Solana, Ethereum, Sui: MEV Mitigations Compared

Key Takeaways:

• Ethereum relies on MEV-Boost and proposer-builder separation to spread MEV rewards fairly across validators, with over 90% adoption¹
• Solana uses Jito’s block engine and bundle system, now powering 92% of network validators to manage MEV extraction²
• Sui leverages parallel execution and protocol-level improvements like SIP-19 and SIP-45 to prevent MEV before it happens³
• Each blockchain tackles MEV differently based on its unique architecture and design philosophy
• Understanding these approaches helps miners and validators choose the right chain for their operations

Article Summary: MEV mitigation strategies vary significantly across Solana, Ethereum, and Sui due to their different architectures. Ethereum focuses on off-chain solutions like proposer-builder separation through MEV-Boost, while Solana leverages Jito’s infrastructure for transparent MEV auctions, and Sui uses parallel execution with protocol-level enhancements to minimize MEV opportunities at the source.

What Is MEV and Why Does It Matter?

Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) is the extra profit that validators can earn by choosing which transactions go into a block and in what order. Think of it like a line at a coffee shop where the barista can pick who gets served first. In crypto, validators can put their own transactions ahead of yours to make money through sandwich attacks, front-running, or arbitrage opportunities.

For crypto miners and validators, MEV represents both opportunity and risk. On one hand, it creates additional revenue beyond standard block rewards. On the other hand, unchecked MEV extraction can harm users through higher costs and unfair transaction ordering. This is why each major blockchain has developed its own approach to managing MEV.

The MEV Problem Across Blockchains

MEV exists on every blockchain, but it shows up differently depending on how the chain works. Ethereum’s large DeFi ecosystem made it the main battleground for MEV, with validators earning millions in MEV tips weekly⁴. Solana’s high-speed architecture created new MEV opportunities, with validators earning nearly $7 million in MEV revenue in a single week during early 2024⁵. Sui’s object-centric design naturally reduces some MEV opportunities, but the network still needed protocol improvements to ensure fairness.

The key difference is how each blockchain handles the mempool—the waiting room for transactions before they get added to blocks. Ethereum has a public mempool where anyone can see pending transactions. Solana doesn’t have a native mempool, requiring out-of-protocol solutions. Sui eliminated the traditional mempool concept entirely through its unique architecture⁶.

Quick Decision Table: Which Chain Fits Your Needs?

Ethereum’s MEV Mitigation: Proposer-Builder Separation

Ethereum solved its MEV problem by splitting validator duties into two roles: proposers and builders. This is called Proposer-Builder Separation (PBS). Before PBS, validators who could run sophisticated MEV software earned much more than regular validators, creating unfair competition.

How MEV-Boost Works

MEV-Boost is Flashbots’ implementation of PBS for Ethereum. Instead of validators building blocks themselves, they auction off this job to specialized “builders.” Here’s the simple process:

1. Builders compete to create the most profitable block
2. Validators choose the highest-paying block from multiple builders
3. MEV rewards get distributed to validators, even if they don’t run complex MEV software
4. This levels the playing field between big institutions and home stakers

As of 2025, over 90% of Ethereum blocks are built through MEV-Boost⁹. This widespread adoption shows that validators trust the system. The extra MEV revenue can boost staking returns by up to 60% compared to basic block rewards alone¹⁰.

MEV-Share and User Protections

Ethereum also introduced MEV-Share, which lets users get back up to 90% of the MEV generated by their transactions¹¹. Instead of all MEV going to validators and searchers, regular users can now capture value too. This works by sending transactions through special RPC endpoints that protect them from public mempool exposure.

According to blockchain researcher Eugene Chen: “MEV-Boost represents a pragmatic approach to an unavoidable reality. Rather than trying to eliminate MEV entirely, Ethereum’s strategy accepts its existence and redistributes the rewards more fairly.”¹²

Challenges With Ethereum’s Approach

While PBS helps, it’s not perfect. Nearly 46% of blocks after MEV-Boost deployment followed OFAC censorship policies, and average inclusion delays for censored transactions almost doubled from 15.8 seconds to 29.3 seconds¹³. The reliance on trusted relay operators also creates centralization risks that Ethereum plans to address with enshrined PBS—building this directly into the protocol.

