This is a deeply misleading headline. Other people have explained it as well, but Flashbots is a relay for transmitting transactions to the Ethereum network in a way that preserves their privacy (and exposure to something called MEV[1]). It's purely optional and the vast majority of transactions[2] do not actually pass through this relay. MEV is an interesting area of research[3].
Unrelated aside: why is the quality of Hacker News posts and comments on crypto so bad? I experience extreme Gell-Mann amnesia[4] almost every post I read. This is the industry I work in and the amount of misinformation produced and spread on Hacker News is absurd.
> Unrelated aside: why is the quality of Hacker News posts and comments on crypto so bad? I experience extreme Gell-Mann amnesia[4] almost every post I read.
It's because the posters think they are smart. With every passing day that cryptocurrencies become adopted/accepted, their smartness becomes questionable, even to themselves. For them, it is easier to double down on the flawed arguments - well over 10 years now - than accept that while they are smart in some areas, they are not in all.
It's because the posters think they are smart. With every passing day that cryptocurrencies become adopted/accepted, their smartness becomes questionable, even to themselves. For them, it is easier to double down on the flawed arguments - well over 10 years now - than accept that while they are smart in some areas, they are not in all.