As memecoins like pepe (PEPE) and chad (CHAD) gain popularity on Crypto Twitter, sandwich bots are reaping the rewards of their sudden rise. These bots are using a technique called a “sandwich attack” to front-run trades and profit off unsuspecting users, media reports said.
The sandwich attack involves trapping a user’s transaction between two others, buying the same asset, and then selling it to the victim for a slightly higher price. While this behavior is not considered an exploit, it is seen as predatory and leads to a spike in gas fees, ultimately harming both the network and users.
Despite this, sandwich bots have been able to skim millions of dollars from thousands of wallets in recent weeks. One wallet, with the name “Jaredfromsubway.eth” (likely a reference to the popular sandwich chain), has spent over $2 million in Ethereum network fees alone to execute these trades.
As with any gold rush, it seems that shovel makers – in this case, the sandwich bots – are benefitting the most. However, it remains to be seen whether this behavior will be addressed by the crypto community in a meaningful way to protect users and the network.
It’s not yet clear how much the bots made through front-running but they spent a considerable amount. It’s likely that their gains exceeded the costs.
