Flashbots

Flashbots is a research and development organization dedicated to addressing the challenges posed by Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) on stateful blockchains, starting with Ethereum. MEV refers to the profit that block producers can extract by arbitrarily including, excluding, or reordering transactions within blocks. This phenomenon can lead to centralization pressures, increased transaction fees, and degraded user experience. Flashbots aims to create a permissionless, transparent, and sustainable MEV ecosystem by illuminating MEV activity, democratizing access to MEV opportunities, and distributing MEV revenue equitably.

The organization operates through two main engines: Flashbots Product and Flashbots Research. Flashbots Product develops core infrastructure and tooling that redefine block production, including MEV-Boost, BuilderNet, Rollup-Boost, Protect RPC, and MEV-Share. MEV-Boost enables Ethereum validators to access a competitive block-building marketplace through out-of-protocol proposer-builder separation (PBS), fostering decentralization and censorship resistance. BuilderNet is a decentralized block-building network that runs on trusted execution environments (TEEs) and shares MEV with the community. Rollup-Boost extends these capabilities to Ethereum rollups, improving performance and transparency. Protect RPC offers users a secure way to transact on Ethereum, protecting against frontrunning and providing gas fee refunds. MEV-Share allows users and applications to internalize MEV generated by their transactions.

Flashbots Research focuses on exploring MEV market dynamics and blockchain design challenges at the intersection of economics, security, and cryptography. It operates an open collaborative research process modeled after Ethereum Improvement Proposals, enabling community contributions and funding through MEV Fellowship Grants. Flashbots also fosters ecosystem transparency by publishing research, maintaining a public problem database, and encouraging open-source development.

Developers and validators can get started by integrating MEV-Boost with their Ethereum clients, using Protect RPC to safeguard transactions, or participating in BuilderNet for block building. Comprehensive documentation, open-source repositories, and an active community forum support onboarding and collaboration. Flashbots continues to innovate with projects like SUAVE, an encrypted mempool designed to decentralize block building and reduce centralization risks.