# A Flash(bot) in the Pan: Measuring Maximal Extractable Value in Private Pools

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2206.04185 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2206.04185/

## Key facts

- Cited by 5 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 8 Jun 2022.

## Built on by (most cited first, 5 of 5)

- [AI-Based Crypto Tokens: The Illusion of Decentralized AI?](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2505.07828/) (2025)
- [AI Ethics on Blockchain: Topic Analysis on Twitter Data for Blockchain Security](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.06951/) (2022)
- [FRAD: Front-Running Attacks Detection on Ethereum using Ternary Classification Model](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.14514/) (2023)
- [DMind-3: A Sovereign Edge--Local--Cloud AI System with Controlled Deliberation and Correction-Based Tuning for Safe, Low-Latency Transaction Execution](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.11651/) (2026)
- [EVAGE: Autonomous MEV Generation and Adaptation via Multi-Agent Harness](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2609.27424/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

The rise of Ethereum has lead to a flourishing decentralized marketplace that has, unfortunately, fallen victim to frontrunning and Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) activities, where savvy participants game transaction orderings within a block for profit. One popular solution to address such behavior is Flashbots, a private pool with infrastructure and design goals aimed at eliminating the negative externalities associated with MEV. While Flashbots has established laudable goals to address MEV behavior, no evidence has been provided to show that these goals are achieved in practice. In this paper, we measure the popularity of Flashbots and evaluate if it is meeting its chartered goals. We find that (1) Flashbots miners account for over 99.9% of the hashing power in the Ethereum network, (2) powerful miners are making more than 2× what they were making prior to using Flashbots, while non-miners' slice of the pie has shrunk commensurately, (3) mining is just as centralized as it was prior to Flashbots with more than 90% of Flashbots blocks coming from just two miners, and (4) while more than 80% of MEV extraction in Ethereum is happening through Flashbots, 13.2% is coming from other private pools.