Solana’s vulnerability was exploited through sandwich attacks with the exploiter making over $51 million.
A particular wallet has made over $51 million in profits in just one week through sandwich attacks on transactions in the Solana Blockchain. The attack shows the vulnerability in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector.
Sandwich attack is a sophisticated technique in which a malicious actor spots a pending trade and buys the asset to hike the price. The attacker allows the original trade to execute at a high rate and then sells off assets for profit. Sandwiching also occurs by placing one order right before the trade and one right after it.
Solana, known for its high throughput and low fees, has recently become a victim of such attacks due to its rapid growth and popularity.
Vulnerability of Solana Network
The wallet address arsc4jbDnzaqcCLByyGo7fg7S2SmcFsWUzQuDtLZh2y has skillfully taken advantage of the vulnerability, strategically executing well-timed transactions to leverage price variations in the Solana ecosystem, often at the expense of other users experiencing losses.
Additionally, X users have expressed their loyalty and love by rendering help and solutions on how to avoid such attacks in the future. A user said the account needs to be frozen, while another suggested lowering slippage and splitting larger orders.
The substantial profits accumulated by the Wallet highlight the pressing need for enhanced and tighter security protocols in the Solana network to safeguard against malicious activities like sandwich attacks or any form of fraudulent activity.
Investors and developers are advised to stay calm and vigilant. Solana’s team has not responded officially, but the incident highlights the ongoing battle between hackers and security experts in DeFi.
Sandwich Attack Profit
On April 20, 2023, an anonymous trader linked to a digital wallet known as “jaredfromsubway” made a staggering profit from a sandwich attack. According to data, the attacker made approximately $1.67 million in just two days. The firm estimated that the attacker’s profit in the past month skyrocketed to roughly $4 million.
Sandwich attacks, employing trading bots and algorithms, are not new to DeFi. Aggressors typically identify potential victims by monitoring pending transactions on blockchain-based DeFi exchanges.
Lastly, DeFi enables direct interaction between traders without intermediaries. While proponents advocate the benefits of the trustless nature, traders can exploit this freedom with tactics like sandwich attacks.