- MetaMask has launched a new feature, Smart Transactions.
- Smart Transactions promises to help users avoid transaction inefficiency losses.
- The new feature leverages a virtual mempool to offer users greater privacy, reliability, and transaction control.
MetaMask is back at it again.
Sponsored
Over the past few months, the popular Ethereum wallet has rolled out feature after feature to improve its users’ experience. Most recently, at the beginning of April 2024, it launched a Daylight API integration to make it easier for users to track the airdrops they are eligible for. Now, MetaMask is rolling out a new feature to help users save significant costs and avoid exploitation on the Ethereum network.
MetaMask Smart Transactions
On Monday, May 6, MetaMask unveiled a new feature called Smart Transactions, described as “a reimagined transaction experience” designed to help users avoid losses due to transaction inefficiencies. These inefficiencies include failed transactions and MEV extraction strategies.
MEV refers to the extra profit that network participants can obtain from users by reordering transactions before they are processed. One popular MEV strategy is frontrunning user transactions.
Bad actors front-run user transactions by leveraging the transparency of the mempool (a waiting room for transactions on the blockchain). These malicious actors, typically bots, use the mempool to identify high-value transactions; after identifying these transactions, these bots execute a similar transaction before the original is processed. After successfully executing their transaction, the bot quickly sells to the original user at a higher price, compelling them to pay more than initially expected.
According to MetaMask, failed transactions and MEV frontrunning strategies cost Ethereum users $440 million annually. Stressing the severity of the problems in the status quo, Executive Director of Product at MetaMask Gal Eldar suggested that they created a “frustrating and unpredictable” user experience.
Sponsored
"Submitting transactions to a distributed network is hard. This complexity often results in a user experience that is both frustrating and unpredictable. In many cases, it can lead to significant financial leakage due to frontrunning attacks, costly on-chain reverts, and overpayments for block space. It's a reality many users, whether knowingly or not, have faced and reluctantly come to accept. Over time, it became increasingly clear that we could do better and tackle these problems head-on."
So, how does Smart Transactions tackle these problems?
Virtual Mempool
Smart Transactions utilizes a virtual mempool where users’ transactions can remain private until published on the Ethereum mainnet. With these transactions held in private, they can not be front-run by MEV bots.
Beyond privacy, the virtual pool offers Smart Transactions with up to 99.5% success rates and lower fees through “a 30 millisecond Just-In-Time simulation service.” At the same time, the new feature comes with a built-in dashboard that allows users to monitor their transactions directly within MetaMask without visiting a third-party blockchain explorer website.
MetaMask has promised to release updates to the Smart Transactions feature in the coming months to optimize results.
On the Flipside
- The MetaMask Smart Transactions feature is opt-in, meaning users can decide whether to use it and switch it off whenever they want.
- The Smart Transactions feature relies on third parties.
Why This Matters
As highlighted by MetaMask, blockchain inefficiencies pose cost and user experience hurdles to users. Tackling these issues through features like Smart Transactions will likely be critical to crypto adoption.
Read this for more on MetaMask:
How MetaMask Now Allows Users to Check Airdrop Eligibility
See how Ethereum supply growth is changing with low fees:
Ethereum Turns Inflationary as Fees Remain at Record Lows
