MEV Spaces

Everything you want to know about MEV and beyond.

MEV Space brings together the sharpest minds in crypto to dissect the evolving MEV landscape and beyond. eigenphi.substack.com

Episodes

  1. MEV Space #11: How the Data Builders Define Reality

    SEP 11

    MEV Space #11: How the Data Builders Define Reality

    MEV Space brings together the sharpest minds in crypto to dissect the evolving MEV landscape and beyond. This is the 2nd part of the Data on Ethereum series. In MEV Space #10, we asked: who owns Ethereum’s most valuable data? We heard about: * Data asymmetries in private orderflow. * The interpretation layer is a scarce good. * Blind spots in real-time observability. * Protocol limits around censorship resistance & validator-builder balance. * And a shared concern: without better access, better modeling, and better accountability—we’re flying half-blind. In this episode, we asked questions, including: * What are the hard-to-measure, high-impact data streams in your day-to-day work? * A story of when better data would have changed your call—investment thesis, governance vote, builder strategy. * How do metrics, dashboards, and labels become gatekeepers? Are we overfitting to what’s legible rather than what’s meaningful? * How do flawed data assumptions create real governance problems? What role should researchers and analysts play in upstreaming better metrics into DAO and protocol governance? * What’s a widely used dashboard, metric, or “insight” you think is misleading—and what should we look at instead? * What norms or infrastructure do we need to establish to maintain data credibility and prevent manipulation? You will hear insights from these experts: * Danning Sui — Research Director, Pantera Capital. Previously data at Flashbots/0x/ConsenSys. * Ludwig Thouvenin — Co-founder & CEO, Sorella Labs; building Ångstrom DEX. * Jake Koch-Gallup — Research Analyst, Messari (Protocol Research; author on recent Messari reports). * hildobby (Hildebert Moulié) — Head of Data Science, Dragonfly; longtime Dune “wizard.” * Benjamin Hunter — VP of Engineering, BTCS. You can subscribe to MEV Spaces via Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Pocket Casts. Wonder if you have any misconceptions about MEV? Download our latest free e-book: MEV Myth Busters - From Microstructures to Macro Impacts. Follow us via these to dig more into the hidden wisdom of DeFi: EigenTx | Website | Discord | Twitter | YouTube | Substack | Medium | Telegram This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit eigenphi.substack.com

    57 min
  2. MEV Space #9: Rubber Stamps, Latency Arms Races, and the TEE Mirage

    AUG 7

    MEV Space #9: Rubber Stamps, Latency Arms Races, and the TEE Mirage

    Enshrined PBS may simply rubber-stamp today’s power structure—high-perf relays will still run the show. ——-Murat Akdeniz, Founder of Primev Slashing shouldn’t burn to oblivion—redistribute penalties to users who bought the pre-conf guarantee. ——-Amir Forouzani, Contributor of Puffer.finance Cutting slot times just fuels a latency arms race—infra centralization and empty-slot risk could spike. ——- Kevin Lepsoe, Founder of ETHGas Enshrined PBS is complexity theatre—the real prize is delayed execution; let’s not mix priorities. ——-Kubi Mensah, Co-founder of Gattcha TEEs are a poor-man’s cryptography; settle for them now and we’ll regret not pushing ZK harder. ——-Drew Van der Werff, Shepherd of Commit Boost These are the hot takes from the guest speakers of the 9th MEV Space: Where Are We on Preconf, Rollups & Shared Sequencing? Click the “Play” button to hear the full recording. We discussed topics as: * Can preconfs deliver UX without trust? * Will based rollups align incentives across L1 and L2? * Does ePBS enable neutrality—or just shift capture? * Can shared sequencing coordinate without centralization? You can subscribe to MEV Spaces via Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Pocket Casts. Wonder if you have any misconceptions about MEV? Download our latest free e-book: MEV Myth Busters - From Microstructures to Macro Impacts. Follow us via these to dig more hidden wisdom of DeFi: EigenTx | Website | Discord | Twitter | YouTube | Substack | Medium | Telegram This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit eigenphi.substack.com

    1h 8m
  3. MEV Space #3: TEEs in Blockchains - Trust, Decentralization & Market Design

    MAY 28

    MEV Space #3: TEEs in Blockchains - Trust, Decentralization & Market Design

    Are TEEs the secret weapon for squashing MEV chaos and building truly decentralized blockchains? Or are we just swapping one central point of failure for another by trusting hardware giants like Intel? During this talk, we have these thought leaders: * Shea Ketsdever, Product Lead at Flashbots. * Chua Zheng Leong, Co-Founder at Automata Network Blair Marshall, MEV Solution Architect of Fastlane, will be our co-host again. Here are the topics we will discuss. * Given the inherent trust in hardware manufacturers when using TEEs, can we truly consider MEV auctions run within TEEs to be "trustless" and sufficiently decentralized? * What security considerations and safeguards can enhance TEE-based MEV auction implementations? * Considering the argument that TEEs are a good short-term solution for achieving both performance and decentralization in areas like MEV auctions and block building, how long will this "short term" last, and how might TEE technology evolve alongside competing solutions like MPC or FHE in MEV auction design? * How can TEE-based partial block building complement other approaches like deterministic algorithms and advanced cryptography? * What design principles can optimize TEE integration in partial block building for security and decentralization? * Suppose TEE technology becomes dominant among validators and block builders, exceeding 51% adoption, and regulators respond with compliance requirements demanding greater data transparency. How can we reconcile the inherent privacy features of TEEs with the need for regulatory oversight? We examine the role of TEEs in revolutionizing MEV auctions and enabling decentralized block building while exploring potential vulnerabilities and long-term viability. Get ready for a thought-provoking discussion on the future of blockchain technology and the delicate balance between trust, decentralization, and regulation. Check out our last MEV Myth Buster series. Click this link or open https://bit.ly/hfdefi to download the free ebook Head First DeFi, Decoding the DNA of Crypto Transactions & Strategies. Follow us via these to dig more hidden wisdom of DeFi: EigenTx | Website | Discord | Twitter | YouTube | Substack | Medium | Telegram This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit eigenphi.substack.com

    1h 4m

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MEV Space brings together the sharpest minds in crypto to dissect the evolving MEV landscape and beyond. eigenphi.substack.com