# A Quick Overview of Timeboost

### Overview

Arbitrum has introduced **Timeboost**, an optional transaction ordering mechanism that augments the default First-Come, First-Served (FCFS) policy with a **sealed-bid second-price auction** for **express-lane rights**. This mechanism provides successful bidders with prioritized access to blockspace by bypassing an artificial delay applied to standard transactions.

**Artificial Delay Mechanism**

In Timeboost, all transactions submitted to Arbitrum’s sequencer are subject to a **200ms artificial delay** before they are eligible for inclusion—except for those sent by the **express-lane token holder**. This delay functions as a "latency equalizer," ensuring that transaction ordering is no longer dictated solely by raw network latency.

**Express Lane Auction Structure**

* **Round Duration**\
  Timeboost operates in **60-second rounds**. Each round grants exclusive express-lane access to a single address, referred to as the **round winner**.
* **Lane Control Rights**\
  The winning bidder may designate any address to act on their behalf for that round. This control can be **delegated, sub-leased, or transferred**. Gattaca leverages this capability by bidding for round access and redistributing express-lane privileges to searchers via an internal sub-auction.
* **Transaction Wrapping**\
  When a searcher submits a transaction to Gattaca for express-lane inclusion, we automatically **wrap the transaction in the express-lane format** and **sign it using the authorized token holder’s credentials**. This signals to the Arbitrum sequencer that the transaction is exempt from the 200ms delay and should be prioritized accordingly.


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