How blockchain networks manage Miner/Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) is more than technical nuances. A comparison reveals deep philosophical, economic, and political distinctions about whom these systems are built to serve. Ethereum and Solana have developed fundamentally different MEV architectures: Ethereum’s modular and permissionless MEV-Boost model and Solana’s vertically integrated Jito ecosystem. Both offer trade-offs, but their implications for decentralization, economic power concentration, and long-term resiliency diverge dramatically.

This research note compares the two models at a high level, focusing on the decentralization of infrastructure, control over transaction flow, user exposure, validator incentives, and systemic resilience. It argues that while Solana’s Jito-driven model currently offers efficiency and convenience, Ethereum’s MEV-Boost architecture provides a more future-proof, pluralistic, and censorship-resistant foundation, especially in a world where policy and public scrutiny of blockchain fairness and neutrality are intensifying.

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