According to BlockBeats, Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) has been a contentious issue within the blockchain ecosystem. MEV involves miners or validators manipulating transaction sequences to gain additional profits, which threatens transaction fairness and network security. This issue is particularly problematic in the DeFi sector, where it can lead to price slippage, transaction failures, and other adverse effects for users.

Today, Uniswap founder Hayden Adams criticized the centralization of Ethereum's popular wallet, MetaMask, for forcing users to endure MEV losses. Adams tweeted that the simplest and most effective way for Uniswap users to reduce MEV losses is for MetaMask to allow Uniswap to handle transaction submissions, rather than requiring all transactions to be signed and submitted through MetaMask's RPC and OFA.

RPC (Remote Procedure Call) is a protocol that allows a program to request services from software on another computer network. MetaMask uses RPC to communicate with different blockchain networks, enabling users to send transactions, check balances, and perform other blockchain interactions. OFA (Orderflow Auction) is a process where exchanges or market makers bid to purchase retail traders' order flow to gain the right to execute these orders. This is seen as a way to mitigate MEV impact and help users achieve better execution prices.

Adams expressed concerns over MetaMask's unified transaction handling approach, stating that despite multiple requests to MetaMask, they have been consistently rejected, which he believes harms users and the industry.

In response, MetaMask introduced a 'smart transaction' feature in May to reduce MEV risks and enhance the transaction experience. According to their website, smart transactions can save gas fees, improve token swap execution, and ensure that user transactions are less likely to fail or be canceled. MetaMask emphasized that while smart transactions significantly reduce MEV-related risks, no system can completely eliminate these risks. Users interested in trying this feature can enable it in the advanced settings of their wallet, and it is currently available for free.