Aptos has deployed an encrypted mempool on its mainnet to mitigate MEV-related sandwich attacks. The feature allows users to opt-in for individual transactions, keeping data hidden until block finalization. While sender addresses and fees remain public, transaction functions and inputs are encrypted using threshold cryptography.
The system requires a two-thirds majority of validators to decrypt data, ensuring no single node or small group can access transaction details prematurely. The implementation, detailed in AIP-144 and audited by ZKSecurity, adds approximately 20ms to block processing times. Encrypted transactions carry a minimum gas fee of 200 octas per unit.
The Petra wallet has integrated the feature, and the Decibel exchange plans to use it for order protection. Support is available via TypeScript SDK 7.0.0. Aptos notes that this native consensus-based approach differs from external RPC-based solutions used in other networks, as it eliminates the need to trust third-party intermediaries.
Recent data highlights the scale of the issue: sandwich attacks on Ethereum cost users $60 million over the 12 months leading to October 2025. On Solana, bots executed nearly 6.9 million such operations between October 2025 and October 2026, extracting $29.7 million from 2.2 million wallets.
