Crypto enthusiasts have reported a surge in the popularity of newly-launched memecoins like pepe (PEPE) and chad (CHAD). Despite having no inherent value, these tokens have gained immense popularity among Crypto Twitter enthusiasts, resulting in an astonishing surge of over 10,000%. Sandwich bots are leading the way for investors on these memecoins, according to crypto experts.
However, these memecoins are not the only ones that have been making headlines. A wallet called “Jaredfromsubway.eth” has spent more than $2 million in Ethereum network fees in the last week to execute sandwich attacks on low-cap token traders. The wallet is believed to be a reference to the popular sandwich chain. As a result of these attacks, the fees for the entire network have skyrocketed, as shown by data from Dune Analytics. As of Wednesday morning in Asia, each Ethereum transaction costs over $10, a tenfold increase from last week’s level of $1.
For context, a sandwich attack occurs when a user’s transaction is sandwiched between two other transactions that are then manipulated to generate profit. The attack involves buying the same asset as the victim’s trade and then selling tokens to the victim at a slightly higher price during the same transaction, effectively frontrunning the victim’s trade.
According to the data, Jaredfromsubway.eth spent 7% of all fees on the Ethereum network in the last 24 hours, making them the top spender on the network. This is more than Arbitrum, a layer 2 blockchain that batches transactions on the Ethereum network, and Uniswap, the most widely used decentralized exchange. The MEV bot in question seems to be engaging in “sandwiching” with several low-cap altcoins, as pointed out by DeFi researcher “sealaunch_.” The researcher shared a list of the altcoins that the bot has recently targeted.
It is unclear how much profit Jaredfromsubway.eth made from their frontrunning actions, but it is likely to exceed their costs by a significant margin, given the large amount they spent and continue to spend. Meanwhile, the frenzy for pepe tokens is in full force, with the tokens nearly doubling in value over the last 24 hours, as Crypto Twitter traders shift their obsession from doge-themed tokens to internet memes.
The Ethereum network is currently experiencing a significant increase in gas fees due to the actions of Jaredfromsubway.eth. It remains to be seen how long this trend will last and what impact it will have on the network’s users.
