# MEV

> Extra profit that validators or specialised bots can earn by reordering or inserting transactions in a block.

Canonical URL: https://fudfomo.co/glossary/mev
Source: What The Block! Dictionary v1.0 (last updated 2026-04-25), browsable at https://wtb.fudfomo.co.

## Definition

MEV originally meant 'miner extractable value' and is now usually called 'maximal extractable value'. It refers to profit that the party producing a block can squeeze out by carefully choosing the order of transactions.

For regular users, MEV often shows up as worse prices on swaps. Bots spot a pending trade and place their own around it. Many wallets and DEX aggregators now offer MEV protection to limit this.

## Related terms

- [Validator](https://fudfomo.co/glossary/validator): A participant in a proof-of-stake network who proposes and confirms new blocks. Earns rewards and can be slashed.
- [DEX](https://fudfomo.co/glossary/dex): A decentralised exchange. Trade crypto directly from your wallet, without an account.
- [Slippage](https://fudfomo.co/glossary/slippage): The gap between the price you expected when you placed a trade and the price you actually got.

## See the full catalogue

What The Block! covers more than 2,000 plain-English crypto terms, delivered as embeddable hover-state tooltips for crypto exchanges. https://wtb.fudfomo.co