MEV is one of the biggest hurdles to widespread DeFi adoption right now. If left unchecked, we face a shrinking user base, with remaining participants slowly bleeding funds to MEV bots and validators. However, this scenario is unsustainable even for these bots profiting from MEV. As DeFi’s health deteriorates due to value extraction, it will lead to decreasing liquidity and activity in DeFi. This creates a negative feedback loop, reducing future MEV opportunities and pushing many users back to CeFi.

Paladin, a first-of-its-kind experiment, is designed to curb harmful