Ripple CTO Defends XRPL Against Front-Running Concerns

Ripple's CTO Emeritus David Schwartz has addressed concerns about possible front-running on the XRP Ledger, where users may face disadvantages before transactions close on the ledger.

Schwartz acknowledged that the issue is 'true,' but noted that several factors reduce the risk. He said transactions are publicly visible before a ledger closes and that running a validator does not give an easy advantage unless several validators work together.

Schwartz proposed a possible transaction reservation scheme for users who want stronger protection, where a user would reserve a slot by naming a ledger sequence number and transaction ID, while paying a reservation fee. If the reservation succeeds and the user broadcasts the planned transaction before that ledger closes, the transaction would execute before any transaction that did not reserve a slot in the same ledger.

The concerns about front-running came as blockchain security firm Halborn completed a re-audit of the XRPL Lending Protocol for Ripple. The audit found no critical issues and added to the community discussion about XRPL security as the network moves toward more native DeFi features.