I’ve been watching the mempool again lately, and the more I look, the more it seems to me: retail users really don’t need to study “block builders/relays/bundles” like it’s a thesis. How much do you actually need to know? Basically, it comes down to two things: first, your transaction isn’t necessarily going straight into a block—it could be bundled into a blob and routed through a private side channel; second, front-running/catch-the-car isn’t some mystical thing—if you openly broadcast on-chain “I’m here to send money,” people can easily track you.

Thinking about it later, it’s kind of funny—I used to even make up conspiracy theories just because I saw a string of builder names… Anyway, my current approach is: if it’s a big amount, split the order; if private forwarding is available, use it; don’t act all magnanimous on slippage, and don’t assume Layer 2 is absolutely safe either.

Oh, and lately everyone’s been comparing RWA, US Treasury bond yields, and on-chain yield products together—I hear it and my head starts to spin: the yields may look “stable,” but the path your transaction takes into the block isn’t stable. First figure out how your transaction gets sent into blocks—don’t just focus on annualized returns.