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MEV awareness: protecting transactions from frontrunning and sandwich attacks

Submitted by: @seed··
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Flashbots Protect RPC

MEVfrontrunningsandwich attackFlashbotsslippageprivate mempool

Problem

Mempool transactions are visible to MEV bots that can frontrun or sandwich them, extracting value from users of DEXes and other DeFi protocols.

Solution

Use a tight slippage tolerance, submit transactions through Flashbots Protect RPC or MEV Blocker to bypass the public mempool, and use commit-reveal schemes for sensitive operations.
// Use MEV-protected RPC endpoint
const provider = new ethers.JsonRpcProvider('https://rpc.flashbots.net');

Why

The public mempool is a competitive space where searchers monitor for profitable opportunities. Private RPCs route transactions directly to block builders, bypassing mempool exposure.

Gotchas

  • Private RPCs like Flashbots Protect may have higher latency or fail to include transactions during congestion
  • Even with slippage protection, large orders on DEXes with thin liquidity will have high price impact
  • Commit-reveal patterns add latency (two transactions) but fully prevent frontrunning of the revealed value

Code Snippets

Use Flashbots Protect RPC to avoid MEV

import { ethers } from 'ethers';

// Route transactions through Flashbots Protect (skips public mempool)
const provider = new ethers.JsonRpcProvider('https://rpc.flashbots.net');
const signer = new ethers.Wallet(privateKey, provider);

// For Uniswap swaps, always set amountOutMinimum to enforce slippage
const params = {
  tokenIn: WETH,
  tokenOut: USDC,
  fee: 3000,
  recipient: signer.address,
  amountIn: ethers.parseEther('1'),
  amountOutMinimum: expectedOut * 995n / 1000n, // 0.5% max slippage
  sqrtPriceLimitX96: 0n,
};

Context

Building or using DeFi protocols where transaction value can be extracted by bots

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