Solana’s MEV Mitigation: Jito’s Infrastructure Revolution

Solana took a different path because it lacks Ethereum’s global mempool. The high-speed blockchain processes transactions so fast that traditional MEV strategies needed new approaches. Enter Jito Labs.

The Jito-Solana Client

Jito created a modified Solana validator client that now powers 92% of the network’s staked SOL as of 2025¹⁴. This client lets validators earn extra revenue through a bundle system. Here’s how it works:

Bundles: Traders group related transactions together and submit them as a bundle with a tip attached. The validator includes the entire bundle or none of it—no partial execution. This guarantees atomic execution and fast inclusion for critical trades.

Block Engine Auctions: Jito runs off-chain auctions where searchers bid for the right to include their bundles in the next block. The highest bidders win, and validators get the tips. This reduces spam on the network by moving competition off-chain¹⁵.

In October 2024, Jito earned $78.92 million in monthly revenue, double its May figure, showing massive growth in MEV activity¹⁶. Validators using Jito-Solana earned significantly more than those running the standard client, which drove rapid adoption.

The Mempool Decision

Jito initially operated a public mempool where pending transactions sat for 200 milliseconds, giving searchers time to find MEV opportunities. However, this led to rampant sandwich attacks—where bots insert trades before and after yours to profit from price movement you create.

In March 2024, Jito shut down its public mempool to protect users from predatory MEV¹⁷. This decision cost Jito revenue but improved the user experience. Despite the closure, sandwich attacks continue through private mempools. One bot called “Vpe” extracted $13.43 million from users over 30 days through 1.55 million sandwich trades¹⁸.

Current State of Solana MEV

Solana’s MEV landscape is maturing. The network’s annual MEV revenue reached approximately $500 million by mid-2024¹⁹. Jito tips now comprise 41.6% to 66% of Solana’s total economic value, highlighting how important MEV has become to validator economics²⁰.

Solana also implemented stake-weighted Quality of Service (QoS) and priority fee routing to reduce spam and improve inclusion fairness during network congestion²¹. These changes followed a five-hour outage in February 2024 that revealed vulnerabilities in the system.

Sui’s MEV Mitigation: Prevention Through Design

Sui’s approach is fundamentally different. Instead of managing MEV after it occurs, Sui’s architecture prevents many MEV opportunities from existing in the first place.

Parallel Execution and Object-Centric Model

Sui processes independent transactions in parallel, meaning multiple transactions can execute at the same time without interfering with each other. For transactions that touch the same objects (shared state), Sui uses deterministic ordering that validators can’t manipulate for profit²².

This design eliminates traditional front-running opportunities. A validator can’t see your pending transaction and race to get ahead of you because there’s no public mempool to watch. Transactions go straight to validators and get ordered based on consensus rules, not who pays the most.

DeepBook: The MEV-Resistant Exchange

Sui’s native DeepBook is a Central Limit Order Book (CLOB) built directly into the protocol. Unlike Automated Market Makers (AMMs) that are vulnerable to sandwich attacks, DeepBook matches orders with price-time priority—just like traditional exchanges²³.

DeepBook provides several MEV protections:

• Orders execute at exact prices, not within ranges
• Price discovery happens on-chain with full transparency
• Liquidity providers don’t face impermanent loss like in AMMs
• Large trades see significantly less slippage

By mid-December 2024, DeepBook approached $1 billion in cumulative trading volume, while overall Sui DEX volumes grew from $1.8 billion in September 2024 to $12.4 billion in January 2025—a nearly 600% increase²⁴.

SIP-19 and SIP-45: Protocol-Level Improvements

Sui introduced two key proposals to refine MEV handling:

SIP-19 (Soft Bundles): Allows applications to submit batches of transactions that validators should try to execute together. This provides some MEV protection while maintaining flexibility²⁵.

