Why Most Crypto Bots Get Sandwiched (And How to Prevent It) If you've ever built or used a crypto trading bot, you’ve likely encountered the frustrating phenomenon of getting "sandwiched." Your bot places a trade, and suddenly, the price moves against you just before execution. What’s happening? You’re likely falling victim to a Maximal Extractable Value (MEV) sandwich attack. In this article, I’ll explain what sandwich attacks are, how they work, and how you can protect your bots using tools like Jito bundles. I’ll also share practical examples, code snippets, and lessons learned from my experience. What is a Sandwich Attack? Sandwich attacks are a form of MEV (Maximal Extractable Value) exploitation where a malicious actor "sandwiches" your transaction between two of their own. Here’s how it works: Frontrunning : The attacker detects your pending transaction (e.g., a buy order) and places their own buy order before yours. Your transaction executes : Your buy order pushes the price higher.…