Security Enhancement in DeFi Transactions - The industry is exploring mechanisms to protect users from malicious sandwich attacks by validators in decentralized finance (DeFi) transactions [1] - A novel approach involves enabling transactions to react dynamically to potentially malicious validators, rather than simply reverting [1][2] - The proposed solution adjusts transaction slippage (potentially to 0% or a fraction of the original x%) when a malicious validator is detected [2] Technical Implementation - The solution uses on-chain logic to determine validator status, as the exact validator is unknown at transaction creation [2] - The program accesses the current slot to identify potentially malicious validators, using a compact representation (14 bytes, reducible) [2][3] - The list of malicious validators and their upcoming slots can be sourced from an API or user-provided data [3] Usage and Integration - The solution can be implemented as a simple instruction, integrated with routers like Jupiter v6 to dynamically override slippage, or called directly via CPI from other programs [3] - The prototype is experimental and not deployed on-chain, feedback and contributions are welcome [4]

Staking Education & Community Building - OctantApp is collaborating with ethstaker to host two staking workshops leading up to Devconnect [2] - The first workshop is a beginner-level session on July 22nd, designed to introduce independent staking and node operations [1][2] - A second, more advanced workshop will be held on August 7th, requiring attendance and task completion from the first workshop [3] Workshop Details - The beginner workshop on July 22nd will cover staking setups and include a take-home task to set up a test node [2] - Participation in the first workshop is mandatory to qualify for the advanced workshop [3] - Sign-up for the workshops requires filling out a form [3]