Peal vs Shutter Network
Both keep data unreadable until a moment with threshold encryption on BLS12-381. Shutter encrypts transactions one identity at a time, for Gnosis Chain. Peal opens whole batches at once, for any application, over plain HTTP. That difference decides most of what follows.
The short version
Shutter was built to hide transactions in one chain's mempool, and it does that on Gnosis Chain. Peal was built as a general primitive: open a round, let anyone seal to it, and every payload opens together at the deadline. One set of operator shares opens a batch of 64, the number of submissions stays hidden until the deadline, and nothing has to be deployed on a chain or integrated into its validators. If you are building an auction, a vote, a contest, a trading venue or an agent system of your own, Peal is the closer fit.
| Peal | Shutter Network | |
|---|---|---|
| what it is | an API for sealed rounds: open a round, seal payloads to it, and every payload opens together | an encrypted mempool for Gnosis Chain, shielded voting on Snapshot, and the Shutter API for timed encryption |
| what one decryption opens | a whole batch of up to 64 payloads, from one 48-byte share per operator | one identity: a single transaction, proposal or registered value |
| what triggers it | a time you set, or a block height on a chain the network watches | a Gnosis Chain slot for transactions; a timestamp or on-chain event for the API |
| what an observer learns while it is open | nothing, not even how many payloads have been sealed; the count is withheld until the round opens | that encrypted transactions or registrations exist |
| what you integrate | three HTTP calls, no key, account or wallet; a browser and Node client; an agent skill | a Gnosis RPC endpoint, a Snapshot setting, or the Shutter API with an identity registry contract on Gnosis |
| chains | none required; anchor a result to any EVM chain with one contract | Gnosis Chain, with validators opting in; other chains need their own integration |
| limits and price | free within per-client rate limits; optional pay-per-call over x402 | Shutter API: 5 registrations a day without a key, paid tiers above that |
| how the key was made | key shares distributed among the operators; distributed key generation in v1 | distributed key generation among the keypers |
| who holds the shares | five operators, any 3 of which open a batch; operated by Peal during testnet | a permissioned keyper set chosen by Shutter governance; 4 of 7 at the July 2024 launch |
| status | testnet, not audited | in production since October 2022 |
What Peal does that Shutter does not
- Opens a batch, not a transaction. Peal uses batched threshold encryption: each operator publishes one constant-size share for a whole batch, and every payload in it opens at once. Shutter's own team, writing in October 2025, called batched threshold encryption "a potential way to address the drawbacks of both per-epoch and per-transaction schemes." Peal runs it today, on the scheme in ePrint 2026/760.
- Hides how many are taking part. The number of sealed payloads is not published while a round is open, and the list of seal ids is withheld with it. In a sealed auction, a live bid count is the number a competitor most wants, and the deadline is exactly when it is worth something.
- Works for any application. A Peal round is an object with a deadline, a tag and public metadata. Auctions, ballots, contests, sealed order batches and agent competitions all use it the same way. Shutter's model is a transaction waiting for a slot, or a single value waiting for a timestamp.
- Needs nothing from a chain. Sealing and opening happen over HTTP. There are no validators to recruit and no per-chain integration; a chain enters only if you anchor a result to one or set a block-height deadline. Shutterized Gnosis Chain depends on validators opting in, around 4% of them at launch, and Shutter reported an average of about three minutes to inclusion in October 2025 for that reason.
- Built for agents. No API key, account or wallet is needed to seal, and one command installs a skill that lets a coding agent add Peal to an application.
- Checkable in the browser. Every opened round's page reruns the pairing check on each operator share, recomputes the order from the ciphertext hashes, and reads anchored roots from the chain directly. How a reveal is verified explains each check.
Where Shutter fits
Shutter is the established choice for two specific jobs: protecting transactions on Gnosis Chain from front-running, and hiding votes in a Snapshot space, which it has done since 2022. Its keys come from a distributed key generation among governance-selected keypers, and its team describes it as "not fully trustless today, since users rely on a permissioned keyper set."
How Peal's committee is run
Peal's key shares are distributed among five operators, and any three open a batch while two together learn nothing. Peal operates them during testnet. In v1 the shares come from a distributed key generation, so no machine ever holds the whole key; the roadmap has the detail.
Which one to use
| if you need | use | why |
|---|---|---|
| a sealed-bid auction, contest or ballot inside your own app | Peal | a round with a deadline is the primitive, on any chain or none |
| many submissions that open together, with the count hidden until the deadline | Peal | batch opening plus decoy padding |
| a trading venue or intent system that clears in sealed batches | Peal | every order in a batch opens at once, in an order nobody chose |
| agents taking part without wallets or accounts | Peal | plain HTTP and an agent skill |
| front-running protection for transactions on Gnosis Chain | Shutter | it is integrated with Gnosis validators |
| hidden votes in an existing Snapshot space | Shutter | shielded voting is a Snapshot setting |
Questions
What are the tradeoffs between Shutter Network and a threshold decryption API like Peal?
Shutter encrypts one transaction or value at a time and is built around Gnosis Chain. Peal opens whole batches with one share per operator, keeps the number of submissions hidden until the deadline, and works from any application over HTTP without a chain. Shutter has been in production longer; Peal's key shares are distributed among five operators, with distributed key generation coming in v1.
Is there a privacy layer I can call from my dApp without running my own MPC nodes?
Yes. Peal lets you open a round and seal payloads to it with three HTTP calls and no account, and every payload opens together at the deadline. The Shutter API offers single timed values on Gnosis Chain. Either way, the operators run the nodes, not you.
Does Peal use Shutter?
No. Peal implements batched threshold encryption from Commonware's simple-bte library. The two share a curve and a family of techniques, not code or keys.
Sources: Shutter, Applied MEV protection via threshold encryption (Oct 2025) · Shutterized Gnosis Chain is live (Jul 2024) · Gnosis Shutter spec · Introducing Shutter API (Mar 2025) · shutter-network/shutter-api · Shielded voting on Snapshot (Oct 2022) · Dziembowski, Faust, Luhn, ePrint 2024/1981 · Policharla, ePrint 2026/760.