# The MEV Letter #121

**URL:** https://collective.flashbots.net/t/the-mev-letter-121/5477
**Category:** The Flashbots Ship
**Tags:** the-mev-letter
**Created:** [January 13, 2026, 11:02pm UTC](https://collective.flashbots.net/t/the-mev-letter-121/5477 "2026-01-13T23:02:49Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Fred](https://collective.flashbots.net/user_avatar/collective.flashbots.net/fred/32/1288_2.png) [@Fred](https://collective.flashbots.net/u/Fred)
#### Post date: [January 13, 2026, 11:02pm UTC](https://collective.flashbots.net/t/the-mev-letter-121/5477/1 "2026-01-13T23:02:49Z")

</div>

_ **The MEV Letter** _ is a weekly collection of papers, articles and resources related to MEV. The intention of this letter is to provide a comprehensive summary of the latest research, discussions, and developments in the space, with links for further reading.  
-[_Explore all previous editions via The MEV Letter explorer_](https://collective.flashbots.net/t/explorer/100).

* * *

# Papers & Articles

- [Leveraging Blockchain in a New Era of Antitrust](https://stanford-jblp.pubpub.org/pub/blockchain-antitrust) @ryager, [Samuel Vance-Law](https://www.samvancelaw.com/), @fiiiu, and [Connor Spelliscy](https://www.connorspelliscy.com/) detail how blockchain and confidential computing offer structural advantages to promote competitive, transparent and fair markets, using [Intercontinental Exchange’s vertical integration](https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/08/ftc-secures-settlement-ice-black-knight-resolving-antitrust-concerns-mortgage-technology-deal) and [DoJ v. Google ad-auction](https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-google-monopolizing-digital-advertising-technologies) as case studies.
  - [Forum post](https://collective.flashbots.net/t/confidential-computing-as-an-antitrust-remedy/5468) by @ryager
  - [Thread](https://x.com/0xYager/status/2009255836099481818) by @ryager

- [Recursive-STARK-based bandwidth-efficient mempool](https://ethresear.ch/t/recursive-stark-based-bandwidth-efficient-mempool/23838) by [Vitalik Buterin](https://vitalik.eth.limo/) outlines a bandwidth-constant scheme using recursive STARKs to aggregate and propagate object validity across mempool nodes and builders in post-quantum Ethereum.
- [Solving Ethereum’s Fragmentation Problem With Sync Composability](https://ethresear.ch/t/solving-ethereum-s-fragmentation-problem-with-sync-composability/23814) by [Alon Muroch](https://x.com/ammuroch) presents _Ethereum Single Execution Environment_ (eSEE) as a synchronous composability solution for Ethereum’s rollup ecosystem.
  - [Post](https://x.com/ammuroch/status/2009296308574597419) by[Alon Muroch](https://x.com/ammuroch)

- [Our Roadmap for 2026](https://ethpandaops.io/posts/ethpandaops-in-2026/) by [Andrew Davis](https://x.com/savid), [Sam Calder-Mason](https://x.com/samcmau), [Matty Evans](https://x.com/mattevansnz), [pk910](https://x.com/_pk910_), [Rafael Matias](https://x.com/skylenet), [Stefan](https://github.com/qu0b), [Barnabas Busa](https://x.com/BarnabasBusa), and [parithosh](https://x.com/parithosh_j) outlines the role of [ethPandaOps](https://ethpandaops.io/) in coordinating forks, building tooling and data pipelines, and details the initiatives that will define their work in 2026.
  - [Post](https://x.com/ethPandaOps/status/2009662179536945273?s=20) by [ethPandaOps](https://ethpandaops.io/)
  - [Post](https://x.com/mattevansnz/status/2009826818384330759) by [Matty Evans](https://x.com/mattevansnz)

- [From Block Position to AI-Driven DeFi: Lessons from the IC3 Research Retreat](https://gogol.substack.com/p/from-block-position-to-ai-driven) by [Krzysztof Gogol](https://x.com/krzysgogol) reflects on insights from the [IC3 Winter Retreat 2026](https://www.initc3.org/events/2026-01-05-ic3-winter-retreat-2026) related to MEV, emerging DeFi trends, AI-driven coordination, and more.

