ERPC Launches Epic Shreds Direct in Frankfurt — Direct UDP from the World #3 Epics DAO Validator with No Forwarding Hop. Limited to 20 Connections, with Hourly Billing Available
ERPC Launches Epic Shreds Direct in Frankfurt — Direct UDP from the World #3 Epics DAO Validator with No Forwarding Hop. Limited to 20 Connections, with Hourly Billing Available
ELSOUL LABO B.V. (Headquartered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands; CEO: Fumitake Kawasaki), together with Validators DAO, is pleased to announce the launch of Epic Shreds Direct, the top-tier line of the Epic Shreds Solana Shredstream service operated by ERPC, now available in Frankfurt.
Epic Shreds Direct delivers Solana Shreds directly over UDP from the world #3 Epics DAO Validator to the customer server port, with no forwarding hop in between. The service is now available in Frankfurt, limited to 20 connections.
The open price is €17.01/h, offered today at the release price of €7.29/h (57% off). In addition to monthly and annual plans, hourly billing from one hour is also supported, so customers can measure first-arrival performance in their own environment before committing to a longer-term plan. With only 20 connections available, please consider reserving early.
Hourly Billing from €7.29/h — Measure First-Arrival in Your Own Environment Before You Commit
The performance of a Solana real-time stream is determined by the multiplicative combination of source validator performance, receiver physical location, network route quality, and receiver server single-threaded performance. Because these factors compound multiplicatively, there is strong demand among teams to verify, in a setting close to actual production, exactly how much advantage their own configuration captures before committing to a contract.
Epic Shreds Direct is offered at an open price of €17.01/h, available at €7.29/h (57% off). In addition to monthly and annual plans, hourly billing from one hour is also supported. At €7.29 for one hour, customers can combine Epic Shreds Direct with their own Solana RPC nodes, transaction submission infrastructure, and strategy logic, measure first-arrival rate, P50, P95, and P99 in their actual environment, and then decide whether to move forward with a longer-term plan.
Epic Shreds Direct endpoints are designed so that customers can measure performance from their own environment. "How fast is it?" and "How much advantage does my configuration capture?" can be answered through direct measurement, not just claims.
ERPC Pricing: https://erpc.global/en/price/
What Epic Shreds Direct Is — The Shortest Path, with the Forwarding Hop Removed
Epic Shreds Direct is structurally different from Epic Shreds Premium.
Epic Shreds Premium (Pro Premium €798/month, Max Premium €1,280/month) is configured around an ERPC forwarder placed on the same network and inside the same datacenter as the Epics DAO Validator. The forwarder receives Shreds from the validator and distributes them to multiple customers via HTTP (IP) access or UDP Forwarding. Unlimited IP whitelists and unlimited stream connections are made possible by this forwarder acting as a distribution layer.
Epic Shreds Direct removes this forwarder. The customer's server IP:port is registered directly as a destination on the Epics DAO Validator's Shred output, so UDP packets travel from the validator's NIC to the customer's server port over the shortest path, with no intermediate ERPC application processing in between.
Removing one hop means structurally reducing both latency and jitter. No forwarder application processing time, no extra packet copy, and no queuing-induced timing variation sits in between, and route-induced fluctuation and loss factors are also reduced. Newly generated UDP packets are delivered directly to the customer's server port, without passing through any forwarder application processing.
Why "Direct" Is the Fastest — The Final Push Against the Speed-of-Light Wall
Solana Shredstream speed is determined by the multiplicative combination of source validator performance and receiver physical location. Epic Shreds Premium structurally optimizes receiver physical location by placing customers on the same network and inside the same datacenter as the Epics DAO Validator. Because even fiber-optic networks cannot escape the laws of physics governing the speed of light, securing a position as close as possible to the source is a decisive factor in approaching top-tier conditions.
Epic Shreds Direct adds the removal of intermediate processing to this physical-location optimization. Even a forwarder placed inside the same datacenter and on the same network adds processing time on the order of hundreds of microseconds to a few milliseconds — a margin that becomes material for use cases that accumulate sub-millisecond advantages. By removing forwarder processing time and the additional packet copy, Epic Shreds Direct brings the time from Shred generation to arrival at the customer's server as close as possible to the physical lower bound.
