Over the past couple of days, that on-chain “sandwich” activity has been looking more and more like roadside food stalls: you think you’ve picked up a bargain, but in reality you’re just adding two layers of sauce for someone else. To put it bluntly, many arbitrage opportunities aren’t meant for people who react slowly—they’re for those who run fast and are willing to burn gas fees. I’m the type who slowly adds kindling; when I see the price gap, I often still choose not to reach out… just to avoid getting turned into someone else’s gas fee in one shot.

Upgrades/maintenance on the mainstream public chains are even more obvious before and after: everyone’s guessing whether projects will migrate, and once on-chain traffic gets tight, slippage and front-running get even more vicious. As for me, whenever I place orders now, I’ve gotten into the habit of splitting them up and making them more conservative—I’d rather take a little less than end up being someone else’s gas fee. For now, that’s it: the wind is strong in the mountains, so the fire has to burn slowly.