Aave

Token

April

PEPE

An unlucky Maximum Extractable Value (MEV) bot took out a massive $11.9 million flash loan for a sandwich attack but barely made enough to cover a meal. 
In a post on September 5, blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence <a href="https://etherscan.io/tx/0x0f0bb0abe6ce163008cf9ce6a691c87629646e56126cddbb6f76555d890e6113" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">revealed</a> that the MEV bot borrowed $11.97 million in Wrapped Ether (WETH) to sandwich a user attempting to swap $5,000 worth of Shuffle (SHFL) tokens. Despite the high stakes, the bot earned just $20 in profit after paying gas fees. 
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 <img decoding="async" src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXd8fKiN5NTP1IE-P1g1D6l7FmmpZoj-pSr_i2pMmXxWzdv4ttMHltgCs8dHjnLiiLJIhHvv7SaWI1x6hdvJJu9Gzwa69R2LWN97gjUoZ8el0PlN92C4uMo2zvldzoU8m9L10pfVcBZxaA12Hk_fq_gVGwN-?key=gsnQKZDrIzf04q5emF96sQ" alt="AD 4nXd8fKiN5NTP1IE P1g1D6l7FmmpZoj pSr i2pMmXxWzdv4ttMHltgCs8dHjnLiiLJIhHvv7SaWI1x6hdvJJu9Gzwa69R2LWN97gjUoZ8el0PlN92C4uMo2zvldzoU8m9L10pfVcBZxaA12Hk fq gVGwN ?key=gsnQKZDrIzf04q5emF96sQ" style="width: 100%;height:auto">
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 Source: <a href="https://x.com/arkhamintel/status/1831706536399220907?s=46&amp;t=MuRujqZUAz3TQE1vmr3c6A" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">Twitter</a>
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The bot executed 14 <a href="https://etherscan.io/tx/0x0f0bb0abe6ce163008cf9ce6a691c87629646e56126cddbb6f76555d890e6113#eventlog" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener nofollow">transactions</a> during the attack, lending and borrowing over $700,000 in USDC and WETH across DeFi platforms like Aave and Uniswap. All transactions were confirmed in a single block, meaning the bot completed them in 12 seconds. 
How a Sandwich Attack Works 
A sandwich attack happens when an attacker places two transactions around a victim’s trade. The attacker manipulates the price by buying before the victim and selling after, pocketing the difference. In this case, the MEV bot’s profits were significantly underwhelming. 
However, <a href="https://www.cryptotimes.io/2024/08/21/jaredfromsubway-eth-unleashes-new-mev-bot-sandwich-tactics/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">MEV bots have made big money</a> in the past. In April 2023, a bot operator named *jaredfromsubway* earned over $1 million in just one week using sandwich attacks on PEPE and WOJAK tokens. 
Despite this bot’s failure, MEV attacks remain a highly profitable tool for many operators. 
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> 
 Also Read: <a href="https://www.cryptotimes.io/2024/08/26/trader-achieves-over-400-profit-by-trading-dogs-token/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Trader Achieves Over 400% Profit by Trading $DOGS Token</a> 
</blockquote>

$12 Million Flash Loan Yields $20 for Unlucky MEV Bot

The Crypto Times

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