All terms
Value extracted by reordering, inserting or censoring transactions in a block.
Maximal extractable value is the profit a block producer can make by choosing what goes into a block and in what order. Some of it is benign arbitrage that keeps prices aligned across venues.
Some of it is not. Sandwich attacks on retail swaps are the form most people encounter, and they are a real cost.
Using a private transaction relay or an aggregator with protection removes most sandwich risk on Ethereum.
That MEV is a bug someone will fix. It is a consequence of publishing transactions before they execute, so it exists on every public chain, and much of it is legal, industrial and openly competed for. Reducing your exposure is realistic; abolishing it is not.
Common questions
Does MEV affect me if I am not trading much?
Can I avoid MEV?
Where to go next
More security terms
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Some of these land faster in conversation than in writing. Sessions are one to one and you can ask anything, including the things that feel too obvious to ask.