Aptos is preparing to tackle one of the biggest challenges in blockchain networks — MEV (Maximum Extractable Value) — with the introduction of Encrypted Mempools, a system designed to keep user transactions confidential before execution.
Today, nearly every blockchain reveals a user’s next move — what they’re buying, how much, and when — enabling frontrunning, censorship, and a multi-billion-dollar MEV shadow market. Aptos aims to change that dynamic.
If approved by governance, Aptos could become the first Layer-1 network to implement such a feature natively.
Through Encrypted Mempools, users will be able to send encrypted payloads (ciphertexts) directly to validators, keeping transaction amounts and details private until final execution on-chain.
The feature is designed to combat frontrunning, order-flow sales, and information leakage. Encryption and decryption will occur natively on validators, with no expected performance trade-offs.
The innovation relies on a new Batched Threshold Decryption scheme developed by the Aptos Labs research team, allowing validators to collectively decrypt transaction batches with a single lightweight operation — reducing computational overhead and adding less than 20ms of latency.
This advancement could:
→ Unlock full intent confidentiality for traders,
→ Provide native order-flow protection for decentralized exchanges like DecibelTrade,
→ Build institutional confidence to move large volumes on-chain without exposing strategy.
