What types of MEV are there?
Maximal extractable value is value obtained by strategically including, excluding, or ordering blockchain transactions. Some strategies harm users; others help protocols function or keep prices aligned.
User-targeting MEV
Sandwich attacks
A searcher trades before and after a victim’s swap, moving the execution price against the victim and then closing the position.
Copied frontrunning
A searcher observes a profitable pending call, reproduces it with their own address, and gains priority over the original sender.
Censorship and inclusion manipulation
A block producer delays, excludes, or selectively includes transactions to create or capture an advantage.
Competitive protocol activity
DEX arbitrage
A searcher trades across pools with different prices. This often improves price alignment, although competition over ordering still creates MEV.
Liquidations
Searchers compete to repay unhealthy loans and receive protocol liquidation rewards. Liquidations protect lending-protocol solvency but can be highly competitive.
Backrunning
A searcher trades immediately after a state-changing transaction, commonly to arbitrage the new pool price without moving the victim’s price beforehand.
Protocol-specific and emerging MEV
- JIT liquidity: liquidity is added immediately before a swap and removed afterward to capture fees.
- Oracle extractable value: value is captured around oracle updates, often through liquidations or arbitrage.
- NFT MEV: bots compete over mints, underpriced listings, and scarce purchases.
- Cross-domain MEV: an opportunity spans chains, rollups, bridges, or centralized venues.
- Time-bandit MEV: a block producer attempts a chain reorganization to recapture unusually valuable past opportunities.