No Mempool = No MEV: A Complete Explanation.
MEV exists because blockchains have mempools; waiting rooms for pending transactions. When you send a transaction on Ethereum or similar chains, it doesn't immediately go into a block. It sits in the mempool first, a holding area where transactions wait to be picked up by validators. Everyone can see what is sitting there: your swap amount, your slippage settings, your target NFT. That visibility is the problem. While your transaction waits, anyone watching can exploit what they see.
Specialized bots scan the mempool 24/7. They are looking for profitable opportunities in your pending transactions. When they find one, they submit their own transaction with a higher gas fee to jump ahead of yours. Validators prioritize higher paying transactions, so the bot's transaction gets processed first. You end up with a worse price, they pocket the difference.
@RetiumChain doesn't try to hide the mempool or encrypt it or add protective layers on top. It just gets rid of it. No waiting room means no opportunity for anyone to see and exploit pending transactions. This breaks MEV at the source instead of trying to patch around it. Your transaction goes from submission directly to block production. There is no intermediate step where it sits exposed. builds multiple blocks at once, processing transactions in parallel streams. The moment you submit, you are in the production queue, not a public waiting room.
If attackers can't see your transaction before it is processed, they can't react to it. They can't place orders around it, can't bid to reorder it, can't copy it with higher fees. The information advantage that enables MEV simply doesn't exist. This eliminates: Sandwich attacks, Front running, Back running, Priority gas auctions.
Sandwich Attacks:
You want to swap 10 ETH for USDC. A bot sees this in the mempool, buys USDC right before you (pushing the price up), then sells it right after you bought (profiting from the spike). You get fewer USDC than expected. The bot keeps the difference. With no mempool, the bot never sees your swap coming.
Front running:
Someone spots your NFT purchase in the mempool and submits the same purchase with higher gas fees. Their transaction processes first. You get an error message, they get the NFT. This can't happen without mempool visibility.
Back running:
Your large trade is about to shift market prices. Bots see this coming and place trades immediately after yours to ride the wave you created.
Priority Gas Auctions:
A liquidation opportunity appears in a DeFi protocol. Twenty bots spot it in the mempool. They all compete to be first, each one raising their gas bid. Gas fees spike to 500 gwei, 1000 gwei, 2000 gwei. One bot wins, nineteen lose money on failed transactions, and the network gets congested.
This bidding war can't start if nobody knows there is a prize to compete for.
Every blockchain with a mempool has an MEV problem. Researchers have tried encrypted mempools, threshold encryption. These approaches add complexity and often just shift MEV around rather than eliminating it but @RetiumChain takes a different approach: no mempool at all. Transactions flow directly into parallel block production. Nobody gets advance visibility. Ordering games become impossible and MEV stops being viable.
Introducing Sentient Chat Spaces: The AI Command Center for Data & Decisions.
Sentient made a massive announcement yesterday on another upgrade made to Sentient Chat. It is called Spaces.
Instead of switching between tabs, juggling spreadsheets, and piecing together notes, Spaces give you a single, well-structured output powered by real-time data, specialized agents, and the best open-source models in The GRID.
Why Spaces matter:
They simplify the entire process of gathering and acting on information. With one click, you get a complete, formatted report. Behind the scenes, AI agents handle the heavy lifting, fetching live data, running analysis, and writing a coherent narrative. And because every workflow is unique, Spaces are fully customizable: you can start with community templates or design your own from scratch.
First Spaces Available in the Sentient Chat
1. Asset Reports: With this you can get a complete token overview, qualitative insights plus technical analysis (price, TVL, on-chain metrics). It is ideal for Crypto traders, investors and researchers.
2. Travel Explorer: You can plan your entire trip in one go, be it flights, hotels, weather, reviews, local tips, and a ready-made itinerary. It is deal for Vacationers, business travelers, digital nomads.
3. News Bites: With this, you can stay sharp with daily headlines, trend breakdowns, and a quirky “fortune-cookie” message to kickstart your day. It is ideal for anyone who wants smart news.
PROMPTING THE TRAVEL EXPLORER
To see it in action, I used Travel Explorer to plan a five day trip to Lagos. My Prompt: "Plan a 5-day trip to Lagos, Nigeria – include flights from JFK, 3-star hotels near Victoria Island, weather forecast, top restaurants, safety tips, and day-by-day itinerary". Within minutes, I had a polished plan that was accurate, clickable, and ready to use.
The final itinerary included everything I needed: arrival and check-in at a beach, adjacent hotel, visits to landmarks like the Lekki Conservation Centre, curated restaurant recommendations, a business day on Victoria Island, a cultural trip to Badagry, and a final day at the Nike Art Gallery before departure. Every link worked, every recommendation was practical, and the weather data matched.
Community-focused:
As you know that Sentient is Open Source and decentralized, it is open to the community and anyone can build on it. I have taken time to explain what the Spaces do and will do if put into use. Spaces make research, travel, and news effortless. But the real power comes from the community, anyone can build and share new ones.
The question I have for you as I end this thread is: "If you could design a Space in Sentient Chat today, what would it be?"
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Pentagon Games has closed a monumental $6M of funding 🚀
To celebrate, we’re giving away a prize pool of 1 MILLION Pentagon Points to Intract Players who complete all the tasks 🔥
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Play our games at @gamescom!
@wardensascent, @warriorsofnovathera, and @_eternalleague_ are all making their debut at #gamescom2024.
Pop by our booth in Hall 10.1, Booth C-049, at the Koelnmesse in Cologne to try them yourself!
There will be free swag to redeem, drinks to chug, cosplayers to take photos with, competitions, and more✨
See you there!