Skale Labs unveils AI-optimized, MEV-resistant Layer 1 network FAIR

Quick Take

FAIR leverages Skale’s BITE protocol, which encrypts transactions to mitigate harmful forms of MEV.
The FAIR testnet will launch sometime this summer, with the mainnet rollout planned for Q4 2025.

Skale Labs has unveiled a maximum extractible value (MEV)-resistant Layer 1 blockchain called FAIR, which aims to keep pace with increased AI integration in web3 tech.

FAIR leverages Skale's recently proposed BITE protocol, which encrypts transaction details before finalization to mitigate harmful forms of MEV. A parallelized virtual machine — built using the coding language C++ — will enable FAIR to provide asynchronous executions and instant finality, according to a press release.

"Blockchains that don't solve for MEV will someday be obsolete," SKALE Labs co-founder and CEO Jack O'Holleran said. "FAIR solves for MEV by embedding encryption directly into consensus and is the first truly MEV-resistant blockchain, solving a problem the industry has long accepted as inevitable."

MEV refers to the excess profit blockchain validators can make by reordering, including, or excluding transactions in the blocks they produce to exploit opportunities like arbitrage, liquidations, or front-running — often at a trader's expense.

The FAIR Layer 1 will also integrate "native" AI systems for improved blockchain security and user-friendliness, and provide a platform for developers to build AI-driven applications and autonomous agents. O'Holleran referred to FAIR as an infrastructure layer that extends basic privacy and security guarantees traditionally expected by "institutional quant funds" to "financial AI" agents, enabling them to operate "privately, without front-running or manipulation."

"We're at an inflection point where AI agents will soon outnumber human traders in DeFi markets," O'Holleran told The Block in an email. "The current MEV landscape isn't just unfair to users — it's completely incompatible with autonomous AI systems that need predictable, manipulation-free execution."

The FAIR testnet will launch sometime this summer, with a mainnet rollout planned for the fourth quarter of 2025. The team also plans to introduce a native SKL token to power burn mechanics and other network purposes, likely after the mainnet launch, the company said. This dual-token model is expected to create value across both the FAIR and SKALE network ecosystems.

Telecommunications firm Vodafone will join FAIR as a founding validator of the network.

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