Definition
A PBS Market is a mechanism layer surrounding Proposer-Builder Separation in which block-building rights, block contents, or execution order are allocated through structured competition among specialized actors. It formalizes how builders, searchers, and related participants express preferences and prices for block space, and how these bids are aggregated and routed to the block proposer or validator under a defined set of rules and constraints.
In Simple Terms
A PBS Market is the organized marketplace that forms around Proposer-Builder Separation, where different parties compete to decide which transactions go into a block and in what order, and how much they are willing to pay for that privilege. It is the market structure that coordinates this competition for block space.
Context and Usage
The term PBS Market is used in discussions of protocol-level designs that separate block proposing from block building, especially in environments where MEV, gas pricing, and transaction ordering are economically significant. It appears in research on validator incentives, mempool design, and auction formats for block space, as well as in debates over how to structure competition among builders while preserving security and neutrality for validators and users.