Exclusive data shows a decline in Ethereum sandwich attacks

Recent statistics indicate that Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) attacks, specifically sandwich attacks, have significantly diminished, affecting numerous traders monthly while leading to substantial losses.

Understanding MEV and Sandwich Attacks

Maximal Extractable Value represents the economic profit extracted from users by block builders via transaction manipulation. The most notorious form of MEV is sandwich attacks, where attackers preemptively and retroactively trade around a victim’s swaps, thereby profiting at the victim’s expense.

A recent report from Cointelegraph Research, relying on a dataset from EigenPhi, reveals insights into sandwiching trends from November 2024 to October 2025. Despite a marked decrease in sandwich extraction profits, the risks to everyday traders remain high. Approximately $60 million is lost annually due to these attacks, while block builders capture most of this through fees.

2025: A Year of Change in Sandwiching Activity

In 2025, as transaction volumes on DEXs surged from $65 billion to over $100 billion, monthly sandwich attack extractions plummeted from nearly $10 million to roughly $2.5 million by October. Notably, an exceptional incident in January saw one attack yielding over $800,000 in profit.

The total number of sandwich attacks has consistently remained above 60,000 per month, with around 70% traced back to a single player, Jared, a prominent MEV searcher known for employing advanced strategies to target multiple victims simultaneously.

Targeted Trading Pairs

Data has shown that most sandwich attacks target low-volatility assets, including stablecoins. Here, about 38% of attacks focus on stable pairs, creating unexpected slippage risks for traders. The memecoin MANYU paired with WETH has been particularly vulnerable, with Jared conducting numerous attacks on this pair.

Profitability Challenges for MEV Bots

As profits decrease, competition among sandwich bots has intensified, with only a fraction remaining active. While 515 bots were noted in October, only around 100 were regularly executing trades. Average profits per attack are now meager, and the majority of active bots either break even or experience losses.

Despite these hurdles, Jared’s approach maximizes profits by focusing on a higher quantity of trades, often capturing smaller, less noticeable opportunities when gas costs were low.

This scenario underscores a crucial debate about the necessity of robust MEV protection protocols at the Ethereum level.