Epic Shreds Direct simultaneously optimizes all three factors — source validator performance, receiver physical location, and the number of hops in the delivery path — as the top-tier configuration of the Epic Shreds line.
Source Validator — The World #3 Epics DAO Validator
The Epics DAO Validator, which serves as the source for Epic Shreds Direct, has reached world rank #3 overall (score 99.93) in the Shinobi Performance Pool among all Solana validators. This is the world #3 position among all validators, including supermajority-class large-stake validators.
Solana Shredstream speed is directly tied to the performance of the source validator. Validators with shorter vote latency and lower skip rates can keep up with the latest block progression more quickly, processing and distributing Shreds faster and more accurately. Epic Shreds Direct delivers the Shred output of this world #3 validator without a forwarding hop in between.
In measurements taken in the same environment, the standard Epic Shreds has recorded a 95.82% win rate against conventional Solana Shredstream, with a P99 latency advantage of approximately 234ms. Epic Shreds Direct adds physical-location optimization and hop reduction on top of this baseline as the top-tier configuration.
Why Frankfurt, and Why Limited to 20 Connections
Epic Shreds Direct is available in Frankfurt, limited to 20 connections.
Frankfurt is the location of the Epics DAO Validator, and it is also an important European hub for Solana-related infrastructure. Epic Shreds Direct delivers UDP packets directly to customer servers placed on the shortest possible path to the validator's NIC, inside the same Frankfurt datacenter.
The 20-connection limit is a structural consequence of the "direct UDP delivery" design. Because Shreds are sent as direct UDP unicast from the validator to each customer's IP:port — without a forwarder acting as a distribution layer — the validator's NIC throughput, output destination table, and adjacent rack space all act as simultaneous capacity constraints. A forwarder-based design can fan out to many customers, but a forwarder-free design caps the available number of slots at what the source validator can physically sustain.
Securing one of these 20 connections is, structurally, securing one of the closest positions possible to the fastest tier of Solana Shred reception. With only 20 connections available, please consider reserving early.
UDP Destination Whitelist — Delivered Pinpoint to a Single Endpoint
The endpoint specification of Epic Shreds Direct is simple.
- Direct UDP Shreds from a top-tier validator
- 1 UDP Destination Whitelist (IP:port)
- Shreds by Epics DAO Validator (world #3)
- Frankfurt placement, shortest-path delivery
- Powered by DoubleZero
- Zero-distance communication with the ERPC platform
Customers register one server IP:port, and Shreds are delivered directly over UDP from the Epics DAO Validator to that destination. Because no forwarder is involved, delivery is pinpoint to a single endpoint. The standard pattern is to fan out received packets to strategy computation, internal distribution, and multi-process pipelines inside the customer's own server.
DoubleZero Dedicated Fiber Network Integration
Epic Shreds Direct also benefits from route optimization via DoubleZero's dedicated fiber network. DoubleZero is a dedicated fiber network purpose-built for blockchain validator communication. By using independent, high-performance fiber links that bypass the public internet, it suppresses latency and jitter.
ERPC has integrated DoubleZero across all regions of its infrastructure, and the communication route of the Epics DAO Validator that serves as the source of Epic Shreds Direct benefits from this dedicated fiber routing as well.
DoubleZero: https://doublezero.xyz/
Zero-Distance Communication with the ERPC Platform
Epic Shreds Direct customer servers can be connected to the private network of the ERPC platform. Communication with all platform services — Solana RPC, Solana Geyser gRPC, bare metal servers, high-performance VPS, ERPC Global Storage — completes through internal routes without traversing the public internet.
The ability to integrate Shreds received via Epic Shreds Direct with self-operated Solana RPC nodes and application servers inside the same platform at zero distance significantly expands strategic flexibility. The entire flow — from Shred reception, through application logic execution, to transaction submission — can be completed inside the Frankfurt datacenter's internal routes.
ERPC Official Site: https://erpc.global/en/
Use Cases — Workloads Where Sub-Millisecond Advantages Determine Outcomes
Epic Shreds Direct is designed for workloads where sub-millisecond, microsecond-level advantages determine outcomes.
