What is Sandwich attack? (memecoin term explained)

A sandwich attack is when a bot sees your pending swap, buys right before you to push the price up, lets your trade fill at the worse price, then sells right after for a profit.

Definition: Sandwich attack

A sandwich attack is when a bot sees your pending swap, buys right before you to push the price up, lets your trade fill at the worse price, then sells right after for a profit.

Key idea — Sandwiching directly steals from your trade. High slippage settings on thin pools are exactly what these bots hunt for.

Why it matters to memecoin traders

Sandwiching directly steals from your trade. High slippage settings on thin pools are exactly what these bots hunt for.

Key things to know about sandwich attack

A form of MEV (maximal extractable value) extracted from your transaction order.
You are most vulnerable with high slippage tolerance on a low-liquidity pool.
The bot front-runs (buys before you) and back-runs (sells after you).
Tighter slippage and private transaction routing reduce exposure.
It shows up as your fill being noticeably worse than the quote, with two bracketing trades.

A worked example

You submit a $500 buy at 15% slippage. A bot buys ahead of you, your order fills 12% higher than quoted, and the bot immediately sells into your buy for risk-free profit.

What to watch out for

Watch out — The fix is rarely "more slippage". On thin pools, smaller size and tighter slippage protect you more than cranking tolerance.

Sandwich attack FAQ

Is sandwich attack something beginners need to understand?

Yes — Sandwiching directly steals from your trade. High slippage settings on thin pools are exactly what these bots hunt for.

Where do I see sandwich attack in practice?

A form of MEV (maximal extractable value) extracted from your transaction order. You are most vulnerable with high slippage tolerance on a low-liquidity pool.

Reading the chart is step one. Getting pinged in real time is step two.

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Education only — not financial advice. Memecoins are extremely high risk.