# Posts & Threads

- @ryager published a [thread](https://x.com/0xYager/status/2011061835714248890) highlighting 5 proposed rules in the [Senate Banking market structure draft](https://www.banking.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/market_structure_draft.pdf) and evaluates their potential regulatory implications on DeFi.
- [Vitalik Buterin](https://vitalik.eth.limo/) published a[post](https://x.com/VitalikButerin/status/2009158272943599877) arguing that increasing bandwidth through[PeerDAS](https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-7594) and[ZKPs](https://ethproofs.org/) is a safer and more scalable approach than reducing L1 latency, and emphasizes L2s for low-latency use cases.
- [Vitalik Buterin](https://vitalik.eth.limo/) published a [post](https://x.com/vitalikbuterin/status/2010621884811845708) describing how Ethereum must eventually meet the “walkaway test” and operate indefinitely without requiring further protocol upgrades or ongoing maintenance.
- [Bartek Kiepuszewski](https://x.com/bkiepuszewski) published a [thread](https://x.com/bkiepuszewski/status/2010723730763493471?s=20) exploring the design of [Ethereum Interoperability Layer](https://ethresear.ch/t/eil-trust-minimized-cross-l2-interop/23437) (EIL) as a trust-minimized protocol for cross-chain transactions without intermediaries.
- [Toni Wahrstätter](https://toniwahrstaetter.com/) published a [post](https://x.com/nero_eth/status/2010712379055612132) highlighting the decline in median block rewards from a few hundred dollars in 2024, to a few tens of dollars today.

# Talks & Discussions

- [Recordings](https://www.youtube.com/@ColumbiaSEAS/videos) from [Columbia CryptoEconomics (CCE) Workshop 2025](https://columbiacryptoeconomics.org/) hosted by [Columbia-Ethereum Research Center on Blockchain Protocol Design](https://www.engineering.columbia.edu/research-innovation/institutes-centers-initiatives/computational-sciences-ai/blockchain-protocol-design), and [Briger Family Digital Finance Lab at Columbia Business School](https://business.columbia.edu/ai-in-business/labs/briger-family-digital-finance-lab) has been uploaded:
  - [Day 1](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpktWkixc1gUhw3tMJNvXrkZDf3MYERlQ&si=lLN3toA8oGRnfK7d):
    - [Ethereum Validator Economics in the Age of Real Time Proving](https://youtu.be/HVDsLJmLfhw?si=1DeCpu9icA06u16x) by [Kshitij Kulkarni](https://www.kskulk.com/)
    - [Adversarial procurement for prover market design](https://youtu.be/HVDsLJmLfhw?si=G7bGlBSfefuCPfy8&t=1915) by [Mike Neuder](https://michaelneuder.github.io/)
    - [On the Welfare of EIP-1559 with Patient Bidders](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvYqTX0qTK4) by [Noam Nisan](https://x.com/noamnisan)
    - [Minimmit: Fast Finality with Even Faster Blocks](http://youtube.com/watch?v=AvYqTX0qTK4&t=2610s) by [Andy Lewis-Pye  
 ](https://lewis-pye.com/)
    - [The “Micro” implications of PBS: evidence from non-winning Ethereum blocks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RB03vWjXPA) by [Andrea Canidio](https://andreacanidio.com/)
    - [TimeBoost: Do Ahead-of-Time Auctions Work?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RB03vWjXPA&t=744s) by[Akaki Mamageishvili](https://mamageishvili.info/)
    - [Perils of Parallelism: Transaction Fee Mechanisms under Execution Uncertainty](https://youtu.be/4RB03vWjXPA?si=DpR6r13esnNV4kHX&t=1413) by[Sarisht Wadhwa](https://sarisht.github.io/)
    - [Censorship-resistant sealed-bid auctions on blockchains](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RB03vWjXPA&t=1919s) by [Orestis Alpos](https://orestisalpos.github.io/)
    - [Resource Constraints](https://youtu.be/4RB03vWjXPA?si=35sOzpKnwMXg_Hwm&t=2667) by Kyriaki Zioga
    - [The Evolution of Onchain Derivatives](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RB03vWjXPA&t=3090s) by [Cole Kennelly](https://x.com/ColeGotTweets)
    - [Optimistic MEV in Ethereum Layer 2s: Why Blockspace Is Always in Demand](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZAJ09qekiE) by [Lioba Heimbach](https://liobaheimba.ch/)
    - [The Darkest Part of the MEV Dark Forest](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZAJ09qekiE&t=1548s) by [Mallesh Pai](https://x.com/malleshpai)

