Recently, I spent a lot of time studying how MEV bots operate, and today I want to share some interesting findings with everyone.

First, you need to understand what MEV is. The full name is Miner Extractable Value, simply put, it’s the value that can be obtained through automated interactions on the blockchain. An illustrative analogy is that MEV’s role in DeFi is like high-frequency trading in the stock market, both leveraging information advantages and speed to profit.

Speaking of the power of MEV bots, one person must be mentioned—jaredfromsubway.eth. This guy is arguably the most successful MEV bot operator worldwide. According to statistics, his bots have executed over 230k transactions, affecting more than 100k victims. That number sounds quite alarming.

So how exactly do MEV bots “cause trouble”? The core method is called sandwich attacking. Simply put, it’s like a high-frequency trading firm’s front-running strategy, but on the blockchain. The bot inserts its orders before and after your transaction to profit from the price movement. In the DeFi community, this attack method has long been criticized and is seen as a toxic practice.

But it’s actually quite complex. From a negative perspective, sandwich attacks are purely exploitative strategies, mainly targeting retail investors who are unaware of on-chain dynamics. For example, a newbie trying to buy a new token might set a slippage of 99%, only to become a target for MEV bots.

But from another perspective, some argue that it actually helps the market reach equilibrium. Bot operators ensure that market prices reflect the maximum willingness to pay from consumers, while also extracting value for themselves. From an economic efficiency standpoint, this argument has some validity.

Can we avoid these attacks? Honestly, it’s impossible to completely evade them. As long as there’s profit to be made, someone will run MEV bots. This is the same logic as high-frequency trading in stock markets—profit-driven behavior will exist as long as the market exists. Front-running in stock markets is accepted, so it’s difficult to completely dismiss this phenomenon on-chain either.

Recently, an interesting countermeasure has emerged—FlashBots. It’s also a bot, but its role is to hide transactions from MEV bots. Now, it seems like MEV bots and FlashBots are engaged in some kind of “arms race.”

Overall, MEV is like a double-edged sword—beneficial and harmful. Understanding how it works is important for protecting yourself in DeFi. If you’re also paying attention to these on-chain micro-dynamics, there are many related projects and tools on Gate worth exploring.