Just staring at the order book made my eyes ache, and the moment I got an itch, I wanted to chase some “looks stable” arbitrage… Then I checked the on-chain data—once the trading slippage opened up, it was basically me being served as a post-sandwich dessert. You think you’re picking up the price spread, but actually they’re watching the fees on your urgent order. Plain and simple: you’re the one paying someone else’s gas bill.

Recently, that whole Meme attention rotation has been even more extreme. Once a celebrity throws it out, and emotions get hot-headed, the order book instantly turns into “whoever runs faster lives.” Old players say don’t take the last baton—I used to think that was just them being wordy, but now I get it: the opportunity you see may be something someone else has already lined up, waiting for you to come in and become exit liquidity… These days I’d rather do two fewer trades, and wait until the fee rates and order placements aren’t so frantic. Either way, it’s when you’re up late at night that you’re most likely to pay tuition.