Decibel Enables Encrypted Aptos Orders to Limit Front-Running

Decibel Trade has enabled optional encrypted order submissions on Aptos, concealing key transaction instructions while validators set block order to reduce exposure to front-running and sandwich attacks.

The feature hides the function a transaction calls and the arguments it carries. Sender addresses and gas fees remain visible. Traders choose whether to encrypt each transaction, so the protection applies only when they opt in.

Once validators fix a transaction’s position in a block, they collectively decrypt its instructions before executing it. The completed transaction remains onchain. Encryption limits access to the instructions while the order is pending; it does not make the final transaction private.

Decibel’s integration uses an Encrypted Mempool feature Aptos had already launched on its network. In a 50-node benchmark, the feature added about 20 milliseconds of latency per block. That is a network measurement, not a Decibel order-fill time or a measured reduction in attacks.

The design targets trading strategies that depend on seeing transaction instructions before block ordering is final.