Stephane Gosselin & Vasiliy Shapovalov: MEV-Boost – Preparing for the Merge

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Flashbots has pioneered the work around MEV which has become one of the most important topics in crypto today. MEV-Boost is an implementation of proposer-builder separation (PBS) built by Flashbots for proof of stake Ethereum. Validators running MEV-Boost maximize their staking reward by selling their blockspace to an open market while protecting Ethereum decentralization. It is estimated that validators running MEV-Boost can increase their staking rewards by over 60%. MEV-Boost is free, open-source, and neutral software.

Lido has become the leading liquid staking solution on Ethereum with a huge amount of stake and has also taken on a key role in shaping the future of staking on Ethereum.

We were joined by Stephane Gosselin, co-founder of Flashbots, to chat about MEV and the importance of MEV-Boost, how it works and it's impact on Ethereum. Also joining the chat is Vasiliy Shapovalov, Tech Lead at Lido, to share with us the significant impact MEV-Boost will have on Lido.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Stephane and Vasily introductions
• What is MEV and why is it important?
• MEV supply chain and the centralization risks with it
• The significance of MEV for Lido
• Lido MEV policy for node operators
• The economics around MEV-Boost
• Flashbot Protect - will this still exist in MEV-Boost?
• Beyond Ethereum - what are the solution for cross-chain MEV
• The impact of L2s and rollups on MEV and MEV-Boost
• Timelines as we approach The Merge

Episode links:

• Flashbots
• Lido
• MEV-Boost in a nutshell
• Why your blockchain needs an MEV solution - Hasu
• Stephane on Twitter
• Vasily on Twitter

This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain & Felix Lutsch. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/455