Chapter 11

Ethics and Market Impact

MEV sparks debate: efficient market correction or exploitative rent-seeking? There is no consensus — perspectives differ among users, researchers, and regulators.

Builder concentration means few entities construct most Ethereum blocks. OFAC-compliant relays exclude sanctioned addresses from MEV-Boost blocks — a live example of ordering power meeting policy.

Some searchers avoid sandwiching; others consider it fair game. Reputation markets and user protection defaults pressure toward less harmful extraction even as total MEV volume grows.