A single Maximal Extractable Value (MEV)-boost relay block on the Ethereum Beacon Chain has resulted in one of the largest cashouts seen in a while. According to reports, an Ethereum validator has cashed in 689 Ether, valued at $1.28 million, from this block.
Lido, an Ethereum liquid staking solution, received the reward from block number 17007842 on the Beacon Chain. This block, containing 47 transactions, was built by beaverbuild.org, according to transaction data. The almost matching 691 Ether reward received by Lido on March 20 is now overshadowed by this significant cash-in.
However, this huge figure has raised some concerns in the Ethereum community. Martin Köppelmann, the co-founder and CEO of Ethereum-based infrastructure platform Gnosis, has suggested using a service like MEVBlocker to prevent transaction exploitation.
MEVBlocker supposedly aims to block MEV extraction by preventing transactions from being included in MEV blocks. MEV bots have extracted over $1.38 billion from Ethereum users attempting to trade, provide liquidity, and mint nonfungible tokens (NFTs), according to MEVBlocker.
MEV-boost relays, which are centralized, extract value by aggregating blocks from multiple builders to select the one with the highest fees. One of the most common MEV exploits is the “sandwich” attack, where an attacker places a large trade on either side of a target’s transaction, manipulating the price and profiting from the price change.
In related news, the Ethereum community is eagerly anticipating the upcoming Shanghai upgrade, which is set to take place on April 12, 2023. This will be the protocol’s first major upgrade since ‘The Merge.’
The upgrade, also known as the Shapella or Shanghai-Capella upgrade, will allow validators to withdraw staked Ether (ETH) from the Beacon chain. Additionally, the upgrade aims to reduce gas fees (transaction fees) during periods of high activity, which will be beneficial to Ethereum developers.