High-Frequency Trading (HFT) — A use case where millisecond-level and microsecond-level arrival speed advantages directly translate into results. Shreds received via Epic Shreds Direct can be fed immediately into local strategy computation, then connected at zero distance to a self-operated Solana RPC node or transaction submission infrastructure within the same platform — the entire flow completing inside the Frankfurt datacenter's internal routes. Removing the forwarding hop has an especially strong effect on HFT workloads that compound microsecond-level advantages.
Market Making — A use case requiring immediate reflection of price updates and high-speed order submission. Combining the fastest block data reception via Solana Shredstream with low-latency order submission through zero-distance communication improves responsiveness to price movements.
Arbitrage — A use case where shorter time from price discrepancy detection to trade execution captures more opportunities. Epic Shreds Direct's high-speed state recognition pairs naturally with high-speed trade execution via zero-distance communication inside the same platform.
Real-Time On-Chain Data Analytics — Use cases such as price feeds, liquidation monitoring, and liquidity tracking, where the latest state of the Solana network must be captured as quickly as possible. Low-jitter delivery via direct UDP also contributes to the stability of real-time detection.
Hourly Billing Expands Strategic Options — From Evaluation to Spot Use at Critical Moments
ERPC has been rolling out hourly billing across its plans, including Epic Shreds Direct. As a result, Solana real-time streams are no longer confined to a single "hold continuously via a monthly contract" option — teams now have meaningfully broader strategic choices that adapt to actual use cases.
Pre-contract evaluation is the most basic use of hourly billing. Customers can try Epic Shreds Direct starting from €7.29 per hour, measure first-arrival rate, P50, P95, and P99 in their own environment, and then decide whether to move forward with a monthly or annual plan.
But hourly billing is not limited to evaluation. For moments when teams need the top-tier configuration only at a specific critical window — major market events, large releases, notable token launches, or targeted campaign periods — hourly billing enables on-demand reservation by the hour. Rather than maintaining the top-tier configuration permanently under a monthly contract, customers can now secure it on a spot basis precisely when it matters most.
Epic Shreds Direct sits at the leading edge of these expanded strategic options. From evaluation to full operation, and from there to spot use at critical moments, customers can choose the right pattern for their use case.
SLV — Combined with the Open-Source AI Agent Kit
The environment for utilizing Solana Shreds received via Epic Shreds Direct can be built through natural-language conversation with an AI agent, by combining it with the open-source Solana AI Agent Kit "SLV."
SLV is an open-source tool that allows the deployment and operation of Solana validators, Solana RPC nodes, Solana Geyser gRPC, Solana Shredstream, DoubleZero, and other components to be completed through dialogue with an AI agent. Connection setup for Epic Shreds Direct endpoints and the construction of related application environments can also be handled via the SLV AI agent.
Five Consecutive Years of WBSO Approval — AS200261 Solana-Dedicated Datacenter
ELSOUL LABO has received approval under the Dutch government's R&D support program WBSO for five consecutive years since 2022. Continuous research and development on ultra-low-latency Solana RPC infrastructure, validator placement and operation orchestration, and Solana Shredstream delivery infrastructure is directly reflected across the entire platform, including Epic Shreds Direct.
As the culmination of this research and development, ELSOUL LABO is preparing to open a Solana-dedicated datacenter using its own ASN (AS200261), assigned by RIPE NCC. The hardware is unified around the latest generation of AMD EPYC 5th Gen, AMD Threadripper PRO 5th Gen (such as the 9975WX), and NVMe Gen 5, combined with optimal network routing design through the company's own ASN. This datacenter will serve as the foundation for further performance improvements across the entire platform, including Epic Shreds Direct.
Contact
For inquiries regarding Epic Shreds Direct purchase, configuration consultation, hourly trial from one hour, or benchmarking, please create a support ticket on the Validators DAO official Discord. With only 20 connections available, we recommend reaching out early.
ERPC Pricing: https://erpc.global/en/price/
ERPC Shreds: https://erpc.global/en/shreds/
Validators DAO Official Discord: https://discord.gg/C7ZQSrCkYR
ERPC Shreds: https://erpc.global/en/shreds/
Validators DAO Official Discord: https://discord.gg/C7ZQSrCkYR
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