Lately, watching on-chain transactions, what frustrates me the most isn't the price fluctuations, but those moments when I think I'm arbitraging, only to realize I'm actually paying fees to others.

The concept of a sandwich attack, frankly, is just about watching your slippage and the urgency to execute—you see an opportunity, but they see your patience in your wallet.
In the past, I used to chase pools, thinking that if I was quick enough, I could get some gains; now I mainly look at routing and whether the liquidity is deep enough—if I can set a limit order, I do; if not, I split my orders, preferring to be slower.

And that recent narrative tying ETF fund flows, U.S. stock risk appetite, and crypto market rises and falls together… it sounds reasonable, but on-chain, it’s a different story: when emotions run high, the orders rushing in are easier to sandwich, and MEV bots trust “macro narratives” even more than you do.
Anyway, before I place an order now, I ask myself: do I really have a marginal advantage in this trade, or am I just fueling the smarter guys’ gas fees?