The MEV sandwich bot named “arsc” has reportedly amassed approximately $30 million from Solana users over the past two months through MEV attacks.
In an MEV sandwich attack, the perpetrator positions a victim’s transaction between their own two transactions to manipulate prices and profit from the user. They achieve this by buying the victim’s token at a lower price than the market value and promptly selling it within the same block.
Ben Coverston, founder of cryptocurrency firm MRGN Research, highlighted in a June 15 post on X that the “arsc” bot has operated discreetly while capitalizing on profits from the Solana network users.
One of the primary wallet addresses linked to the bot is identified as “9973h…zyWp6,” which Coverston suggests is predominantly used for cold storage and remains largely inactive.
According to data from Solana explorer site SolanaFM, this wallet contains a total of over $19 million, including $17 million worth of Solana (SOL) tokens and $1.1 million in Circle’s USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin. Additionally, the wallet holds smaller amounts of wrapped-SOL (wSOL), Cringe Coin (CRINGE), and Kabosu (KAB).
Ben Coverston noted that another prominent wallet, identified by the address “Ai4zq…VXKKT,” is actively engaged in decentralized finance activities, particularly converting SOL into USDC through JUP DCA. This wallet also holds substantial positions in Kamino and various LSTs, totaling over $9.9 million in assets dominated by non-SOL tokens, as per SolanaFM data.
Additionally, Coverston pointed out a third wallet, address “BCbrp…vi58q,” which he suspects serves as arsc’s primary SOL repository. This wallet employs numerous signers and tippers to execute the MEV sandwich attacks.
Combined, these three wallets hold approximately $29.8 million based on current prices. Coverston suggests that the operator behind arsc appears to be actively maintaining a low profile.
“It appears they prefer to avoid attention, as they have recently taken extensive measures to conceal their activities and earnings.”
MEV sandwich bots frequently utilize sophisticated algorithms to detect and capitalize on these profit opportunities. Such activities are prevalent among maximal extractible value bots on Ethereum as well.
According to MEVBlocker, over $1.38 billion in losses had been incurred by “well-meaning” Ethereum users by April 2023.