Solana Sandwich Bots Extracted $29.7 Million Targeting Pump.fun

According to a recent analysis by blockchain data provider Bitquery, sandwich bots on the Solana network managed to extract about $29.7 million before costs from trades over an 11-month period. The majority of these attacks were directed at the memecoin platform Pump.fun and its associated PumpSwap exchange.

The investigation identified 6,850,144 attacks conducted by 2,545 bot wallets, impacting 2,154,994 distinct wallets between October 30, 2025, and October 7, 2026. Notably, 96% of the detected attacks were linked to Pump.fun's launch curve.

Sandwich attacks occur when a bot places a purchase and sale around another trader's swap, artificially inflating the price and leading to less favorable outcomes for the intervening buyer. The costs incurred by the trader are often hidden within the execution of the swap, even if it appears successful.

Bitquery's findings also highlighted that trades allowing for higher slippage were more frequently targeted. For instance, trades with a slippage tolerance of 20% to 50% faced sandwich attacks 14 times more often than those with a tolerance of less than 3%.

While the $29.7 million figure reflects the value of SOL at the time of each attack, it does not account for net profits. In a separate analysis of 63 attacks, bots retained 68% of the gross proceeds, although 18 of those attacks resulted in losses after costs were deducted.

The report also noted inconsistencies in the sale-fee recording on Pump.fun, which could affect the gross estimate by approximately 3%. Bitquery's methodology involved identifying trading patterns and excluding certain trades to ensure accuracy.