When the Ethereum Foundation recently sold 1,700 ETH on Uniswap V3, it came under a sandwich assault. The foundation, a significant participant in the Ethereum ecosystem, was taken by surprise, incurring a loss of $9,101 USD.
The transaction for the Ethereum Foundation was targeted by a MEV Bot (0x00…6B40), according to data from EigenPhi. By seizing the chance, this bot was able to pay its expenditures and turn a tidy profit of $4,060 in the United States.
At 16:18 UTC+8, the foundation conducted its sale, exchanging 1.7K ETH for a whopping 2.738 million USDC. The foundation has a balance of 240.68 ETH, 3.238 million USDC, 49,700 DAI, and 10,000 ARB, bringing its total assets to a swanky $3.687 million, according to a look inside their wallet.
However, what precisely is a sandwich attack? In the world of decentralised exchanges, a sandwich assault is a type of front-running strategy performed by the inexperienced. This method involves a malicious actor spotting a pending transaction on the Ethereum network and immediately submitting their own transaction with a greater gas charge, guaranteeing it will be processed first.
The target transaction is then immediately followed by a different transaction, thereby “sandwiching” the initial transaction. This enables the assailant to influence the price in order to benefit from the victim’s trade.
It raises questions that the Ethereum Foundation, a key player in the Ethereum community, was the target of such an assault. It raises concerns about the security precautions put in place and the weaknesses that persist in the crypto industry even for seasoned participants.
On the sales made by the Ethereum Foundation, an interesting pattern has been noticed. Frequently, it sells off Ethereum shortly before large sell-offs take place. Although it is speculative to make inferences, astute market watchers have taken note of the timing of its sales in connection to market fluctuations.
