Builder centralization is inevitable under the Proposer-Builder Separation (PBS) model. Specialized builders like Flashbots and bloXroute win because they aggregate the most profitable transactions, a process that scales with capital and data access.
mev-the-hidden-tax-of-crypto
Blog
Why Suave and Similar Visions Are Redefining the Builder Role
An analysis of how initiatives like Suave, by separating transaction awareness from execution, are dismantling the integrated builder monopoly and creating a new, modular MEV supply chain.
introduction
THE ARCHITECTURAL REALITY
Introduction: The Builder Monopoly is a Feature, Not a Bug
The centralization of block building is a direct consequence of MEV optimization, not a temporary market failure.
Suave redefines the builder role by making it a permissionless, competitive market for execution. It shifts the monopoly from a single entity to a network of solvers competing on execution quality, similar to how UniswapX and CowSwap operate.
The monopoly is a feature because it guarantees the most economically efficient block. The problem is the rent extraction, not the centralization itself. Suave's vision is to capture and redistribute this value.
key-trends
THE MODULAR DISRUPTION
The Three Forces Dismantling the Integrated Builder
The monolithic MEV builder is being unbundled by specialized protocols that optimize for execution, privacy, and cross-domain liquidity.
01
The Problem: The Opaque, Extractive Searcher
Integrated builders act as black boxes, capturing ~90% of MEV value for themselves. This creates a toxic ecosystem where user transactions are reordered for maximal extractable value, not optimal execution.
- Adversarial Relationship: Users and apps are the product, not the client.
- Centralized Control: Top 5 builders control >80% of Ethereum blocks, creating systemic risk.
- Value Leakage: Billions in MEV are siphoned away from users and dApps annually.
>80%
Block Share
~90%
MEV Captured
02
The Solution: Specialized Execution Markets (SUAVE)
SUAVE introduces a decentralized memory pool and competitive execution network. It separates expression of intent from execution, creating a market where specialized solvers compete to fulfill user orders.
- Intent-Based Flow: Users submit desired outcomes (e.g., 'swap X for Y at best price'), not rigid transactions.
- Solver Competition: Execution becomes a commodity, driving costs down and quality up.
- Cross-Chain Native: Built to natively route liquidity and intents across chains like Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Optimism.
10x+
More Solvers
-50%
Cost Potential
03
The Force: Encrypted Mempools & Pre-Confirmation Privacy
Protocols like Shutter Network and SUAVE's encrypted mempool prevent frontrunning by encrypting transactions until they are included in a block. This dismantles the builder's information advantage.
- Level Playing Field: No entity can see and exploit transaction order in advance.
- User Sovereignty: Enables fair auctions for block space and execution.
- Composable Privacy: Can be integrated by dApps like Uniswap or CowSwap to protect their users.
~0ms
Frontrun Window
100%
Tx Obfuscation
04
The Force: Cross-Domain Liquidity Aggregation
The future is multi-chain. Integrated builders are chain-specific, but users aren't. SUAVE and intent-based architectures like UniswapX and Across act as a unified liquidity layer, finding the best price across Ethereum, layerzero, and rollups.
- Unified Routing: A single intent can be split and executed across multiple chains and DEXs.
- Eliminates Bridging Friction: Native cross-chain swaps without manual bridging steps.
- Capital Efficiency: Aggregates fragmented liquidity, improving fill rates and prices.
10+
Chains Routed
5-20%
Price Improvement
05
The Force: Credibly Neutral Block Building
Decentralized builder networks like EigenLayer's EigenDA and SUAVE's decentralized block building separate block production from proposer selection. This removes the trusted intermediary and reduces censorship risk.
- Proposer-Builder Separation (PBS) Enforced: Builders create blocks, validators simply propose them.
- Censorship Resistance: No single entity can filter transactions.
- Open Participation: Anyone can become a builder, increasing network resilience.
1000+
Potential Builders
~0%
Censorship
06
The Outcome: The Builder as a Commodity
The end-state is a hyper-competitive, modular stack. The 'Builder' role is no longer a privileged, integrated entity but a permissionless, specialized service.
- Execution as a Service: Builders compete purely on execution quality and cost.
- Value Redistribution: MEV is captured by solvers and returned to users/apps via better prices.
- Innovation Flywheel: New execution strategies (e.g., JIT liquidity, NFT arbitrage) emerge as open-market services.
