Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) refers to the maximum value that can be extracted from block production in excess of the standard block reward and gas fees by including, excluding, and changing the order of transactions in a block. MEV opportunities arise due to the mechanics of the blockchain, such as in decentralized exchange arbitrage or lending protocol liquidations, and are extracted by independent network participants known as "searchers" who run complex algorithms on blockchain data to detect profitable MEV opportunities and submit those profitable transactions to the network, often harms users

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