Ethereum MEV Activity Significantly Rises: Traders Profit Over 13 Million USD

The maximum extractable value in the Ethereum network ( MEV ) activities has recently shown a significant rise. Data shows that in the past month, traders have earned a total profit of over $13 million through MEV, with the highest daily profit even exceeding $1 million.

Since the beginning of May, Ethereum Gas fees have continued to rise, with the daily average price breaking 100 Gwei for several consecutive days. The average Gas price this month has increased by 40%, with a cumulative increase of nearly 500% this year. Meanwhile, the total fees actually paid to nodes are also continuously growing, rising nearly 30% this month, with a cumulative increase of over 450% this year.

However, the number of on-chain transactions has not shown a significant rise, but rather remains relatively stable. This indicates that the main factors driving the increase in Gas prices may come from the validating nodes, rather than the transaction demand side.

Data shows that the number of validator nodes using MEV-Boost relays is rapidly increasing. In just the last month, the number of new Flashbots MEV-Boost relay nodes has reached 66,000. Meanwhile, the number of blocks proposed by non-MEV nodes has significantly decreased, dropping by more than 50% compared to a month ago.

Currently, Flashbots, Ultra Sound, Agnostic, and Multiple Relays are the four main MEV-Boost relays, with their proposed block total accounting for more than 76%. Among them, Ultra Sound's rise is the most significant, with the number of blocks proposed increasing by over 80% in the past month.

From the trader's perspective, arbitrage, sandwich trading, and liquidation are the three main ways to obtain MEV profits. In the past month, the total number of MEV trades for these three methods reached 347,000, with a total profit of 13.01 million dollars. Among them, sandwich trading is the primary profit-generating method, accounting for over 76% of the total profit.

The highest cumulative profit obtained by a single address through sandwich trading reached 7.33 million dollars, but most addresses had profit levels ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars. In terms of individual transactions, the highest profit reached 138.7 thousand dollars, while the cost was only 725 dollars, demonstrating a significant "small investment, big return" characteristic.

Although MEV activities may incur certain losses for ordinary users and drive up Gas prices, they have also contributed a significant amount of trading volume to DEX. Throughout 2022, the trading volume contributed by MEV bots accounted for nearly 50% of DEX. This indicates that MEV has become an important component in the DeFi ecosystem that cannot be ignored.

With the increasing activity of MEV, it is necessary for ordinary users to gain a deeper understanding of the relevant mechanisms in order to make more informed trading decisions. At the same time, the industry also needs to seek a balance between the pros and cons of MEV to promote the healthy development of the DeFi ecosystem.