Zug, February 23, 2022 – Bitcoin Suisse today announced that it will join the Flashbots Eth2 Working Group. As one of the earliest supporters of the Ethereum network and foundation, Bitcoin Suisse is building on Flashbots as a trusted initiative aiming to stabilize the network with a solution for chain congestion and other negative externalities related to Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) [i] . Flashbots has been crucial to creating a fair and level playing field on Ethereum based on the Proof-of-Work (PoW) mechanism and aims to provide the same benefits to Proof-of-Stake (PoS) Ethereum with the network’s so-called ‘merge’ expected for this year.

In early 2021, in order to retrieve MEV, bidding wars between bots congested the Ethereum blockchain, causing gas prices as well as entry barriers to participate in searching (e.g. DeFi trading, arbitrage, liquidations) to soar. Flashbots was launched to help maintain the credible neutrality of the Ethereum ecosystem and mitigate market forces so that MEV extraction is not being monopolized by a small number of entities. The post-merge adoption of Flashbots by validators will ensure that MEV access is democratized while giving everyone an equal chance to extract it, thereby avoiding backroom deals between large entities and block producers.

Michael Gauckler, Head of Product Development, said: “As a pioneer of the industry striving for innovative solutions in everything we do, it is key for Bitcoin Suisse to stay at the forefront of new developments. True to our heritage, our focus always lies on continuing to create value for our clients and to provide them with early and safe access to new products. Based on currently estimates MEV could increase staking rewards by up to 60% in the future and we want our clients to be able to benefit from this added revenue potential.”

The Ethereum Beacon Chain celebrated its one-year anniversary on December 1, 2021, at 12pm UTC. With the upcoming and highly anticipated transition to PoS, the Flashbots Eth2 Working Group works to ensure that an effective MEV solution on Ethereum post-merge is developed and adopted accordingly. Bitcoin Suisse as an early pioneer in Ethereum’s journey is proud to have 3 of the top 10 performing validators since genesis, namely the validators numbered 2, 8, and 10 (3523, 4966, 19771).

Read our interview with Michael Gauckler, Head of Product Development, and Gzim Zimberi, Product Owner Staking, for further details on staking with Bitcoin Suisse.

[i] MEV is the maximum value that can be extracted by reordering, censoring, or inserting transactions into produced blocks. Formerly referred to as ‘Miner Extractable Value.’