Why MEV Will Always Be Controversial - Ep. 482

Maximal extractable value, or MEV, is a mainstay of the Ethereum landscape. But the process of validators reaping profits from handling new blocks is not without controversy. Ethereum Foundation researcher Justin Drake and bloXroute Labs CEO Uri Klarman assess the current state of MEV. Hear them disagree about the path forward for making Ethereum fairer for all its economic actors.

Show highlights:

what MEV is and how it has evolved over time

the nuances of the newly proposed MEV Blocker and why it’s important for users

whether it’s possible to enable “back-running” while preventing front-running

how to give power back to blockchain users

what the differences and similarities are among several projects trying to solve MEV

how “MEV Burn” will be like the EIP-1559 to what Justin calls contention

whether EigenLayer can help solve MEV problems

whether wallets and DEXs could be doing something different to prevent MEV and generate more revenue

how “exclusive order flow” could be detrimental to DeFi users

what proposer-builder separation (PBS) is and whether it will change MEV distribution

why Uri doesn’t think PBS is the right step forward for Ethereum

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Guests:

Justin Drake, researcher at the Ethereum Foundation

Uri Klarman, CEO of bloXroute Labs

Links

Previous coverage of Unchained on MEV:

Why Is Ethereum Trying to Maximize Value From Users? Two Sides Debate

The Chopping Block: Why the Once-Taboo MEV Is Now a Core Part of Ethereum

MEV Blocker

CoinDesk: MEV Blocker Wants to Help You Outrun the Front-Runners

MEV Blocker

Unchained: Ethereum Builders Join Forces to Launch MEV Blocker

MEV Distribution

CoinDesk: Flashbots Proposes New Class of 'Matchmakers' to Share MEV Gains With Ethereum Users

MEV-Share: programmably private orderflow to share MEV with users - The Flashbots Ship

BackRunMe

Wallet-Boost Design Doc · blocknative discourse · Discussion #1 · GitHub

OpenMEV Mechanics and Formulas - Manifold Finance

MEV Smoothing
Committee-driven MEV smoothing - Economics
MEV Burn
Burning MEV through block proposer auctions - Economics
Proposer-Builder separation

Proposer-builder separation | ethereum.org

Vitalik Buterin’s tweet

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