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Arbitrum One has ditched its Timeboost transaction ordering system in favor of Priority Gas Auctions, a model that lets users compete for execution priority on every single transaction rather than winning broad time-based slots. The change went live on September 24, marking the end of a system that had only been running since April 2025.
Alongside PGA, the network is rolling out Fast Feed, a paid WebSocket service that gives subscribers access to ordered transaction data before it hits the standard sequencer feed.
How Priority Gas Auctions actually work
Under the old Timeboost model, users participated in sealed-bid, second-price auctions to secure priority over a chunk of time.
PGA flips the script. Instead of buying a time window, users set a maxPriorityFeePerGas value on individual transactions. These bids are evaluated in rapid-fire 125-millisecond rounds that fit inside 250-millisecond blocks.
The system also includes what Arbitrum calls an “anti-starvation mechanism.” In plain terms, transactions with low or zero tips don’t get permanently stuck at the back of the line. The mechanism ensures they eventually get processed.
Fast Feed: paying for speed, not for power
Fast Feed is the more commercially interesting piece of this upgrade. It delivers ordered transaction data to subscribers in real time, before that data becomes available through the standard sequencer feed that everyone else uses.
The key constraint: Fast Feed subscribers can see the order of transactions early, but they cannot change it.
Revenue from Fast Feed subscriptions splits 97% to the Arbitrum DAO Treasury and 3% to the Arbitrum Developer Guild.
Governance and competitive positioning
This wasn’t a top-down decision. The transition from Timeboost to PGA went through a full Constitutional AIP process, with an onchain vote in June 2026 that passed with overwhelming community support.
For context, Timeboost had only been live for about 17 months before the community decided to replace it.
For DeFi protocols building on Arbitrum, the shift to 125-millisecond bidding rounds within 250-millisecond blocks could improve execution quality for automated market makers, lending protocols, and any application where transaction ordering directly affects user outcomes.
PGA generates revenue through priority fees paid by all users, while Fast Feed captures willingness-to-pay from institutional participants who value speed. Together, they give the Arbitrum DAO two distinct revenue streams tied to transaction ordering and data availability.
Disclosure: This article was edited by Editorial Team. For more information on how we create and review content, see our Editorial Policy.
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