  - [Day 2](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpktWkixc1gUhw3tMJNvXrkZDf3MYERlQ&si=lLN3toA8oGRnfK7d):
    - [EIP-1559: A Five-Year Retrospective](https://youtu.be/fLDa92EX7oM?si=WlVFZKDC4egNc_dx&t=55) by [Tim Roughgarden](https://timroughgarden.org/)
    - [Economic Censorship Games in Fraud Proofs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLDa92EX7oM&t=2301s) by [Ben Berger](https://sites.google.com/view/ben-berger/home)
    - [EVM Gas Metering - How to Manage Resources on Ethereum](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_rQ-S8sK0o) by [Maria Inês Silva](https://x.com/misilva73)
    - [Consensus Under Adversary Majority](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_rQ-S8sK0o&t=1880s) by [Srivatsan Sridhar](https://ssrivatsan97.github.io/)
    - [Bribers, Bribers on The Chain, Is Resisting All in Vain?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqrPndv7nzQ&t=65s) by [Kamilla Kara](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kamilla-kara-30a670284/)
    - [TEE^BFT : Pricing the Security of Proof of Cloud](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqrPndv7nzQ&t=872s) by [Alexander Shamis](https://alex.shamis.au/)
    - [Bitcoin & Quantum Computing](https://youtu.be/jqrPndv7nzQ?si=fCRJpIvZnbChzj2b&t=1578) by [Clara Shikhelman](https://clarashk.github.io/)
    - [The Implied Impermanent Loss in Decentralized Liquidity Provision](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqrPndv7nzQ&t=2714s) by [Thomas Li](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=2480965)
    - [LifeXP+ - Usable, secure and available key recovery for blockchain applications](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqrPndv7nzQ&t=3644s) by [Panagiotis Chatzigiannis](https://x.com/panoschtz)
    - [Panel: Tokenisation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pGPtD078a0A) with[Austin Campbell](https://x.com/CampbellJAustin),[Mallesh Pai](https://x.com/malleshpai),[Joshua Rudolf](https://x.com/rudolf6_) and [David Hoffman](https://x.com/TrustlessState)

  - [Day 3](https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpktWkixc1gV2XBsGsuqa3S-m7WRfRPBH&si=fbd1xqjLBySvbQKy):
    - [ePBS & Free Option](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVDsLJmLfhw) by @Christoph
    - [Interop and Ethereum’s UX](https://youtu.be/VgzxvplSHdo?si=Ls9gggsM6Z1XC8k2&t=2512) by [Barnabé Monnot](https://barnabemonnot.com/)
    - [L1 Scaling](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpp4860Km_o) by [Ansgar Dietrichs](https://twitter.com/adietrichs)
    - [EIP-7928: Block-Level Access Lists](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpp4860Km_o&t=1140s) by [Toni Wahrstätter](https://toniwahrstaetter.com/)
    - [Fast finality](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpp4860Km_o&t=2941s) by [Francesco D’Amato](https://twitter.com/fradamt)

- [All Core Devs - Consensus (ACDC) #172](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JQ7OorDgCE) hosted by [Alex Stokes](https://stokes.io/) discussed the recent BPO2 upgrade on mainnet, Glamsterdam testing, and the EIP headliners process for Heze.
  - [Agenda](https://github.com/ethereum/pm/issues/1844) by [nixo.eth](https://x.com/nixorokish/)
  - [Notes](https://etherworld.co/highlights-from-the-all-core-developers-execution-acdc-call-172/) by [Yash Kamal Chaturvedi](https://x.com/YashKamalChatu1)

- [All Core Devs - Testing (ACDT) #65](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b70x8N8xG2A) hosted by [Mario Vega](https://x.com/elbuenmayini) covered preparations for BPO3, devnets for [BALs](https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-7928) and [ePBS](https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-7732), gas limit increases, and more.
  - [Agenda](https://github.com/ethereum/pm/issues/1865) by [Mario Vega](https://x.com/elbuenmayini)
  - [Thread](https://x.com/poojaranjan19/status/2010736991550206171) by [Pooja Ranjan](https://x.com/poojaranjan19)

- [FOCIL Breakout #26](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Go7H43hjx-k) hosted by [Jihoon Song](https://x.com/jih2nn) covered [FOCIL](https://eips.ethereum.org/EIPS/eip-7805) testing and implementation updates.
  - [Agenda](https://github.com/ethereum/pm/issues/1848) by [Jihoon Song](https://x.com/jih2nn)

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