MEV arbitrageurs on Ethereum increasingly centralized — Research

Key Points

1. Maximal-extractable value (MEV) arbitrage on Ethereum is becoming more centralized, with three builders (beaverbuild, Titan, and rsync) controlling CEX-DEX searchers.

2. Arbitrageurs exploit price discrepancies between centralized (CEX) and decentralized (DEX) exchanges, often front-running smaller users.

3. Vertical integration in MEV arbitrage raises concerns about Ethereum's decentralization and increases vulnerability to centralization through exclusive agreements.

4. Ethereum's Proposer-Builder Separation (PBS) was designed to promote censorship resistance, but critics argue it contributes to MEV centralization.

5. Vitalik Buterin has suggested mitigating MEV by building alternative infrastructure and starving arbitrageurs to reduce their impact.