MEV Protection on Infura

Infura now has MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) Protection for Ethereum Mainnet transactions sent via the eth_sendRawTransaction RPC method. This feature, initially available to free tier developers, enhances transaction security by mitigating harmful MEV like frontrunning and sandwich attacks.

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Free Tier Developers: Automatically receive MEV Protection at no additional cost during beta.

Paid Tier Developers: MEV Protection not currently available. Coming soon.

You don’t need to take any action. If your app doesn’t require MEV Protection or you find it disruptive, contact us for recommendations.

How MEV protection with Infura works

1. Transactions sent via eth_sendRawTransaction are routed to a virtual mempool instead of the public mempool.
2. Trusted and validated network participants bid for the exclusive right to include these transactions in a future block.
3. By avoiding the public mempool, transactions are shielded from harmful MEV strategies.

FAQs

• What networks have MEV Protection?

  • Currently, only for Ethereum Mainnet. Support will be expanded to more networks in the near future.

• When will MEV Protection be offered to paid developers?

  • MEV Protection is currently only offered to free tier developers in beta. MEV Protection for paid developers is on the roadmap with additional functionality. Contact us if you’re interested in gaining early access to the beta.

• How can I opt out of MEV protection as a free developer?

  • Currently, the only way to turn off MEV Protection is by contacting support.

• Do I need to change my code to benefit from MEV protection?

  • No code changes are required to benefit from MEV Protection.

• How does this impact my application?

  • This should not impact your application. The only perceivable change could be a slight delay in transaction confirmation, which is on average one extra slot.

• How does this MEV Protection feature work?

  • Infura automatically routes these transactions to a partner who will keep the transaction in a virtual mempool while trusted and validated network participants bid on the right to include the transaction in a public block.

• Are there any risks involved with MEV Protection?

  • MEV Protection is designed to be safer than submitting regular on-chain transactions by providing safeguards against different MEV strategies. While the system substantially lowers the risk of negative outcomes associated with MEV, no system can eliminate risks entirely. For more information on the risks associated with MEV Protection, please refer to our risk disclosures.

• Are there any fees involved for MEV Protection?

  • No, MEV Protection is being offered to developers in beta for free. This might change in the near future.

• Is MEV Protection guaranteed?

  • MEV Protection is best effort and not always guaranteed. If transactions don't successfully get picked in the virtual mempool within 2 slots, then we will refer the transactions back to the network to be included in the public mempool, which would still be susceptible to harmful MEV strategies. This would correspond to the default behavior developers have traditionally experienced.