Over the past day, the MEV bot operator using the ENS name “jaredfromsubway.eth” has spent over 210 eth ($810,000) on gas fees on Ethereum.
This amount represents nearly 1.5% of all gas fees on the network during this period, positioning it as the top gas fees spender on the network, according to data from Etherscan.
This bot, which engages in high-frequency trading, notably focuses on targeting on-chain memecoin traders. Ethereum memecoins have recently seen a resurgence led by tokens such as Pepe, Wojak, Turbo, and Mog.
From February 2023 to June 2024, the bot has spent a total of 76,916 ETH, which equates to about $175 million, calculated based on the value at the time those transactions were executed.
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MEV, or “maximal extractable value,” involves strategies that manipulate the order of transactions to gain advantages. On-chain swaps of tokens can be exploited by MEV bots using techniques like sandwich attacks.
In a sandwich attack, a bot spots an upcoming transaction from a user and places its own transaction with a higher gas fee to purchase or sell the same cryptocurrency immediately before the user’s transaction, resulting in a price shift.
To get their trades immediately filled on MEV activities, MEV bot operators spend a lot of gas fees, including lucrative tips passed on to validators.
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