The Aestus MEV-Boost Relay is a neutral, non-censoring block relay for Ethereum proof-of-stake validators and block builders.
The Aestus MEV-Boost Relay is a neutral, non-censoring relay for Ethereum proof-of-stake validators and block builders. Our relay project emerged from conversations between members of the EthFinance and EthStaker communities who see the need to develop credibly neutral architecture for the Ethereum staking ecosystem.
MEV remains an important component of returns generated by those engaged in Ethereum PoS consensus. Despite their contributions to the community, several of the current relays are managed by companies and projects with direct financial interests in MEV and related revenue streams. Opaque relationships between relays, searchers and builders make it difficult for stakers to decide which relays to use or trust.
The Aestus relay is MEV infrastructure which is offered to the community as a public good, free from any commercial interest and aligned to principles of credible neutrality:
As of January 2024, the Aestus relay has been operating continuously for approximately 1 year and serves over 400,000 validators. This includes many solo stakers, Rocketpool nodes and teams from large staking entities such as LIDO. On a daily basis, between 1-5% of all ethereum mainnet block auctions are negotiated using our infrastructure.
Aestus was originally viewed by its founders as a temporary necessity, destined only to fill what appeared to be a short term gap between the Merge and the development of enshrined proposer-builder separation ("ePBS") within the Ethereum core protocol. The latest research now indicates that the path to an in-protocol solution may be significantly more challenging than initially anticipated. Aestus intends to remain in operation until this occurs.
We are currently operating Ethereum Mainnet and Holesky relays. Both relays are open to public validators and builders.
By default, new builders are processed through the low-priority queue. We regularly promoted builders with a reasonable inclusion rate into high-priority.We have recently begun "optimistic" relaying. Builders will need to supply collateral of up to a maximum of 1ETH in a transaction to builder.aestus.eth and must have a recent track record without failed bids. To use this service, or to speak to us about anything else - please reach out to us via email or twitter.
We have recently begun experimenting with an EigenLayer AVS Operator. This is motivated by the need to ensure solo and small stakers remain economically competitive and can access this potent source of additional yield.
You can find up-to-date information about which AVS we are participating in here. Join us on Telegram if you have any questions, or want to help us evaulate the opportunities and associated risks.
