Shutter Network aims to stop $1.3B crypto MEV theft

Loring Harkness, a core contributor to Shutter Network, argues that crypto's promise of neutrality and fairness is undermined by Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) bots and other actors.

According to Harkness, these issues make crypto insecure for average users.

During an interview on The Agenda podcast, Harkness described Shutter as "a platform which helps your favorite platforms be more fair, credibly neutral and private."

Shutter Network uses encryption to protect users from MEV attacks and whale manipulation by encrypting data, such as transactions or DAO votes, until a predetermined threshold is met.

MEV attacks have extracted at least 526,207 Ether (CRYPTO:ETH), worth approximately $1.3 billion, from Ethereum between September 2022 and June 2024.

In just two months of 2024, one Solana-based (CRYPTO:SOL) bot captured $30 million.

Harkness explained that by encrypting transactions before they enter the mempool, MEV bots are effectively blinded because they can see a transaction but cannot discern its contents.

This prevents them from strategically placing transactions to exploit users.

According to Harkness, Shutter protects "normal blockchain users...from malicious MEV and from this form of organised theft, which has become pervasive on Ethereum."

Harkness also discussed his experiences in Myanmar, where he witnessed the military weaponising the TradFi banking system to seize assets from pro-democracy activists.

He noted that crypto provided a lifeline in this situation, allowing residents to preserve the value of their savings through stablecoins and move funds out of the traditional banking system.

Beyond wallet integrations, BNB Chain is enhancing its core infrastructure to combat MEV exploits.

This includes technical upgrades to the mempool to prevent transaction reordering by bots and proposals to penalise validators who enable or profit from malicious MEV practices.