Updated: June 6, 2024, 3:34 AM EDT
Over the past day, a MEV bot operator using the ENS name “jaredfromsubway.eth” has spent over 210 ETH ($810,000) in Ethereum gas fees.
According to data from Etherscan, this amount represents almost 1.5% of all gas fees on the network during this period, making it the network’s largest gas spender.
This high-frequency engaging bot is particularly focused 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, bots spent a total of 76,916 ETH. This equates to approximately $175 million based on the value at the time the transaction was executed.
MEV, or “maximum extractable value,” involves strategies that manipulate the order of transactions to gain an advantage. MEV bots can leverage on-chain token swaps using techniques such as sandwich attacks.
In a sandwich attack, a bot discovers a user’s upcoming transaction and places its own transaction with a higher gas fee to buy or sell the same cryptocurrency right before the user’s transaction, resulting in price fluctuations.
In order to immediately complete transactions for MEV activity, MEV bot operators spend a lot of gas fees, including lucrative tips that are passed on to validators.
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