Research Scientist, Robust Incentives Group, Ethereum Foundation
Why we should not do APS for now
APS was introduced in December 2023 as a proposed solution to the additional profits sophisticated beacon proposers can gain by playing timing games. Timing games allow beacon proposers that are well-connected with attesters to wait longer and capture more MEV. APS aims to remove all execution layer incentives from validators which also reduces the payoff variance validators have today since validators would no longer receive MEV which has high variance. These goals are desirable because they...
Why we should not do APS for now
APS was introduced in December 2023 as a proposed solution to the additional profits sophisticated beacon proposers can gain by playing timing games. Timing games allow beacon proposers that are well-connected with attesters to wait longer and capture more MEV. APS aims to remove all execution layer incentives from validators which also reduces the payoff variance validators have today since validators would no longer receive MEV which has high variance. These goals are desirable because they...
Proofs of Invalidity
Thanks to Kev and Ignacio for discussion on this note. In the case that Ethereum decides that the builder of a block is responsible for the proof of the previous block, it is necessary to be able to proof a block is invalid. Proofs of Invalidity are not necessary in the Prover Killers Killer design. In this note we discuss when proofs of invalidity are necessary. Suppose the builder of block N is responsible for the proof of block N-1. However, block N-1 may be invalid. The first problem is t...
Proofs of Invalidity
Thanks to Kev and Ignacio for discussion on this note. In the case that Ethereum decides that the builder of a block is responsible for the proof of the previous block, it is necessary to be able to proof a block is invalid. Proofs of Invalidity are not necessary in the Prover Killers Killer design. In this note we discuss when proofs of invalidity are necessary. Suppose the builder of block N is responsible for the proof of block N-1. However, block N-1 may be invalid. The first problem is t...
IncluderSelect: Leveraging External Incentives in FOCIL
Thanks to Sarisht Wadhwa, Aikaterini-Panagiota Stouka, and Anders Elowsson for feedback on the post. Thanks to Thomas Thiery, Barnabé Monnot, and Caspar Schwarz-Schilling for discussions on the idea. FOCIL is an inclusion list design proposed to be included in Ethereum via EIP-7805. The EIP does not include a reward mechanism for inclusion list committee members, or includers, since the additional complexity is currently not warranted. However, such a reward mechanism would contribute to the ...
IncluderSelect: Leveraging External Incentives in FOCIL
Thanks to Sarisht Wadhwa, Aikaterini-Panagiota Stouka, and Anders Elowsson for feedback on the post. Thanks to Thomas Thiery, Barnabé Monnot, and Caspar Schwarz-Schilling for discussions on the idea. FOCIL is an inclusion list design proposed to be included in Ethereum via EIP-7805. The EIP does not include a reward mechanism for inclusion list committee members, or includers, since the additional complexity is currently not warranted. However, such a reward mechanism would contribute to the ...
Introduction to MEV Mitigation
Thanks to Caspar Schwarz-Schilling, Barnabé Monnot, Fahad Saleh, Thomas Thiery, and Davide Crapis for the discussions and feedback that led to this post. Thanks to the Shutter team and Luis Bezzenberger, in particular, for helpful conversations around encrypted mempools. Thanks to the organizers and participants of the CBER CtCe Conference, where I presented a version of what was to become this post. The banner image depicts the division of labor between highly sophisticated financial builder...
Introduction to MEV Mitigation
Thanks to Caspar Schwarz-Schilling, Barnabé Monnot, Fahad Saleh, Thomas Thiery, and Davide Crapis for the discussions and feedback that led to this post. Thanks to the Shutter team and Luis Bezzenberger, in particular, for helpful conversations around encrypted mempools. Thanks to the organizers and participants of the CBER CtCe Conference, where I presented a version of what was to become this post. The banner image depicts the division of labor between highly sophisticated financial builder...
Uncrowdability of FOCIL
This post was inspired by discussions with Thomas Thiery, Barnabé Monnot, Francesco D’Amato, and Maneesha Papireddygari. Inclusion lists (ILs) are a design philosophy that allows validators to provide input in block construction even when most validators outsource execution payload construction to a centralized set of builders. Validators outsource execution payload construction rights for three main reasons:Construction of valuable execution payloads requires sophistication. It is computatio...
Uncrowdability of FOCIL
This post was inspired by discussions with Thomas Thiery, Barnabé Monnot, Francesco D’Amato, and Maneesha Papireddygari. Inclusion lists (ILs) are a design philosophy that allows validators to provide input in block construction even when most validators outsource execution payload construction to a centralized set of builders. Validators outsource execution payload construction rights for three main reasons:Construction of valuable execution payloads requires sophistication. It is computatio...
