Front Running Bots

Front running bots are automated software programs that monitor the mempool for pending transactions, particularly large trades on decentralized exchanges. When a bot identifies a potentially profitable trade, it submits its own transaction with a higher gas fee, ensuring it is processed before the target transaction.

This allows the bot to buy an asset at a lower price and sell it to the original trader at a higher price, capturing the spread. This practice is a significant source of slippage for large traders and is a major component of MEV.

It represents a highly competitive, adversarial environment where technical skill in software engineering and network connectivity is rewarded. The proliferation of these bots has led to significant innovations in how transactions are submitted to blockchains to avoid being exploited.