IMH(umble)O, the free-option problem should be seen as a P0 bug in our thinking about ePBS! 🪲🛑 without getting bogged down in the greeks, the intuition is simple: builders *will be* incentivized to intentionally miss slots – especially during periods of high volatility.

missed slots are horrible UX and directly counteract the scaling benefits from using the slot more efficiently. i won't speak on the optimal pipelining strategy, b/c i haven't been involved in these discussions lately, but this seems directly at odds with many of those designs.

i don't believe in any form of reputational punishment against builders exercising the option. builders who are best able to profit from the option will offer the highest bids, and validators will chase the highest yield for their clients.

similarly, @titanbuilderxyz's recent post also deserves way more attention with regards to ePBS. it's one of the largest builders explaining why they believe the change will *increase* the barrier of entry to become a builder.

there are two outcomes, both pretty bad: 1) it becomes more capital-intensive to be a builder 2) builders encourage validators to use trust-based, out-of-protocol bids to avoid posting large collateral (e.g., bypassing) both discussed in this old post

as someone who has thought about ePBS a decent bit (albeit awhile ago), it is hard to imagine these problems having clean solutions.

@gd_gattaca @Data_Always @hasufl @AlphaMonad @ultrasoundmoney either way, it feels clear that claiming “mev-boost could have the free option problem” is not a credible argument to push for enshrining a much longer duration option.