In the fast-paced world of cryptocurrency, an infamous maximal extractible value (MEV) sandwich bot known as “arsc” has raked in approximately $30 million from Solana users over the past two months through strategic MEV attacks.
MEV sandwich attacks involve an attacker placing their transactions before and after a victim’s transaction. By manipulating the price, they profit by buying the victim's tokens at a lower price and selling them at a higher price within the same block.
Ben Coverston, founder of MRGN Research, highlighted in a June 15 post on X that this bot has been meticulous in maintaining a low profile while accumulating significant profits. One of the bot's main wallet addresses, “9973h…zyWp6,” holds over $19 million, including $17 million worth of Solana (SOL) and $1.1 million in USD Coin (USDC). This wallet appears to serve as cold storage.
Another wallet, “Ai4zq…VXKKT,” is highly active in decentralized finance activities, gradually converting SOL into USDC and holding substantial positions in various assets. It contains over $9.9 million in total funds.
A third wallet, “BCbrp…vi58q,” identified as arsc’s “main SOL bank,” uses numerous signers and tippers to execute sandwich attacks. Combined, these three wallets hold nearly $29.8 million, suggesting the operator behind arsc is keen on avoiding attention by concealing their activities and profits.
MEV sandwich bots like arsc utilize sophisticated algorithms to identify and exploit profitable opportunities. This practice is also prevalent among MEV bots on Ethereum, with over $1.38 billion extracted from Ethereum users by April 2023, as reported by MEVBlocker.
Note: This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.