Ethereum Foundation unveils 2-part plan to eliminate MEV and add privacy

The Ethereum Foundation's strategy chief on June 22 laid out a plan to eliminate toxic maximal extractable value and embed privacy as a default protocol feature.

"MEV has become a tax on ordinary users, and privacy cannot remain an afterthought bolted on by third-party tools," the strategy chief said. "We are designing these changes into the protocol itself so that every user benefits without needing to opt in."

The plan targets what the foundation calls "toxic MEV" — front-running, sandwich attacks, and other value-extraction strategies that undermine user trust in the network. Non-toxic forms of MEV, such as arbitrage that helps maintain price consistency across decentralized exchanges, would remain permissible under the framework. The proposal treats MEV and privacy as linked problems: when transactions are visible before confirmation, bots can extract value, and encrypting transactions until inclusion removes that opportunity.

The changes could accelerate institutional adoption of Ethereum, the strategy chief said, as many traditional financial firms have cited transaction visibility and front-running risk as barriers to deploying capital on-chain. The foundation plans to publish a detailed roadmap in the third quarter of 2026, with individual Ethereum Improvement Proposals to follow.

Why the shift matters

Ethereum has long relied on a decentralized mempool where pending transactions are visible to all participants before inclusion. That transparency has enabled sophisticated bots to extract value by observing and front-running trades. Moving privacy to the protocol level would eliminate that visibility, potentially reducing the advantage held by searchers and validators with access to advanced infrastructure.

The strategy chief said the new approach would build on existing research from the Ethereum Foundation's applied research group and external contributors including Flashbots, which has focused on MEV mitigation since 2020, rather than replace it.

What comes next

The timeline for implementation remains unclear. The strategy chief said the foundation would publish a detailed roadmap in the third quarter of 2026, with individual Ethereum Improvement Proposals expected to follow. Any changes would require community consensus through Ethereum's governance process.

"Neutrality is the foundation's north star," the strategy chief said. "If the protocol itself is neutral — if it doesn't favor bots over users or insiders over outsiders — then Ethereum becomes a more attractive settlement layer for every kind of transaction."

The announcement comes as Ethereum faces growing competition from alternative layer-1 networks that offer lower fees and different approaches to transaction ordering. If successful, the plan could strengthen Ethereum's position as the dominant settlement layer for decentralized finance while addressing long-standing criticisms about fairness and transparency.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.