this should work in theory - local is screwy though

app/Rules/NumericEncrypted.php

@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace App\Rules;
+
+use Closure;
+use Illuminate\Contracts\Encryption\DecryptException;
+use Illuminate\Contracts\Validation\ValidationRule;
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Crypt;
+
+class NumericEncrypted implements ValidationRule
+{
+    /**
+     * Run the validation rule.
+     *
+     * @param  \Closure(string): \Illuminate\Translation\PotentiallyTranslatedString  $fail
+     */
+    public function validate(string $attribute, mixed $value, Closure $fail): void
+    {
+        try {
+            $value = Crypt::decrypt($value);
+            if (!is_numeric($value)) {
+                $fail($attribute.' is not numeric.');
+            }
+        } catch (\Exception $e) {
+            $fail($e->getMessage());
+        }
+    }
+}