Lately, I keep seeing everyone talk about block builders, bundles, and MEV. Let’s be honest: retail investors really don’t need to force themselves to become researchers. You only need to know two things. First, after you click “swap/place order,” your transaction might not end up in the block in the order you expect—someone will bundle it, cut the line, and even sandwich you, with you caught in the middle. Second, don’t blindly believe that “my order is definitely the fairest on-chain.” Use a reliable wallet/route, enable protection if you can, and don’t force your way in when liquidity is thin—slippage and failure rates can be brutal.

As for how builders compete with each other and how bundles get inserted, that’s more of a game at the infrastructure layer. Us small validators just keep watching block production and the risks—if we’re not the ones that get cut, that’s already a blessing.

By the way, when funding rates get extremely extreme—whether people in the group argue about reversals or keep squeezing the bubble—I generally just do less. The more lively it gets, the easier it is to get “optimized on the fly.” I still believe this: in the end, the chain will reward those who make the process more boring and more stable.