Dual FlowBatch Auctions
How trading could work if it were designed for humans, not bots
The Coffee Shop That Favors Bots
In a CLOB exchange, speed is everything.
Imagine walking into a coffee shop. You see a latte for $5.00. But before you can say "I'll take it," a high-frequency trading bot — connected to the exchange with a fiber-optic cable — detects your order and buys the coffee in front of you.
The price jumps to $5.50. The bot sells it back to you at a profit. You never even knew what happened. This is front-running, and it happens millions of times per day on traditional exchanges.
Billions Wasted on Microseconds
Spent annually on HFT infrastructure
Average latency advantage exploited
Of that spending benefits regular traders
The entire high-frequency trading industry is an arms race over microseconds. Exchanges sell "co-location" services so traders can place servers physically closer to matching engines. None of this makes markets better — it just makes them faster for those who can afford it.
Now Imagine a Fair Coffee Shop
Everyone gets the same price.
In a batch auction, all orders are collected over a short window (e.g., 100ms), then matched simultaneously at a single uniform clearing price. No one can jump the line because there is no line — everything settles at once.
No cutting in line. No bots. One fair price for everyone.
This is a Dual Flow Batch Auction.
Two Lanes, One Fair Price
In a Dual Flow auction, market makers and natural traders are placed into separate auction pools. They only interact at the clearing price — makers never trade with other makers. This eliminates adversarial dynamics and creates a genuinely two-sided marketplace.
Five Steps to a Fair Trade
Orders Accumulate
All buy and sell orders are collected over a 100ms batch window. No order is processed before the window closes.
Sort Into Two Groups
Orders are classified as maker (providing liquidity) or taker (seeking execution).
Two Auctions Run
Separate uniform-price auctions run for makers and takers, finding supply and demand equilibrium independently.
Uniform Clearing Price
A single clearing price is computed. All matched orders fill at this price — no partial fills, no slippage.
Repeat Every 100ms
The process restarts. 10 auctions per second, each fair, each MEV-resistant by design.
Price Improvement for Everyone
DFBA: Both sides win
Makers sell at a higher price than their limit. Takers buy at a lower price than their limit. The clearing price improves outcomes for both sides simultaneously.
CLOB: Only takers improve
In a traditional order book, makers always get their limit price or worse. Only takers experience any form of "improvement" — and even that comes with slippage.
CLOB vs Dual Flow Batch Auction
| Feature | CLOB | DFBA |
|---|---|---|
| Matching | First-come, first-served | Batch uniform price |
| Priority | Speed & queue position | Price only |
| Fill Price | Varies per order | Same for everyone |
| Price Improvement | Taker only (slippage) | Both makers & takers |
| MEV Vulnerability | High (front-running, sandwich) | Zero by design |
| Effective Spreads | Wide (toxic flow costs) | Tighter (no adverse selection) |
| Infrastructure Cost | $5.7B+ for HFT systems | Standard servers suffice |
Better for Everyone
Regular Trader
Tighter spreads, no front-running, fair execution every time.
Market Maker
Less toxic flow, compete on price quality not speed infrastructure.
Fairness Advocate
Volume = real activity, not bot noise. Markets you can actually trust.
Where It's Happening
Superluminal × Fogo
The Prism Engine powers perp and spot markets with dual-flow batch auctions.