u.today
In order to improve the fairness and integrity of its network, Solana is taking major action. Recent action by the Solana Foundation to unstake validators discovered to be sharing mempool transactions was somewhat unexpected.
This measure is a component of a larger initiative to lower Maximum Extractable Value (MEV) and preserve an ecosystem that can be trusted.
Due to sharing mempool transactions, a number of operators in the Solana Foundation Delegation Program were eliminated. Sharing these may result in MEV-related actions such as sandwich attacks, in which a malicious actor encircles a victim's transaction in order to take advantage of price fluctuations.
Enforcement actions are still pending in relation to the Solana Foundation's final decision to remove these validators.
What makes this significant?
On blockchain networks, MEV is a crucial problem. By rearranging, adding or removing transactions within a block, validators can maximize their profit from blockchain transactions. The Solana Foundation seeks to improve network security and guarantee fair transaction processing by opposing validators who engage in such actions.
As a result, Solana becomes a more appealing platform and helps investors and users gain trust. Regarding impact on the market, there is talk that some validators may carry on with MEV procedures in spite of these precautions if they do not have access to specialized tools like Jito.
The Solana Foundation and investors, however, provide a sizable portion of the funding for Solana validators. These parties have the power to affect validators' actions, possibly prohibiting them from executing MEV.
In the short term, the decision of the foundation may seem too erratic, but at the same time, it is clearly a commitment to making the network safer and more secure. Long-term benefits will make the whole ecosystem more transparent and trustworthy. Of course, some can easily argue that this decision goes against the ethos of decentralization.