Use Cases

Fiber is accessible via API, facilitating seamless streaming and propagation of data across the Ethereum network

By abstracting away the complexities of node infrastructure, Fiber simplifies the process of accessing real-time data across Consensus and Execution layers.

The distributed nature of the network allows for transactions to be processed and propagated more efficiently than other services (eg. RPC providers or mempool services) and single nodes.

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If interested in testing Fiber's performances, clone fiber-benchmarks repo and benchmark it yourself!

In this article we outline the results gathered in Q1 '23.

1. Searchers & Builders

1.1 MEV Capturing

Low latency access to mempool data gives searchers and builders a latency and reliability advantage over the competition.

On the Execution Layer (EL), Fiber provides the NewTransactions stream, which returns new transactions that are propagated across the Ethereum mempool.

The stream can be leveraged to deploy MEV strategies, as:

• DEX Arbitrage
• Liquidity Sniping
• NFT Sniping
• Liquidations
• Long-tail MEV

note

As of July '23 we observe ~85% of transaction being submitted via the mempool, the remaining 15% is submitted as Private Order Flow (POF). Given NewTransactions has proven to be the fastest and most reliable stream of mempool data over multiple time periods, Builders and Searchers can integrate the stream to maximize their MEV capturing potential.

1.2 Transaction Inclusion Receipts

Fiber can also be leveraged by Builders and Searchers that are looking to confirm the inclusion of their transactions in the most recent block as fast as possible. On the Consensus Layer, Fiber provides the NewExecutionPayloads stream, which abstracts the payload from BeaconBlockBody and returns it as a separate stream.

Subscription to this stream allows Builders and Searchers to reduce transaction confirmation time by 40ms-200ms, compared to other services, such as Bloxroute.

To note, some applications include:

• Stat-Arb: Decrease the time to confirm on-chain transactions inclusion allows for more accurate hedging on CEXs
• Inquire at admin@chainbound.io for more information on MEV use-cases

1.3 Transaction Propagation

Via the sendTransaction API endpoint, searchers are able to submit transactions to the Ethereum network via Fiber. This has many use-cases, including:

• Redundancy in transaction submission - Fiber can be used as a backup to their main transaction submission service, which can be private or public.
• Censorship resistance - Fiber can be used to submit transactions to the Ethereum network in a way that is resistant to censorship.

danger

Fiber is not integrated with any Private Order Flow (POF) provider, therefore users should be mindful of the usual dangers of submitting to the public mempool (front-running, sandwiching attacks).

2. Systematic Risk Mitigation

2.1 Hacks Detection & Prevention

Hackers are constantly looking for new ways to exploit vulnerabilities in smart contracts.

With Fiber's stream, protocols and applications can track events in real-time to detect and prevent hacks, examples include:

• Automated defensive measures to protect users and funds (eg. hack-prevention via front-running malicious users)
• Automated detection of hacks and exploits with real-time alerts
• Real-time anomaly detection in smart contracts deployments and transactions

3. Validators

3.1 FiberBoost

FiberBoost is a service that allows proposers (and relays) to broadcast blocks through Fiber Network, resulting in fast, global block propagation. Blocks are broadcast internally over our high-speed links, as well as to all the consensus P2P peers Fiber is connected to. In practice, FiberBoost will reduce the probability of missed slots due to proposer boost & honest reorgs.

FiberBoost can boost blocks through the following 3 interfaces:

• API
• Modified MEV-Boost
• Direct P2P peering

Click here to get started.

3.2 FiberGuard

Validators can optimize their performance and minimize their p2p latency with the implementation of FiberGuard, an advanced technology designed to enhance their operations.

FiberGuard provides validators with a reliable and low-latency NewBeaconBlocks stream, which is crucial for promptly receiving new blocks. This capability enables validators to efficiently generate attestations and produce new blocks, improving their overall performance.

By adopting FiberGuard, validators can achieve the following benefits:

1. Reduced Streaming Latency: With FiberGuard, validators can experience significantly reduced streaming latency of BeaconBlock. This improvement can lead to up to 1-second reduction in latency when compared to a single node setup and a remarkable 50-200 milliseconds reduction compared to other existing services.

2. Enhanced Reliability and Uptime: Leveraging the distributed nature of the Fiber network, validators can increase the reliability and uptime of their operations. This means that validators are less prone to downtime or interruptions, resulting in a more dependable validation process.

3. Lower Operating Costs: One of the key advantages of utilizing FiberGuard is the cost reduction it offers to running a validator. By mitigating the risks of reorgs, missed attestations, or inactivity penalties, validators can avoid potential financial losses and optimize their profitability.

note

Attestations account for ~85% of the total validator yield over time. After the Altair upgrade, attestations are highly sensitive to latency: if the slot_delay of an attestation is larger than 1, the validator will miss out on more than 20% of the potential reward (read more about attestations rewards here).

The following chart shows the validator's reward over time, outlining the importance of slot_delay minimization.

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FiberGuard allows validators to connect to the stream via direct/trusted peering connections, allowing easy integration with an existing beacon node without requiring any additional software.

4. High-Frequency Trading

4.1 Signal generation

High Frequency Trading (HFT) across TradFi, CeFi and DeFi requires access to real-time data to generate signals and execute trades. Fiber provides a reliable and low-latency stream of the most up-to-date state (block) on Ethereum, giving trading shops a competitive edge over their competitors.

Two Fiber streams can be leveraged by HFTs:

• By subscribing to NewExecutionPayload, HFTs can process transactions, included in the most recent block, before the competition.
• HFTs can also subscribe to the NewTransactions stream to process pending transactions and generate signals based on transaction inputs.

Some benefits of using Fiber for HFT execution across TradFi, CeFi and DeFi include:

• Better informed Decision-Making trading logic
• More granular understanding of Trends and Patterns
• Ability to backtest and validate trading strategies via FiberDB

5. Research

5.1 P2P Network Exploration

note

Ethereum has the most decentralized P2P network of any of the blockchains currently running. The geo-distributed nature of Ethereum nodes lays the ground for many interesting analyses and explorations of the propagation of messages across the Ethereum network.

The analysis of Ethereum P2P network would be impossible to perform with a single node, or even a small cluster of nodes, but thanks to Fiber users can access a large network of nodes and perform analysis at scale.

Fiber and FiberDB can be used to perform analyses such as:

• Latency and delay analysis by comparing and contrasting data across multiple situations and time periods.
• Network topology analysis by identify the distribution of network participants. Understanding the network's structure is crucial for optimizing routing of messages.
• Network traffic analysis this includes evaluation of transaction and block propagation, as well as network hotspots.

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In addition to Fiber, we also provide FiberDB: a component that collects all message observations (transactions, blocks) from deployed Fiber nodes logging timestamp and geolocation of each. (more info on FiberDB here