📝 Draft Project Idea: L2 MEV Explorer

[smartcontracts]

What is a Draft Project Idea?

A Draft Project Idea is a concept for a project within the Optimism ecosystem that is generally considered valuable but has not yet been fleshed out into a clearly defined product. Draft Project Ideas may be converted into Ecosystem Project Ideas as they are explored further and more thoroughly specified.

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Summary

MEV is everywhere, even on L2. Flashbots maintains an MEV explorer for Ethereum Mainnet that tracks MEV extraction. Could you build an equivalent explorer for L2?

Possible Features

• View total MEV extraction over time
• View sources of MEV
• Track MEV transactions

Impact

• MEV is everywhere and highlighting MEV locations makes it easier to reduce
• MEV can be repurposed as income for a chain, understanding total MEV means understanding chain profitability

Resources

• Flashbots MEV explorer

[IlluvatarEru]

I have done similar work for Flashbots, using their current software to estimate MEV on L2s (see FRP 24). This was pre bedrock update though and mev-inspect-py has a lot of flaws. I have been discussing with a few people about the different heuristics that go into qualifying and quantifying MEV on L2s, and how to get rid of naive assumptions and how to build a proper taxonomy. I believe this is a project that we could get done as a team. What is the status of this FRP? I am happy to get a more detailed scope and discuss specifics.