SIP-45 (Consensus Amplification): When you pay more than 5x the reference gas price, your transaction gets submitted by multiple validators simultaneously. This reduces “jitter” where high-paying transactions might get ordered after lower-paying ones due to network timing²⁶. The system amplifies submission proportionally—a transaction at 100x reference price gets maximum amplification.

These improvements make transaction inclusion more predictable and fair. Instead of a race where the fastest bot wins, the system provides clear rules about how gas prices affect ordering.

Future MEV Plans

Sui is working on DAG observability, which will give the entire network real-time insight into incoming transactions. This prevents any single party from having an “information advantage” that could be used for MEV extraction²⁷. The goal is transforming MEV from a zero-sum game into what Sui calls a “public resource” that benefits the ecosystem.

MEV Mitigation Comparison: Side-by-Side Analysis

Case Studies: MEV Mitigation in Action

Ethereum Case Study: After MEV-Boost launched, individual home stakers saw their rewards increase significantly because they could now access MEV opportunities previously dominated by sophisticated operators. A solo staker running a single validator went from earning only consensus rewards to capturing competitive MEV bids from specialized builders, narrowing the profitability gap with institutional validators.

Solana Case Study: When Jito shut down its public mempool in March 2024, sandwich attack revenue immediately dropped, improving the experience for memecoin traders who were most vulnerable to these attacks. However, the emergence of private mempools like DeezNode showed that determined actors will find alternative paths, highlighting the ongoing cat-and-mouse game between MEV extractors and protection mechanisms.

Sui Case Study: DeepBook’s CLOB architecture provided institutional traders a familiar trading environment while maintaining on-chain transparency. The protocol’s native integration meant all Sui DEXes could tap into shared liquidity with minimal MEV exposure, demonstrating how architectural choices can provide MEV resistance without requiring separate mitigation infrastructure.

Conclusion: Choosing Your MEV Strategy

Each blockchain’s MEV mitigation approach reflects its core design philosophy. Ethereum accepts MEV as inevitable and focuses on fair distribution through proposer-builder separation. Solana creates transparent MEV markets while maintaining its high-speed execution. Sui aims to prevent MEV opportunities through architectural design choices.

For validators and miners, the choice depends on your priorities. If you want proven infrastructure with substantial MEV revenue, Ethereum’s mature PBS ecosystem delivers consistent results. If you prioritize throughput and are comfortable with Jito’s dominance, Solana offers high MEV potential. If you prefer systems with built-in fairness and lower MEV exposure, Sui’s protocol-level protections align with that goal.

The MEV landscape continues evolving rapidly. Ethereum plans enshrined PBS, Solana is developing client diversity through Firedancer, and Sui is implementing DAG observability. Understanding these different approaches helps you make informed decisions about which blockchain best supports your mining or validation operations in 2025 and beyond.

MEV Mitigation Solana Ethereum Sui FAQs

What is the main difference between Ethereum and Solana MEV mitigation?

Ethereum’s MEV mitigation uses proposer-builder separation through MEV-Boost, which separates block building from block proposing to spread MEV rewards fairly. Solana uses Jito’s infrastructure with bundle auctions and block engines to create transparent MEV markets without a native mempool.

How does Sui prevent MEV better than other blockchains?

Sui prevents MEV through its parallel execution architecture and object-centric model, which eliminates many traditional MEV opportunities at the protocol level. The blockchain’s DeepBook CLOB and deterministic ordering for shared objects make front-running significantly harder compared to account-based models.

Can validators on Solana, Ethereum, and Sui still earn MEV rewards?

Yes, validators on all three chains earn MEV-related revenue, but the amounts differ significantly. Ethereum validators using MEV-Boost can boost rewards up to 60%, Solana validators get 41.6%-66% of revenue from Jito tips, while Sui validators earn less MEV but benefit from higher base transaction fees.

Why did Jito shut down its mempool on Solana?

Jito shut down its public mempool in March 2024 because sandwich attacks were harming users, particularly memecoin traders who set high slippage tolerances. The shutdown immediately reduced predatory MEV practices, though private mempools have since emerged to fill the gap.

Which blockchain has the best MEV protection for regular users?

