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2.4.2
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Always-on delegated auction service (multi-head)

The always-on delegated auction service is a persistent service for DApps, providing auctions-as-a-service across multiple Hydra heads to facilitate delegated auctions.

Application design

This proposal extends the single-head service. Independent heads do not automatically share bids, liquidity, or an auction's winning state. Hydra does not provide cross-head routing or atomic settlement.

Design requirements​

  • Assign each auction and its assets to a head, or define an explicit protocol for reconciling bids across heads.
  • Fund each head independently and retain its signed snapshots.
  • Specify how a bidder changes heads without duplicating a bid or spending the same funds twice.
  • Define deadlines and L1 recovery when one head stops progressing.
  • Explain the operators' trust assumptions and how the application chooses and enforces a single auction result.

Using more heads can distribute load and operator responsibility. It does not by itself let bidders safely continue the same auction elsewhere after a failure; that behavior requires application-level coordination.