markets often move toward areas containing dense leveraged positions, but a liquidation map does not determine direction. If XRP fails to break $1.43, long positions opened during the rally could instead face pressure on a retreat toward the lower clusters.

Can XRP hold the breakout?

A daily close above $1.40 would strengthen the bullish case and leave $1.48 as the next technical and liquidity target. Clearing that zone could open a move toward $1.50, a psychological level that also contained several price reversals earlier in 2026.

The rally still carries downside risks. XRP has moved more than 35% from its weekly low in a short period, while the White House catalyst depends on a bill that remains subject to difficult Senate negotiations.

Continued whale accumulation, positive money flow, and support above $1.26 would provide stronger evidence that the advance is more than a short squeeze. Failure to hold that former resistance zone would expose $1.20 and, eventually, the daily Supertrend level near $1.14.

Yesterday’s arbitration motion hearing between Justin Sun and World Liberty Financial (WLFI) is being hotly contested by both the Tron billionaire and WLFI’s CEO Zach Witkoff.

The federal court hearing in California stems from Sun’s April lawsuit that accuses WLFI of fraud and breach of contract when it froze his tokens with alleged undisclosed blacklisting powers. 

Sun says hearing was a ‘significant win’ 

Sun claimed on X that a judge ruled his case and “individual claims” would go to court, calling the apparent development a “major victory.”

He said that the judge “rejected World Liberty’s argument that all of the company-related claims should be arbitrated, and has ordered the parties to meet and confer about which of those claims should remain in court and which should go to arbitration.”  

All this, Sun said, was despite WLFI’s efforts to force “secret arbitration proceedings.”

Witkoff says Sun is lying

Hours later, Witkoff said WLFI never wanted Sun’s “individual claims” to go to arbitration and that they wanted them dismissed entirely. 

He said that the court is yet to rule on the outcome of these claims, completely contradicting Sun’s description of the hearing, which Witkoff described as “riddled with falsehoods.”

Read more: WLFI token falls 18% as governance vote branded a ‘scam’

Additionally, Witkoff claims the court sided with WLFI and agreed that many of Sun’s other claims must go to arbitration. He said, “Even Sun’s lawyers had to concede in the courtroom that these claims do not belong in court.”

Justin Sun is allegedly avoiding other lawsuit proceedings

To top it off, Witkoff alleges that Sun is “actively avoiding” legal proceedings regarding the separate lawsuit WLFI filed against him in Florida.

Court documents on the outcome of yesterday’s hearing are yet to be published online. It’s unclear when the parties will meet next to discuss the arbitration motion.  

Sun says WLFI can’t afford to lose lawsuit

Sun also alleged that WLFI likely can’t afford the hundreds of millions of dollars in damages if they lose the lawsuit.