Sui offers the strongest built-in MEV protection through its architecture, while Ethereum’s MEV-Share lets users recapture up to 90% of MEV from their transactions. Solana’s protection improved after the Jito mempool shutdown, but users still face risks from private MEV extraction that occurs off public infrastructure.

MEV Mitigation Solana Ethereum Sui Citations

1. Flashbots Documentation. “MEV-Boost Overview.” https://docs.flashbots.net/flashbots-mev-boost/introduction
2. Helius. “Solana MEV Report: Trends, Insights, and Challenges.” January 2025. https://www.helius.dev/blog/solana-mev-report
3. Sui Blog. “MEV on Sui: Current State and Next Steps.” February 2025. https://blog.sui.io/mev-on-sui-current-state/
4. Emergent Mind. “Proposer-Builder Separation (PBS) Research.” 2025. https://www.emergentmind.com/topics/proposer-builder-separation-pbs
5. PANews. “In-depth analysis of Solana MEV ecosystem.” 2024. https://www.panewslab.com/en/sqarticledetails/x30b8v979c8c.html
6. Four Pillars. “The ALL MIGHTY Sui Full Stack.” January 2025. https:/ǚpillars.io/en/articles/all-mighty-sui-full-stack
7. GitHub. “MEV-Boost Repository.” Flashbots. https://github.com/flashbots/mev-boost
8. GetBlock. “What is Jito Solana MEV Client?” February 2025. https://getblock.io/blog/what-is-jito-solana-mev-client/
9. Arkham Intelligence. “MEV: A 2025 guide to Maximal Extractable Value.” September 2025. https://info.arkm.com/research/beginners-guide-to-mev
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11. Flashbots Documentation. “What is MEV-Share?” 2025. https://docs.flashbots.net/flashbots-mev-boost/introduction
12. Helius. “Solana MEV: An Introduction.” January 2025. https://www.helius.dev/blog/solana-mev-an-introduction
13. Emergent Mind. “Proposer-Builder Separation (PBS) Research.” 2025. https://www.emergentmind.com/topics/proposer-builder-separation-pbs
14. Helius. “Solana MEV Report.” January 2025. https://www.helius.dev/blog/solana-mev-report
15. Helius. “Solana MEV: An Introduction.” January 2025. https://www.helius.dev/blog/solana-mev-an-introduction
16. Bitkub Support. “What Is Jito (JTO)? Solana’s MEV-Optimized Liquid Staking Solution.” 2024. https://support.bitkub.com/en/support/solutions/articles/151000219706
17. Helius. “Solana MEV: An Introduction.” January 2025. https://www.helius.dev/blog/solana-mev-an-introduction
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19. Medium – Shadab Hind Bux. “MEV on Solana.” April 2025. https://medium.com/@shadabhind/mev-on-solana-b6660ec682a2
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21. Bitcoin Ethereum News. “How Solana won DeFi’s throughput race.” November 2025. https://bitcoinethereumnews.com/tech/how-solana-won-defis-throughput-race/
22. Sui Blog. “MEV on Sui: Current State and Next Steps.” February 2025. https://blog.sui.io/mev-on-sui-current-state/
23. Node Capital. “Move Fast and Build Things: The Sui Suite of Innovations.” 2024. https://www.node.capital/blog/move-fast-and-build-things-the-sui-suite-of-innovations
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25. Blockchain News. “Exploring MEV Dynamics on Sui.” February 2025. https://blockchain.news/news/exploring-mev-dynamics-on-sui-innovations-future-directions
26. Sui Blog. “MEV on Sui: Current State and Next Steps.” February 2025. https://blog.sui.io/mev-on-sui-current-state/
27. Four Pillars. “2025: The Year Sui Goes Mainstream.” January 2025. https:/ǚpillars.io/en/articles/sui-2025
28. Arkham Intelligence. “MEV: A 2025 guide to Maximal Extractable Value.” September 2025. https://info.arkm.com/research/beginners-guide-to-mev
29. Helius. “Solana Ecosystem Report (H1 2025).” July 2025. https://www.helius.dev/blog/solana-ecosystem-report-h1-2025