Discussion topic for EIP-8184: LUCID encrypted mempool (PR).
Description
Public encrypted mempool for commit-before-reveal inclusion of MEV-sensitive transactions, without enshrining a specific encryption scheme.
Relevant resources
- LUCID encrypted mempool research post.
- Original research post for Sealed Transactions, with comments about extension to encrypted mempool.
- Research post introducing auditable builder bids (ABBs).
- EIP-8105 with associated research post by Jannik Luhn. The idea of executing the decrypted transactions in the context of the commitment block was derived from this research.
- Post on Why Ethereum needs an Encrypted Mempool by Julian Ma.
- FAQ maintained by Shutter.
Special thanks to the Shutter team including Jannik Luhn and Luis Bezzenberger; the EF cryptography team, including Benedikt Wagner and Gottfried Herold; and Potuz.
Note that some details regarding resource pricing in the EIP still remain to be settled.
Abstract
This EIP specifies LUCID, a mechanism for carrying encrypted transactions through Ethereum’s public inclusion pipeline while keeping their contents hidden until after the scheduling decision has been fixed. By requiring commitment before reveal and delaying decryption until that point, LUCID protects MEV-sensitive order flow, limits probabilistic front-running by minimizing pre-execution information leakage, and broadens the practical censorship resistance of inclusion lists. The design remains open to different off-protocol decryption schemes, including trustless self-decryption, rather than coupling Ethereum to a single enshrined cryptographic construction.