The European Securities and Markets Authority flagged a technique employed by some crypto miners as a potential form of market abuse in its latest regulatory proposals under MiCA.
“MiCA is clear when indicating that orders, transactions, and other aspects of the distributed ledger technology may suggest the existence of market abuse e.g., the well-known maximum extractable value," it said. Investors have a legitimate expectation that transactions on the blockchain will be validated in the order they were submitted, and MEV reordering can lead to frontrunning, where the"validators" that operate blockchains can move their own transactions ahead of others to ink an extra profit, according to Kerstens.
EUCI is seeking more clarity from ESMA, ensuring that the regulator is clear on what scenarios involving MEV constitute market abuse.