Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, higher often called CZ, has floated the concept of a decentralized trade (DEX) the place order books and person positions are hidden to mitigate front-running and liquidation dangers.
The decision comes amid renewed consideration to Maximal Extractable Worth (MEV), the follow of manipulating transaction ordering for revenue.
The Darkish Pool Argument
In a June 1 post on X, CZ questioned why DEXs proceed to reveal person orders in real-time, noting that such transparency usually invitations predatory techniques like front-running and liquidation focusing on, notably within the perpetual futures markets.
“For perps (or futures), it’s much more vital to not let others know/see your orders,” CZ wrote. “If others can see your liquidation level, they may attempt to push the market to liquidate you. Even in the event you bought a billion {dollars}, others can gang up on you.”
The previous crypto govt drew a direct parallel to conventional finance (TradFi), the place giant institutional merchants routinely use so-called “darkish swimming pools,” non-public exchanges that disguise order books. He claimed such providers are sometimes “10 occasions larger” than regular order books.
To that finish, Zhao proposed that on-chain platforms may use zero-knowledge (ZK) cryptography or related encryption applied sciences to obscure commerce knowledge, together with orders and deposits, till they’re executed. In his opinion, this could create a buying and selling expertise that shields individuals, particularly whales, from MEV assaults and coordinated manipulation.
CZ’s suggestion comes after a collection of dramatic bets by crypto dealer James Wynn, who staked over $1 billion on BTC earlier than being liquidated throughout 4 completely different positions, totaling greater than $100 million. Following the occasion, Wynn tweeted that his expertise had uncovered the corruption within the crypto market, and he suggested merchants to purchase and maintain BTC as an alternative of utilizing it for top leverage.
Rising Options
A number of initiatives jumped on CZ’s put up to announce they have been actively working within the privateness area. Sam, from Tristero, revealed that for the final two years, his group has been creating an idea much like what the ex-Binance CEO had outlined.
Others like 0x0 and SKALE are additionally tackling the problem. 0x0 teased its upcoming Spectre platform, which allows privacy-preserving spot and leverage buying and selling, whereas SKALE just lately launched its BITE Protocol, a consensus-layer encryption software designed to remove MEV fully by stopping transaction visibility earlier than block finalization. “Reasonably than making use of band-aids, BITE addresses MEV at its root,” mentioned SKALE CEO Jack O’Holleran.
Nevertheless, not everyone seems to be singing from the identical hymn ebook. X Consumer Cedric Beau countered CZ’s proposal, arguing that darkish swimming pools basically contradict the ethos of crypto:
“Darkish swimming pools in crypto? That’s precisely the stuff we got here right here to keep away from,” said the decentralization fanatic. “The second you disguise the order ebook, you recreate insider video games.”
He additional warned that importing TradFi’s “shadowy methods” dangers shedding DeFi’s core worth proposition of openness. “Transparency’s messy, however a minimum of everybody performs on the identical discipline.”
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