Is There a Risk of Decentralized Block Building?

In this episode, Ria is joined by Robert Miller, Steward at Flashbots, which is a research and development organization with the aim to reduce the negative externalities and risks posed by MEV, or maximal extractable value.

We cover:

• The MEV supply chain and how it’s evolved as Ethereum transitioned from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake
• The new challenges and risk vectors that have emerged as a result of the transition, notably around decentralization and censorship resistance
• The tools Flashbots has proposed and implemented in response, such as Flashbots Auction, MEV Geth, MEV Boost, and the open sourcing of these tools to foster a competitive market
• The risk posed by exclusive order flow and cross domain MEV in centralizing block building
• The latest endeavor of the organization to decentralize block building using a new network - SUAVE (the single unifying auction for value expression)

Research mentioned: 

• Order flow, auctions and centralisation - Quintus 
• Flashbots – The Good, Bad and the Ugly of MEV