There’s a problem in the world of Web3. Automated bots and high-frequency traders dominate block inclusion on many blockchains, often at the expense of regular users. For example, an estimated 70% of on-chain stablecoin transactions were submitted by bots in 2023. In short, bots create congestion.
Priority Blockspace for Humans (PBH) on World Chain fixes that. Think of PBH as a highway for humans.
By enabling top-of-block priority for verified humans and, in the future, their agents, PBH eliminates the need to overpay gas fees just to ensure transactions go through. This open-source infrastructure also helps prevent exploitation by automated systems that manipulate transaction ordering to extract value at the expense of humans.
With PBH, the focus shifts from bots to optimizing blockchain usability for real people.
PBH is launching on the World Chain Sepolia testnet, representing a major step forward in aligning blockspace allocation with human-centric applications.
Developed in collaboration with Flashbots and Alchemy, and in consultation with Optimism and Paradigm/Ithaca, PBH is designed to ensure that blockchain remains a tool for people, rather than just an arena for automated trading strategies and bad bots.
Why PBH?
PBH is a game changer for everyday onchain activities by transforming the relationship between humans, bots, and blockspace. On Ethereum today, users are just one of many agents competing for priority in every block. When a user competes with bots in MEV auctions bidding up the cost of priority in a block, the user finds themselves at a disadvantage. By unlocking the ability for users to prove their humanity and access priority blockspace, PBH creates a more fair onchain world for everyday users.
PBH introduces a new transaction ordering policy that grants verified World ID holders top-of-block priority, reducing friction and making transactions fairer for real users. In the future, this top-of-block priority will also be extended to AI agents acting on their behalf.
Finally, PBH enables future innovations such as an EIP-1559-style fee market for verified transactions, improving user experience by allowing more predictable and accessible transaction inclusion.
“PBH is an entirely new mechanism to handle identity and resource pricing in a time of ever increasing bots, and an excellent use case for verifiable transaction ordering with Flashbots’ Rollup-Boost,” said Daniel Marzec, L2 Product Lead, Flashbots.
Join the PBH Incentivized Testnet at ETHDenver
To ensure PBH is robust, secure, and ready for mainnet deployment, World Chain operator Tools for Humanity is launching an incentivized testnet event in partnership with research and development organization Flashbots.
As the network for real humans built on the ethos of decentralization and transparency, World values the process of building in the open with engagement from the community. We’re actively working on testing PBH fully before mainnet launch later this year. An incentivized testnet event will run from February 28 – March 7, 2025 and we welcome your participation. Designed to stress-test PBH under real-world conditions, the event includes a warm up and a security-focused track, outlined below:
Warm-Up Game: PBH King of the Hill (Feb 28 – Mar 1)
A competitive on-chain game where players race to call a specific function first in each block. The player with the highest score at the end wins a prize.
Security Track (Feb 28 – Mar 7)
Security researchers and engineers can test PBH’s limits by identifying vulnerabilities, breaking invariants, and uncovering unintended behaviors. Successful findings will be rewarded based on severity.
Built with Flashbots
Built with Flashbots and Optimism, PBH is being released with Flashbots’ external block builder architecture for human-prioritized block construction.
Flashbots’ Rollup-Boost is designed to upgrade existing sequencers and provide a platform for performance, programmability, and decentralization for rollups. The incentivized testnet will provide valuable insights into PBH’s interaction with Optimism’s OP Stack and World Chain’s sequencing infrastructure (powered by Alchemy).
Next steps
This is just the beginning. With the insights shared through community participation from this testnet, we aim to refine PBH and integrate it into World Chain mainnet in the near future. We invite developers, researchers, and the broader community to participate and help shape the future of human-first blockchain infrastructure.
Want to get involved? Join the testnet, read the docs here and start building with PBH!
Disclaimer
The above content speaks only as of the date indicated. Further, it is subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, and so may be incorrect and may change without notice. A full disclaimer can be found in our Terms of Use and Important User Information can be found on our Risks page.