Smart Contracts
Intermediate
Updated 11/26/2025
What is
MEV Resistance?
Ergo's design features that prevent Maximal Extractable Value attacks like front-running and sandwich attacks common on Ethereum.
MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) resistance refers to Ergo's architectural advantages that make it difficult for miners or validators to extract value by reordering, inserting, or censoring transactions. The eUTXO model's deterministic execution and local state make MEV attacks significantly harder than on account-based chains.
Key Points
- eUTXO model provides natural MEV resistance
- Deterministic transaction execution
- No global state manipulation
- Local ordering instead of global mempool
- Harder to front-run or sandwich attack
- Fairer DeFi for regular users
Use Cases
1
Fair DEX trading without front-running
2
Predictable transaction costs
3
Protection for DeFi users
4
Trustworthy oracle updates
Technical Details
In account-based chains, miners can see pending transactions and insert their own to profit (front-running). Ergo's eUTXO model uses local state - each transaction specifies exact inputs and outputs. This determinism makes it harder to profitably reorder transactions, as outcomes are predictable before submission.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Questions about MEV Resistance
Common questions about this topic
What is MEV resistance and why does Ergo have it?
MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) is profit extracted by reordering, inserting, or censoring transactions - think front-running and sandwich attacks. Ergo's eUTXO model provides structural MEV resistance: transactions reference specific boxes (UTXOs), making reordering attacks much harder. There's no shared global state to exploit like in account-based chains.
Explainer
Technology
How to use Spectrum DEX on Ergo?
Connect your Nautilus wallet to Spectrum Finance, select tokens to swap, review the rate and slippage, then confirm. Spectrum uses AMM liquidity pools for instant trades. You can also provide liquidity to earn fees. All trades are atomic - they complete fully or not at all, with no front-running possible.
How-to
DeFi
How to get started with Ergo?
Start by getting a wallet (Nautilus for browser, Terminus for mobile). Back up your seed phrase securely offline. Get some ERG from an exchange (Gate.io, KuCoin) or DEX (Spectrum). Make a test transaction. Then explore: try DeFi on Spectrum, check out NFTs, or dive into the technology if you're a builder.
How-to
Getting Started
What can I do with Ergo?
Ergo supports a full ecosystem: trade on Spectrum DEX, use SigmaUSD stablecoin, mix transactions with ErgoMixer, collect NFTs on SkyHarbor, mine with GPUs, lend/borrow on DuckPools, bridge to other chains via Rosen, and build dApps with ErgoScript. It's a complete platform for decentralized finance and applications.
Explainer
Getting Started