Protocol MEV capture in Ethereum

Determine a protocol-level mechanism within Ethereum that captures Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) from block construction so that the proceeds can be redistributed to mitigate user losses, thereby addressing the long-standing challenge of protocol MEV capture.

Background

The paper studies Execution Tickets (ETs) as a mechanism to sell execution payload proposal rights, enabling the protocol to potentially capture MEV rather than leaving it to proposers or builders. The authors provide an equilibrium analysis of ETs, examining conditions under which MEV can be captured and the implications for decentralization.

They contrast ETs with Proposer-Builder Separation (PBS) and Attester Proposer Separation (APS), explaining that effective protocol-level MEV capture seeks to mitigate user losses caused by MEV extraction and address centralization pressures in the validator and builder markets.