$10B+
TVL Impact
100x
More Use Cases
deep-dive
THE SUAVE SHIFT
Deconstructing the Builder: Awareness vs. Execution
The traditional MEV-Boost builder is being split into separate roles of market awareness and pure execution, a paradigm shift pioneered by Suave.
The legacy builder is monolithic. It bundles market data sourcing, transaction ordering, and block construction into a single, centralized entity. This creates inherent conflicts of interest and centralizes information asymmetry.
Suave decouples awareness from execution. It creates a specialized intent marketplace where users express preferences, and specialized solvers compete to fulfill them. The builder role is reduced to a blind executor of winning bundles.
This mirrors DeFi's evolution. Just as UniswapX separates solving from settlement, Suave separates block building from intent discovery. The value accrues to the information layer, not the execution layer.
Evidence: Flashbots' pivot to Suave validates this thesis. Their research shows over 90% of MEV is extracted by a handful of builders, a centralization problem their new architecture explicitly solves.
SUAVE AND THE FUTURE OF BLOCK BUILDING
Builder Architecture Comparison: Monolithic vs. Modular
A technical comparison of dominant block builder architectures, highlighting how SUAVE's modular approach redefines the role by decoupling execution and consensus.
| Architectural Feature | Traditional Monolithic (e.g., Flashbots MEV-Boost) | Modular Execution (e.g., SUAVE) | Integrated Rollup (e.g., Arbitrum, Optimism) |
|---|---|---|---|
Core Function | Centralized Ordering & Execution | Decentralized Preference Marketplace | Sovereign Execution Environment |
Consensus Layer Dependency | External (Relies on Ethereum L1) | External (Can plug into any chain) | Inherited from Settlement Layer |
Cross-Domain MEV Capture | |||
Transaction Privacy (Pre-Execution) | Encrypted Mempool via MEV-Boost | Encrypted Mempool via TEEs | Sequencer MemePool |
Builder Extractable Value (BEV) |
| Redistributed via MEV Auctions | Captured by Sequencer/Protocol |
Time to Finality Impact | Adds ~12s (MEV-Boost relay) | Adds <1s (Optimistic flow) | N/A (Self-contained) |
Required Trust Assumptions | Honest-Majority Relays | Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs) | Honest-Majority Sequencer |
Primary Revenue Model | Priority Gas Auctions (PGAs) | Fee from Cross-Chain Intent Settlement | Sequencer Fees & L1 Gas Savings |
protocol-spotlight
BUILDER DISAGGREGATION
Beyond Suave: The Modular MEV Landscape
The monolithic block builder is being unbundled into specialized, competitive markets for ordering, execution, and data.
01
The Problem: Centralized Builder Dominance
A few builders like Flashbots control ~90% of Ethereum blocks, creating a single point of failure and censorship. This centralizes MEV profits and control over transaction ordering, undermining credible neutrality.\n- Risk: Censorship vectors and regulatory capture\n- Inefficiency: Opaque, non-competitive pricing for block space
~90%
Market Share
1
Relay API
02
The Solution: SUAVE (Shared Sequencer)
SUAVE decouples the intent expression layer from execution. Users express preferences (e.g., "swap X for Y at best price"), and a decentralized network of solvers competes to fulfill them.\n- Benefit: Breaks builder/searcher monopoly on order flow\n- Benefit: Enables cross-domain MEV and private mempools
100+
Potential Solvers
Cross-Chain
Scope
03
The Modular Alternative: Specialized Markets
Instead of one SUAVE chain, the landscape fragments into specialized intent markets (UniswapX, CowSwap) and shared sequencers (Astria, Espresso). Builders become aggregators of these services.\n- Benefit: Competition on latency, pricing, and feature sets\n- Benefit: No single point of failure; resilience through diversity
Modular
Architecture
-70%
Rent Extraction
04
The New Builder: Execution Layer Aggregator
The future builder is a lean coordinator, not a vertically integrated monopoly. It sources block content from intent solvers, ordering from shared sequencers, and proofs from prover networks.\n- Benefit: Capital efficiency via specialization (like L2s)\n- Benefit: Democratized access to MEV supply chain
10x
More Participants
~500ms
Auction Latency
05
The Data Layer: EigenLayer & Prover Markets
Restaking via EigenLayer and specialized prover networks (RiscZero, Succinct) create trust-minimized markets for outsourced computation. Builders can purchase ZK proofs of state transitions or data availability.\n- Benefit: Radically reduces capital overhead for new builders\n- Benefit: Enables verifiable execution across fragmented layers
$10B+
Restaked TVL
Trustless
Verification
06
The Endgame: Intents as the New Transaction
The user-facing paradigm shifts from signing raw transactions to signing expressive intents. This moves complexity off-chain to a competitive solver ecosystem, abstracting MEV and maximizing extractable value for users.\n- Benefit: Better UX (gasless, failed tx protection)\n- Benefit: MEV is returned to users via improved pricing
User-Captured
MEV
Gasless
Experience
counter-argument
THE BUILDER'S BOTTLENECK
The Hard Problems: Latency, Complexity, and Adoption
Current MEV infrastructure creates systemic inefficiencies that Suave's specialized chain directly attacks.
