Rebar Labs Vision | Capturing the BTC Transaction Vertical

The concept of Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) fundamentally transformed Ethereum's economic landscape, with Flashbots emerging as the dominant force that captured and systematized MEV extraction. Since 2020, the team has facilitated over $2.9B in MEV on Ethereum, by creating a comprehensive infrastructure that spans the entire transaction lifecycle, from mempool monitoring to block construction and value distribution.

This transformation established a clear playbook: control the critical junctures of transaction flow, and you control value extraction. Flashbots achieved this through mev-geth, mev-boost, and their relay infrastructure, creating what amounts to a vertically integrated MEV supply chain. They didn't just build tools; they captured the entire transaction vertical from searcher identification to validator execution.

Now, Bitcoin stands at a similar inflection point. The emergence of Metaprotocols—Alkanes, Ordinals, BRC-20 tokens, and Layer 2 protocols—has introduced unprecedented complexity to Bitcoin's transaction landscape. What was once a simple payment network now hosts DeFi protocols, NFT trading, and complex smart contracts, creating the same MEV opportunities that were capitalized on in Ethereum.

Rebar Labs recognized this moment in early 2024, and has positioned itself as Bitcoin's answer to Flashbots, building comprehensive infrastructure to capture the entire BTC transaction vertical through its integrated product suite.

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To understand Rebar Labs' strategic approach, we must first map Bitcoin's transaction vertical and identify the critical control points where value can be extracted and redistributed. This vertical encompasses five distinct phases, each representing an opportunity for infrastructure capture:

Phase 1: Transaction Genesis & Data Access — Users create transactions, requiring real-time access to Bitcoin state, mempool conditions, and cross-protocol data. This phase demands comprehensive APIs and RPC endpoints.

Phase 2: Transaction Intelligence & Analytics — Before broadcasting, sophisticated users need transaction analysis, MEV opportunity identification, and risk assessment capabilities.

Phase 3: Transaction Protection & Routing — Users require protection from front-running, sandwich attacks, and other MEV extraction while ensuring optimal transaction execution.

Phase 4: Value Discovery & Marketplace Creation — The ecosystem needs mechanisms for fair price discovery, MEV sharing, and transparent value distribution between users, searchers, and miners.

Phase 5: Execution & Settlement — Finally, transactions need reliable, fast execution with guarantees around ordering and finality.

Each phase represents a potential monopolization point where infrastructure providers can extract fees, direct flow, and capture value. Flashbots succeeded by controlling multiple phases simultaneously—relay infrastructure (routing), MEV-Boost (execution), and Flashbots Protect (protection). Rebar Labs is pursuing the same vertical integration strategy across Bitcoin's transaction lifecycle.

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Rebar Labs has architected a comprehensive product ecosystem designed to capture each critical phase of Bitcoin's transaction vertical. Unlike fragmented competitors who focus on individual components, Rebar Labs is building integrated infrastructure that creates natural synergies and network effects between products.

Rebar API serves as the foundational data layer, providing GraphQL and RESTful endpoints for comprehensive Bitcoin ecosystem access. This isn't merely another blockchain API—it's being specifically designed for MEV-aware applications with real-time mempool monitoring, cross-protocol state tracking, and metaprotocol data aggregation. The API's metaprotocol focus differentiates it from general Bitcoin data providers by allowing BTC DeFi protocol to acquire realtime, accurate and nuanced data—in order to build data hungry applications in the ecosystem.

This positions Rebar API as the data monopoly for Bitcoin MEV applications. Just as Dune Analytics and The Graph became essential infrastructure for Ethereum DeFi, Rebar API is capturing the equivalent position in Bitcoin's emerging ecosystem in one universal endpoint schema.

Rebar RPC provides JSON-RPC endpoints optimized for deterministic, low-latency access to Bitcoin L1 data and emerging execution layers. This addresses a critical gap in Bitcoin infrastructure: most existing RPC providers optimize for basic payment use cases, not complex DeFi applications requiring sub-second response times and guaranteed consistency.

The RPC's execution layer focus anticipates Bitcoin's evolution toward more complex programmability. As DEXs like Oyl AMM gain adoption and require specialized RPC endpoints (specifically designed for speed of execution), Rebar Labs is positioning its offerings accordingly with its already adopted transaction accelerator service. By establishing RPC dominance early, Rebar Labs creates a switching cost moat along with order flow dominance. Once applications integrate Rebar RPC's specialized endpoints, migrating to alternative providers becomes technically burdensome and economically inefficient.

Rebar Data represents Bitcoin's first comprehensive explorer with unified search across all major metaprotocols. This product will capture the analytics and intelligence phase of the transaction vertical, soon providing users with the insights needed to identify MEV opportunities and optimize transaction strategies.

