Decibel Trade Activates Aptos Encrypted Mempool to Blind MEV Bots

Decibel Trade, an Aptos-incubated onchain exchange, activated Aptos' Encrypted Mempool on October 21, 2026, allowing users to encrypt order payloads client-side before broadcasting to the blockchain. The feature aims to prevent frontrunning and sandwich attacks by hiding the trade's specific function and inputs from MEV bots, though the sender address and gas fee remain visible. The capability leverages batch threshold encryption introduced by Aptos governance proposal AIP-144, which splits decryption keys across the existing validator set to ensure no single party can unlock pending orders early. Tests indicate the encryption process adds roughly 20 to 27 milliseconds of latency, representing about a 14% overhead on transaction times. Decibel Trade has processed over $8.2 billion in cumulative trading volume since its mainnet launch in February 2026, with approximately $1.3 billion generated in the 30 days prior to mid-October.