Sandwich attacks and MEV extraction are not disclosed as expected costs at the point of transaction signing.
Pillar: Safety
The problem
A user signing a swap has no way to see the expected value extracted from their transaction by sandwich bots and MEV searchers. This cost does not appear in any standard fee disclosure. It is absorbed silently into worse execution.
For large transactions and less-liquid pairs, MEV extraction can exceed gas costs by orders of magnitude.
Why it matters
- Safety: I am systematically overcharged by an invisible mechanism.
- Agency: I cannot make an informed decision about execution without knowing the full cost.
What exists today
MEV Blocker, Flashbots Protect, and similar RPC services offer partial protection. Not the default. MEV cost is not surfaced in standard wallet UIs.
The gap
No standard for disclosing expected MEV extraction as a cost component at the point of signing.
Open questions
- Can expected MEV be estimated reliably pre-execution?
- Should MEV-protected RPC be the default rather than opt-in?