Every Ethereum slot has a hidden auction restart two seconds before it begins
· 5 min read
The MEV relay system starts building blocks for a slot before that slot exists. Builders are running their engines eight seconds ahead of the clock, constantly revising bids as new transactions hit the mempool. What nobody seems to have charted is what happens at exactly two seconds before a slot starts: the entire auction collapses to near-zero and then rebuilds from scratch.