mev-boost
allows validators in Ethereum proof-of-stake to request blocks from a network of builders.
This project is part of the Flashbots research towards proposer/builder separation for Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) mitigation. mev-boost
can connect to relays that aggregate multiple builders. The builders prepare full blocks, optimizing for MEV extraction and fair distribution of the rewards. The Consensus Layer client of the validator proposes the most profitable block received from mev-boost
.
See also:
- Background
- Installing
- Usage
- Consensus Clients Implementation Status
- The Plan
- API
- Maintainers
- Contributing
- Security
MEV is a centralizing force on Ethereum. Unattended, the competition for MEV opportunities leads to consensus security instability and permissioned communication infrastructure between traders and block producers. This erodes neutrality, transparency, decentralization, and permissionlessness.
Flashbots is a research and development organization working on mitigating the negative externalities of MEV. Flashbots started as a builder specializing in MEV extraction in proof-of-work Ethereum to democratize access to MEV and make the most profitable blocks available to all miners. >90% of miners are outsourcing some of their block construction to Flashbots today.
mev-boost
is a new middleware in which validators can offer their blockspace to not just Flashbots but other builders as well. This opens up the market to more builders and creates competition between them, leading to more revenue and choice for validators, and better censorship-resistance for Ethereum. From our early explorations in Ethereum proof-of-stake we found that “MEV can increase validator rewards by 75.3%, or give an APR of 12.86% rather than a non-MEV APR of 7.35% from staking eth.”
In the future, proposer/builder separation will be enshrined in the Ethereum protocol itself to further harden its trust model.
Read more in Why run mev-boost? and in the Frequently Asked Questions.
Install the dependencies:
- Install Go 1.18
- Install build dependencies (in Ubuntu):
sudo apt install make gcc
Build & run:
make build
./mev-boost --help
We maintain a mev-boost Docker image at https://hub.docker.com/r/flashbots/mev-boost
- Install Docker Engine
- Pull & run the latest image:
docker pull flashbots/mev-boost:latest
docker run flashbots/mev-boost --help
First, install and run one of the supported consensus clients.
Here are general setup instructions for Kiln: https://notes.ethereum.org/@launchpad/kiln
Run mev-boost pointed at our Kiln builder+relay:
./mev-boost -kiln -relays https://0xb5246e299aeb782fbc7c91b41b3284245b1ed5206134b0028b81dfb974e5900616c67847c2354479934fc4bb75519ee1@builder-relay-kiln.flashbots.net
Run mev-boost pointed at our Ropsten builder+relay:
./mev-boost -ropsten -relays https://0xb124d80a00b80815397b4e7f1f05377ccc83aeeceb6be87963ba3649f1e6efa32ca870a88845917ec3f26a8e2aa25c77@builder-relay-ropsten.flashbots.net
Run mev-boost pointed at our Sepolia builder+relay:
./mev-boost -sepolia -relays https://0x845bd072b7cd566f02faeb0a4033ce9399e42839ced64e8b2adcfc859ed1e8e1a5a293336a49feac6d9a5edb779be53a@builder-relay-sepolia.flashbots.net
test-cli
is a utility to execute all proposer requests against mev-boost+relay. See also the test-cli readme.
Project | Status |
---|---|
Teku | Completed, ready for testing (#156) |
Lighthouse | Advanced (#160) |
Lodestar | Advanced (#157) |
Nimbus | In progress (#159) |
Prysm | In progress (#158) |
mev-boost
is the next step on our exploration towards a trustless and decentralized MEV market. It is a service developed in collaboration with the Ethereum developers and researchers.
The roadmap, expected deliveries and estimated deadlines are described in the plan. Join us in this repository while we explore the remaining open research questions with all the relevant organizations in the ecosystem.
mev-boost
implements the latest Builder Specification.
sequenceDiagram
participant consensus
participant mev_boost
participant relays
Title: Block Proposal
Note over consensus: validator starts up
consensus->>mev_boost: registerValidator
mev_boost->>relays: registerValidator
Note over consensus: wait for allocated slot
consensus->>mev_boost: getHeader
mev_boost->>relays: getHeader
relays-->>mev_boost: getHeader response
Note over mev_boost: verify response matches expected
Note over mev_boost: select best payload
mev_boost-->>consensus: getHeader response
Note over consensus: sign the header
consensus->>mev_boost: submitBlindedBlock
Note over mev_boost: identify payload source
mev_boost->>relays: submitBlindedBlock
Note over relays: validate signature
relays-->>mev_boost: submitBlindedBlock response
Note over mev_boost: verify response matches expected
mev_boost-->>consensus: submitBlindedBlock response
Flashbots is a research and development collective working on mitigating the negative externalities of decentralized economies. We contribute with the larger free software community to illuminate the dark forest.
You are welcome here <3.
- If you have a question, feedback or a bug report for this project, please open a new Issue.
- If you would like to contribute with code, check the CONTRIBUTING file for further info about the development environment.
- We just ask you to be nice. Read our code of conduct.
If you find a security vulnerability on this project or any other initiative related to Flashbots, please let us know sending an email to [email protected].
The code in this project is free software under the MIT License.
Made with ☀️ by the ⚡🤖 collective.