🧮 #MEV101: Who mines can also manipulate.
In the world of blockchains, not everything is as neutral as it seems.
MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) is the maximum value that a validator (or miner) can extract by manipulating the order of transactions.
📌 What is MEV?
🔹 It is when validators reorganize, insert, or exclude transactions within a block
🔹 Goal: to profit more, usually at the expense of other users
🔹 Common in blockchains like Ethereum
💡 Types of MEV:
🔸 Front-running – Validator sees your transaction and inserts their own first
🔸 Back-running – Enters right after a profitable transaction
🔸 Sandwich attack – Buys before yours, sells after — you pay the price
⚠️ Why does this matter?
❌ It can distort prices on DEXs
❌ Harms ordinary traders and investors
❌ Encourages centralization and unfair competition
✅ Solutions in development:
🔸 Networks with proposer-builder separation (PBS)
🔸 Private transactions (Flashbots)
🔸 Better design of DEXs resistant to MEV
➡️ MEV shows that even in decentralized systems, the power of those who build the block can make all the difference.
