🇪🇺 Interesting new ESMA report on Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) in crypto markets Some key insights: • ~$1.1B in MEV extracted on Ethereum since the Merge (Sep 2022–Jun 2024), ~0.12% of total DEX volume • MEV spikes massively during market stress — +700% in 3 days during Aug 2024 sell-off • Arbitrage MEV yields more ($20.2M/month) than sandwiching ($16.8M/month), and at lower cost • On Solana, one private mempool ran 1.55M sandwich attacks in 30 days, earning ~$13.4M • MEV-Boost is used in 85–95% of Ethereum blocks — but may increase centralization risks • Regulatory note: MEV isn’t directly addressed under MiCA, but ESMA warns it poses risks to market fairness and transparency. In the future, crypto firms may be required to report suspicious MEV-related transactions under new reporting rules (so-called STORs, or Suspicious Transaction or Order Reports). MEV is no longer niche — it’s reshaping crypto markets and drawing increasing scrutiny from top global regulators. Link to full ESMA report in comments.

ESMA report: