Ethereum Validator Attacks MEV Bots? ── Hacking $ 20 million | coindesk JAPAN | coin desk Japan

The MEV bot on the Ethereum blockchain lost about $20 million (approximately ¥2.66 billion, converted to ¥133 to the dollar) after being attacked, presumably by a validator.

MEV stands for “maximal extractable value” and is the profit that can be earned by analyzing the Ethereum blockchain’s waiting pool of transactions (mempool) to find profitable transactions, or say the method.

To put it simply, MEV is a strategy that aims to profit by taking advantage of other traders’ transactions. Initially, there were concerns about negative impacts, but there are also efforts to spread the benefits of MEV to more participants.

Related article: Zero-knowledge proofs, staking, and MEV – Ethereum technology trends that are doing well even in a bear market

This time, the attack took place within a single Ethereum block. According to OtterSec, a blockchain audit firm, the validator pushed the transaction into a block, robbing the bot of the funds it was trying to acquire by front-running.

Front-running: In conventional financial transactions, “financial instruments business operators and their officers who receive orders from customers (investors) execute their own transactions at a price that is more favorable than the customer’s order before the customer’s transaction is completed. (Source: Daiwa Securities).

In this case, it appears that the validator hacked the profit that the MEV bot was trying to make by piggybacking on customer transactions.

Validators are responsible for processing transactions and creating new blocks on the blockchain.

A battle between validators and MEVs?

This attack has the potential to change the MEV ecosystem, as it leads MEV profit-seekers to ask, “Is this validator malicious?” Former Ethereum Foundation Hudson Jameson tweeted.

Related article: MEV problem with Merge and Ethereum

According to OtterSec, the validator that attacked MEV had been preparing for it for more than two weeks, suggesting it was a premeditated attack.

Blockchain analyst Peckshield says the $20 million stolen was spread across three wallets, with the eight addresses involved originally being funded by Indian cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin.

｜Translation: coindesk JAPAN
｜Editing: Takayuki Masuda
｜Image: Shutterstock
｜Original: Ethereum Bot Gets Attacked for $20M as Validator Strikes Back