Key Takeaways:
- David Schwartz proposed a transaction reservation scheme for XRPL
- XRPresso claimed validators can front-run payments and DEX trades
- Reserved transactions would execute before any later-disclosed trades
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Schwartz proposes XRPL fix with 2x fee reservation plan
David Schwartz proposed a transaction reservation scheme requiring a 2x fee after claims that XRPL users face front-running on payments and DEX trades.
"Validators and well-connected nodes can view transactions in the pre-validation queue, then submit their own transactions to seek a better position," XRPresso, an XRP Ledger-based marketplace, said in a post. The group said the issue matters most for users trading through wallets and dApps, where repeated submissions may raise the chance of landing near a target trade and worsen slippage when a sandwich strategy succeeds.
The proposal would add a ReservedTxns ledger object holding a sequence number and transaction IDs. A TxnReserve transaction would let users reserve a slot for a future ledger at twice the normal fee, with a target ledger no more than 16 ledgers ahead and fewer than 32 transaction IDs per object. When that ledger executes, the network would check for the ReservedTxns object and run listed transactions before others, then remove them from the set to stop repeat execution and delete the reservation object.
Schwartz said a reservation should cost at least twice the normal transaction fee. The target ledger would need to be greater than the current ledger and no more than 16 ledgers ahead. Each reserved object would hold fewer than 32 transaction IDs, unless the design later expands the cap. XRPL documentation says canonical ordering is built to be deterministic, efficient and hard to game, though its DEX documentation says transaction order is designed to discourage front-running because trades execute when a new ledger closes. Its algorithmic trading documentation says front-running is difficult but not impossible.
The debate started after XRPresso said some actors may be able to view pending transactions before a ledger closes and use that information to target trades. According to the post, the final order inside each ledger follows a known deterministic process, and repeated submissions may raise the chance of landing near a target trade, potentially worsening slippage for the original trader.
The timing comes as XRPL developers expand the network's DeFi stack. The XRPL Foundation recently proposed AMM Swappable Curves, a draft upgrade adding StableSwap and concentrated liquidity to the native automated market maker. XRPL is also preparing native lending and programmable escrow tools, with institutional use cases including a tokenized Treasury settlement involving Ripple and JPMorgan. As activity grows, transaction ordering and pending trade visibility may draw more attention from builders, traders and validators.
Schwartz also addressed possible denial-of-service risks. He said an attacker could try to fill reservation slots across many ledgers, but rising fees could make that costly. Under one example, fees would rise once 16 slots are filled and could reach several times the base reserve near 30 slots. The proposal is not yet a formal amendment, but it gives the XRPL community a clear technical path to review.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
