In the rapidly evolving crypto ecosystem, security risks are becoming smarter, faster, and highly automated. Among these threats, sandwich attacks continue to dominate decentralized finance (DeFi), silently exploiting unaware traders and draining millions each year. With the rise of AI-powered tools, automated arbitrage systems, and automated liquidity drain bots, attackers today don’t need to manually scout the blockchain—they deploy code that detects profitable opportunities within seconds.
Even though sandwich attacks have existed for years, the complexity of decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and the growing use of automation have made them more dangerous and harder to detect. This article breaks down what sandwich attacks are, how they work, why they’re becoming more common, and how users can protect themselves—including from automated liquidity drain bots designed to exploit every possible transaction mismatch.
What Exactly Is a Sandwich Attack?
A sandwich attack is a type of front-running strategy used by malicious actors on decentralized exchanges. It happens when an attacker “sandwiches” a user’s transaction between two of their own trades. By manipulating the price before and after the victim’s trade, the attacker profits while the victim receives a worse price.
The attack generally occurs in three simple steps:
The attacker sees a pending trade in the mempool (e.g., someone buying a token).
They quickly place their own buy order first, driving the price up.
After the victim’s transaction gets executed at a now-inflated price, the attacker immediately sells their tokens at a profit.
The user ends up paying much more or receiving much less, while the attacker walks away with guaranteed profit.
Why Are Sandwich Attacks Increasing in 2025–2026?
The surge of automated systems is the biggest reason. Attackers no longer sit and manually monitor mempools; they deploy automated liquidity drain bots to detect large or profitable trades.
These bots:
Read pending transactions in real-time
Predict slippage tolerance
Inject high-velocity transactions
Exploit pricing logic on AMM-based DEXs
Perform the entire sandwich attack within a fraction of a second
As DeFi volume and meme-token trading boom, opportunities for these bots grow exponentially. Even traders who believe they are using “safe” slippage settings are often still vulnerable.
How Does a Sandwich Attack Work on a Technical Level?
To understand the mechanics, we need to look at how automated market makers (AMMs) function. AMMs like Uniswap follow formulas that instantly adjust prices based on token ratios in liquidity pools.
Here’s what happens under the hood:
Step 1: Monitoring the Mempool
All pending transactions sit in the mempool before being added to a block. Attackers run bots that watch for:
High-value swaps
High slippage tolerance
Low-liquidity pools (easier to manipulate)
This is where automated liquidity drain bots excel: they constantly scan and calculate profit opportunities.
Step 2: The Attacker’s First Transaction (Front-run)
The bot quickly sends a buy transaction with a higher gas fee than the victim. Miners/validators prioritize it, letting the bot manipulate the token price upward.
Step 3: The Victim’s Transaction Executes at a Bad Price
The victim unknowingly completes their swap at an inflated rate because AMMs adjust prices based on pool ratios.
Step 4: The Attacker’s Second Transaction (Back-run)
Once the user’s trade settles, the bot sells the tokens it previously bought. The profit comes from the price difference before and after the victim’s trade.
Who Is Most at Risk of Sandwich Attacks?
Although anyone trading on a DEX can be targeted, some groups face higher risk:
1. Beginners
New users typically leave default slippage settings unchanged, making them easy targets.
2. Traders Buying Low-Liquidity Tokens
Low-cap or newly launched tokens are manipulated more easily.
3. High-Volume Traders
Bots look for large swaps where price movement is meaningful.
4. Users Trading During High Network Congestion
High traffic gives bots more time to detect trades in the mempool and react.
The Rise of Jaredfromsubway.eth: The Bot That Spent Millions to Sandwich Traders
One of the most infamous examples of automated trading manipulation in the crypto world is the MEV bot known as jaredfromsubway.eth. This bot became a sensation in 2023–2024 for a shocking reason—it reportedly spent millions of dollars in gas fees simply to execute sandwich attacks on traders across decentralized exchanges like Uniswap.
How the Bot Worked
Jaredfromsubway.eth specialized in MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) strategies.
It used high gas fees to outbid regular users and position its transactions before and after a user’s swap.
By doing this, the bot could artificially push prices up, then sell back into the user’s trade for profit.
