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

Unlucky MEV Bot Suffers Loss in Sandwich Attack

An unfortunate Maximum Extractable Value (MEV) bot incurred a hefty $11.9 million flash loan for a sandwich attack, only to barely break even.

On September 5th, Arkham Intelligence disclosed that the MEV bot utilized $11.97 million in Wrapped Ether (WETH) to surround a user attempting to swap $5,000 worth of Shuffle (SHFL) tokens. Despite the significant loan amount, the bot netted a mere $20 after deducting gas fees.

The bot involved in this incident is said to have made 14 transactions, transferring over $700,000 in USDC and WETH across DeFi platforms such as Aave and Uniswap. Remarkably, these transactions were processed within a single block, indicating the bot's swift execution within 12 seconds.

Understanding Sandwich Attacks

Sandwich attacks involve attackers placing two transactions around a victim's trade. They manipulate the price by purchasing assets before the victim and selling them afterward, profiting from the difference. However, in this instance, the MEV bot's profits were underwhelming.

MEV bots have historically been known to generate substantial returns. In April 2023, a bot operator known as 'jaredfromsubway' earned over $1 million in just one week through sandwich attacks on PEPE and WOJAK tokens. Despite the setback experienced by this particular bot, MEV attacks continue to offer significant profitability for many operators.