After playing around with DeFi for so long, I’ve realized that gas fees aren’t actually the biggest issue. The real ones profiting behind the scenes are MEV bots.

When you place a large order to swap tokens, the bots are faster than you. They front-run your transaction, buy in early to push the price up, and then immediately dump after your trade to make a profit—this tactic is called a sandwich attack. Especially when the Ethereum network is congested, this hidden cost can be even higher than miner fees.

I’ve recently started researching MEV-resistant chains and found that some new public chains have mechanisms that completely block these tactics. For high-frequency traders, choosing the right platform can save a significant amount of real money.