The bot operated with extreme aggressiveness, often dominating entire blocks of Ethereum transactions.
Why It Became So Notorious
It frequently paid $500k+ in gas fees in a single day, something almost unheard of for a single wallet.
At one point, it was responsible for up to 7% of all Ethereum network gas usage.
Small retail traders became its biggest victims, often receiving far worse prices due to the bot’s activity.
Its unusual name and massive financial footprint made it a meme-like figure within the crypto community.
What This Teaches Us
The rise of jaredfromsubway.eth highlights:
How bots can dominate blockchain networks when incentives exist.
The risks traders face in unprotected environments, especially on-chain.
The growing need for better MEV protections, such as private order flow and anti-sandwich tech.
This case remains one of the clearest demonstrations of how smart-contract ecosystems, while transparent, can still enable highly sophisticated predatory behavior—often at the expense of everyday users.
Real-World Impact: How Much Do Traders Lose?
Multiple blockchain security reports reveal that sandwich attacks can:
Drain up to 10–20% of trade value instantly
Create millions in guaranteed profits for attackers
Ruin token launches or highly anticipated trading windows
Artificially inflate gas fees and network congestion
In extreme cases, coordinated bot networks—especially those powered by AI and machine-learning prediction algorithms—execute thousands of sandwich attacks in a single day.
Why Are Automated Liquidity Drain Bots So Hard to Stop?
There are three core reasons bots remain effective:
1. They Act Faster Than Humans
Bots react within milliseconds—no human trader can compete.
2. They Exploit Open Mempools
Most blockchain networks publicly display pending transactions.
3. They Adapt to Slippage Controls
Modern bots calculate maximum profitable slippage and adjust accordingly.
Even with randomized gas fees, multiple transactions, or stealth sniping tools, bots often find a way around these defenses.
How Can Traders Protect Themselves?
Fortunately, there are practical steps to reduce the risk:
Use Limit Orders Instead of Market Orders
DEX aggregators like 1inch and platforms offering limit-order protocols help avoid price manipulation.
Reduce Slippage Tolerance
Keeping slippage low reduces the bot’s profit margin and often makes your transaction less attractive to attackers.
Avoid Token Swaps in Illiquid Pools
More liquidity generally means lower risk of price manipulation.
Use Private Transaction Tools
Platforms like MEV-protected routers or private RPC endpoints send transactions directly to validators instead of the public mempool.
Break Large Trades Into Smaller Ones
Bots prioritize high-value trades because profit scales with transaction size.
Are Developers Doing Anything to Stop Sandwich Attacks?
Yes. Several innovations aim to reduce MEV and front-running:
MEV-protected DEX routers
Private mempool solutions
New AMM formulas designed to minimize slippage manipulation
Batch auctions that group trades and prevent pre-ordering
However, as long as blockchains remain transparent, and as long as automated liquidity drain bots remain profitable, these attacks won’t disappear.
Conclusion: Are Sandwich Attacks Here to Stay?
Sandwich attacks represent one of the most persistent forms of MEV exploitation in DeFi. As decentralized trading grows, automation improves, and more sophisticated bots enter the ecosystem, the threat will only increase. Traders must stay informed, adopt protective strategies, and understand how automated systems—especially automated liquidity drain bots—pose a growing risk across blockchain networks.
The best defense is awareness, smart trading practices, and using tools built to protect your transaction privacy.
FAQs
1. Are sandwich attacks illegal?
In most jurisdictions, they are not explicitly illegal because blockchains are open networks. However, they are widely considered unethical and harmful.
2. Can centralized exchanges have sandwich attacks?
No. Sandwich attacks occur only on decentralized exchanges that use public mempools and automated market makers.
3. Why doesn't lowering slippage completely stop the attack?
Low slippage reduces the risk but doesn’t eliminate it. Bots may still attempt attacks if the profit margin is worthwhile.
4. Are automated liquidity drain bots the same as arbitrage bots?
Not exactly. Arbitrage bots exploit price differences between markets, while automated liquidity drain bots intentionally manipulate DEX prices to profit at the user’s expense.
5. Will MEV protection end sandwich attacks?
It will significantly reduce them, but as long as blockchain transactions remain visible before confirmation, some level of risk will always exist.