Latency is a tax. The current MEV supply chain forces builders to compete on network proximity, not algorithm quality. This arms race for low-latency access to Ethereum validators centralizes power with a few players who can afford co-location, creating a centralizing force that contradicts decentralization goals.
Complexity is a moat. Building a competitive searcher-builder today requires deep integration across fragmented infrastructure: RPC endpoints, private mempools like Flashbots Protect, and cross-chain bridges like Across and Stargate. This high-friction environment excludes smaller, innovative players and stifles competition.
Adoption requires specialization. General-purpose L1s and L2s like Arbitrum or Optimism are suboptimal for MEV. Their design compromises to support universal dApps create overhead that a purpose-built chain like Suave eliminates. A specialized execution layer dedicated to intents and block building is the logical evolution.
Evidence: The dominance of a handful of builders like beaverbuild and rsync on Ethereum post-merge, often capturing over 80% of blocks, proves the market failure. Suave's vision redefines the builder role from a privileged network position to a pure software competition.
takeaways
THE SUAVE PARADIGM SHIFT
Key Takeaways for Builders and Investors
The transition from MEV extraction to MEV redistribution is redefining infrastructure value capture and builder economics.
01
The Problem: Vertical Integration Kills Competition
Traditional block builders like Flashbots are black-box, vertically integrated entities. They own the entire pipeline from order flow to block production, creating a centralized point of failure and rent extraction.\n- Value Capture: Top builders capture >90% of MEV on Ethereum.\n- Innovation Stifled: New entrants face prohibitive capital and data requirements.
>90%
MEV Captured
~5
Dominant Builders
02
The Solution: Decentralized Block Building via SUAVE
SUAVE (Single Unifying Auction for Value Expression) introduces a modular stack: a decentralized mempool, an optimal executor network, and a pluggable blockchain. It turns block building into a competitive, permissionless market.\n- Specialization: Separates preference expression (intents) from execution.\n- Composability: Enables new applications like intent-based bridges and on-chain order flow auctions.
0
Native Chain
100%
Open Sourced
03
The New Builder Role: Specialized Execution Firms
Builders evolve from monolithic entities to specialized service providers competing on execution quality, not order flow monopolies. Think high-frequency trading firms for the blockchain.\n- Capital Efficiency: Compete on gas optimization and latency (~100ms).\n- Revenue Streams: Earn fees for superior execution, not just extracted MEV.
~100ms
Latency Edge
Fees
New Revenue
04
The Investor Playbook: Back Infrastructure, Not Applications
The value accrual shifts from dApps to the intent-sourcing and execution layers. The new stack requires massive investment in decentralized sequencers, verifiable compute, and intent solvers.\n- Infrastructure Moats: Protocols like Across, UniswapX, and CowSwap are early intent adopters.\n- VC Mandate: Fund the SUAVE equivalent for Solana, Avalanche, etc.
L1/L2
Target Stack
$10B+
Market Potential
05
The Risk: Centralization via Order Flow
Despite decentralized building, centralized off-ramps (e.g., Coinbase, Binance) and wallets (e.g., MetaMask) control the primary source of order flow. This creates a new centralization vector.\n- Bottleneck Control: Entities with >1M daily users dictate market access.\n- Regulatory Target: OFAC-compliance becomes a protocol-level design constraint.
>1M
User Threshold
OFAC
Key Risk
06
The Endgame: Autonomous Intents & Agentic Economy
The final stage is a network where user intents are expressed in plain language and fulfilled by a competitive solver network. This enables agent-to-agent commerce and cross-chain atomicity without user intervention.\n- UX Revolution: No more signing 10 transactions for a simple swap.\n- New Primitive: Intents become a fundamental blockchain object, traded and optimized.
0-Click
Target UX
Agentic
Economy
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