How Strata's three-layer order book works
Most on-chain trading on Solana is one of two things: a thin native order book that's often empty, or a swap that quotes a single pool. Strata takes a different approach — it stacks three distinct liquidity layers into one unified, fully on-chain order book, so there's always depth and every order fills.
Layer 1 — the on-chain central limit order book (CLOB)
L1 is a real central limit order book that lives entirely on-chain. Traders post genuine resting limit orders; a matcher pairs them and a settler executes the fill on Solana. This is the price-priority backbone of the book — the same model professional venues use, but self-custodial and verifiable on-chain.
Because orders rest on-chain, the book shows true, executable depth rather than an indicative quote.
Layer 2 — market-maker intents
L2 lets market makers post depth as intents without locking capital at every price level. Instead of pre-funding a ladder, an MM signals firm, reputation- and stake-backed size that the matcher can draw on when a taker arrives. That means deep displayed size with far more capital efficiency than a traditional resting book.
Layer 3 — Sonar, the chain-direct liquidity engine
L3 is Sonar, Strata's own chain-direct liquidity engine. Sonar reads on-chain pools directly and renders them as live book depth, then routes each remaining order to the deepest execution path on Solana. There is no third-party router in the path — Sonar is native to Strata, so fills settle atomically alongside the L1 and L2 legs.
The result: whatever an order can't fill against resting limits (L1) or maker intents (L2) cascades down to Sonar (L3), so the book is never empty and nothing is left unfilled.
One signature, self-custodial
Every trade across all three layers settles in a single signature, with no per-action wallet pop-ups, and your funds stay in your custody — they move only at the moment a trade executes. That's what makes Strata feel as fast as a centralized venue while staying fully on-chain on Solana.