Traditional Bitcoin explorers like to focus on basic transaction tracking. Rebar Data creates a unified interface for Ordinals collections, BRC-20 trading patterns, and Alkanes. This comprehensive view is essential for identifying complex MEV opportunities that span multiple protocols.

The network effects are powerful: as more users rely on Rebar Data for analysis, the platform captures more usage patterns and can provide increasingly sophisticated insights. Further, Rebar Data will add a trading UI & UX, allowing users to review relevant data and act on it—capturing further TX within the vertical. This creates a data flywheel where better analytics attract more users, generating better data, attracting more users and ultimately transaction capture.

Rebar Shield directly addresses Bitcoin's emerging MEV problem by providing a private mempool alternative with MEV protection. This product mirrors Flashbots Protect but is specifically designed for Bitcoin's unique transaction structures and growing complexity.

Shield's private transaction submission with now more than 30% hashrate capture via Mining Pools and multiple BTC DeFi application integrations (e.g., OylSwap), protects users from inscription sniping, sandwich attacks on token trades, and front-running of large Bitcoin transactions. By routing transactions through trusted mining pool partnerships, Shield ensures fair execution while providing pools with an alternative revenue stream.

The two-sided network effects are crucial: more users seeking protection make Shield more attractive to mining pools (due to higher transaction volume and fees), while more mining pool partnerships make Shield more attractive to users (due to higher execution probability and better pricing). This along with a direct UI/UX integration via Rebar Data, and additional products like Rebar Earn (coming soon) further expands Rebar Labs ability to capture users' transactions.

Rebar Marketplace represents the culmination of Rebar Labs' vertical integration strategy, creating mechanisms for transparent MEV discovery and fair value distribution. While not yet live, this product mirrors Flashbots Auction's bundle marketplace, adapted for Bitcoin's unique characteristics.

The marketplace will enable Bitcoin searchers to compete for MEV opportunities through sealed-bid auctions, while ensuring a portion of extracted value flows back to origin users. This addresses the primary criticism of MEV—that it's an "invisible tax" on regular users—by making value extraction transparent and partially redistributed.

Network effects reach maximum potential here: more searchers create better price discovery for MEV opportunities, more mining pools provide better execution guarantees, and more users generate more MEV opportunities. The marketplace becomes the central coordination point for Bitcoin's MEV ecosystem.

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Rebar Labs' path to transaction vertical dominance follows a proven sequence designed to maximize network effects and capture a growing share of volume. Our products and services will synergistically grow with the broader Bitcoin ecosystem through time:

Phase 1 (Current): Establish foundational infrastructure through API and RPC adoption. Focus on developer experience and superior performance to capture market share from incumbent providers.

Phase 2 (2026): Launch comprehensive analytics and MEV protection as Bitcoin DeFi ecosystem reaches critical mass. Capitalize on increasing trading across metaprotocols such as Alkanes, BRC20, and Runes while supporting the growth of programmable Bitcoin applications.

Phase 3 & 4 (2026-2027): Deploy marketplace infrastructure to capture MEV value distribution. At this point, network effects should create a winner-take-all dynamic similar to Flashbots' Ethereum dominance.

Value extraction occurs through API usage fees, RPC subscription revenue, Shield transaction fees, and marketplace commissions. As the ecosystem matures, take rates increase due to switching costs and network effects. Given Ethereum's activity, estimates suggest Bitcoin's MEV market could reach $100-500 million annually within three years, with infrastructure providers capturing 10-20% through platform fees. Rebar Labs' vertical integration will command premium pricing relative to single-product competitors.

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Rebar Labs is at the forefront of Bitcoin's evolution from a simple payment network to a sophisticated financial ecosystem requiring specialized infrastructure. By capturing multiple phases of the transaction vertical simultaneously, Rebar Labs is intentionally positioning itself to become Bitcoin's dominant MEV infrastructure provider.

Precedent demonstrates that early infrastructure providers can achieve sustainable monopolization in MEV ecosystems. Flashbots' recent acquisition of Beaver Build is just one example, along with its already dominant market position validating the winner-take-all dynamics in blockchain infrastructure.

As Bitcoin DeFi continues evolving toward greater programmability via Metaprotocols, the need for specialized MEV infrastructure will only intensify. Rebar Labs' comprehensive approach positions us to capture the majority of this growing value stream, establishing themselves as Bitcoin's essential financial infrastructure layer. The integrated product suite creates compounding advantages: better data improves analytics, better analytics enable superior protection, superior protection attracts more users, more users captured TXs and better marketplace liquidity.

The transaction vertical capture strategy is not merely about building products—it's about becoming the economic vertical and coordination layer for DeFi on Bitcoin. With this vision in mind, Rebar Labs can dominate the infrastructure and value capture mechanisms (i.e., MEV) that will define how value flows through Bitcoin's ecosystem for the coming years.

Upwards and Onwards,

Rebar Labs Team