00:00 Intro
00:21 About Lachlan and Labrys
01:53 Agenda
03:05 The inspiration for creating mevwatch.info
07:33 The role of relays in the MEV supply chain
12:23 Why the % of OFAC-compliant blocks has been increasing
15:06 Why validators use mev-boost
17:11 Flashbots’ competitive advantage
24:50 Coin Center backs a second lawsuit against U.S. Treasury
25:30 Ways to solve this issue and why it matters
28:55 Drawing inspiration from how the social layer improved Ethereum’s client diversity
32:13 Flashbots’ unenviable position
39:25 Is the issue more pressing for Ethereum now that it uses proof of stake?
42:50 About Labrys’ services
45:48 Arguments for why this issue isn’t overly pressing
51:10 Final word
Late last week, Nick and I spoke with Lachlan Feeney, the CEO and founder of Labrys—Australia’s largest on-shore blockchain development studio. Labrys recently launched MEV Watch, a website to observe how many Ethereum blocks are including transactions that comply with OFAC sanctions.
Context: In August, the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned the Ethereum smart contracts of Tornado Cash; the first time a government department has blacklisted a piece of technology not explicitly tied to a person or entity.
Worth noting: MEV relays are not Ethereum validators. Relays are responsible for suggesting the optimal bundle of transactions for earning MEV. Unlike relays, validators build, propose and attest to blocks.
For all our new members who are fresh to crypto: This conversation is more technical than most. It contains lots of acronyms. I recommend having our list of acronyms open when listening. (If you ever hear an acronym and can’t find it on our list, let me know and I’ll add it.)
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