Startup looking to bring shared sequencing to life secures $1.7M

Radius is introducing a zero-knowledge solution dubbed Practical Verifiable Delay Encryption

June 21, 2023 09:00 am

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Radius, a startup looking to separate the tasks of sequencing and execution, has secured $1.7 million in its latest pre-seed funding round led by Hashed.

Other investors including Superscrypt, Lambdaclass and Crypto.com also participated in the round.

Radius is currently developing a trustless shared sequencing layer that aims to resolve the potentially damaging effects of centralized sequencing — where a single entity has control over the ordering of transactions in a block.

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“A sequencer may front-run or sandwich user transactions, creating adverse price effects and forcing users to pay more and wait longer for their transactions to go through,” the company wrote in a blog post.

Unlike traditional decentralized sequencer solutions, Radius notes that its zero-knowledge solution, “disempowers the influence of a centralized sequencer, rather than decentralizing it.” Its solution is known as the Practical Verifiable Delay Encryption (PVDE).

PVDE is designed to encrypt transactions and prevent the discovery of harmful maximum extractable value, or MEV — completely eliminating the need for trust in sequencers.

This means that when a user submits their transaction, the sequencer who is rearranging the transaction will not be able to view its contents.

AJ Ji Hoon Park, the founder of Radius, notes that the company is “committed to setting the standard for a trustless shared sequencing layer that not only maximizes revenue for Rollups but also safeguards users from the harmful effects of MEV.”

Alongside the development of PVDE, Radius is also creating an MEV-resistant decentralized exchange. This exchange, named 360, will protect its users from front-running bots and sandwich attacks.

Although it is unclear when 360 will be launched, the company notes that it plans to release an early version of its sequencing layer solution early next year.

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