The Express Lane to Spam and Centralization: An Empirical Analysis of Arbitrum's Timeboost
Timeboost is an auction-based system designed to prioritize transactions for lower latency in Arbitrum's DeFi ecosystem. Empirical analysis shows this mechanism fails its goals of fairness and decentralization because express lane control is highly centralized among three entities, limiting broad participation. Furthermore, the system does not effectively reduce spam or MEV inefficiencies.