How Does the Existence of MEV Affect the Average User’s Transaction Cost?

MEV significantly increases the average user's transaction cost in several ways. Firstly, front-running and sandwich attacks cause the victim to execute their trade at a worse price, which is an implicit cost.

Secondly, the competition among MEV searchers to win the front-running opportunity drives up the gas price for all transactions in a "gas war," leading to higher explicit transaction fees for every network user.