TL;DR
- GMGN fully compensated 729 transactions affected by the exploit.
- The “sandwich” attack occurred on October 25 on the BSC anti-MEV nodes.
- Co-founder Haze confirmed the distribution of the reimbursement funds on October 26.
The memecoin analytics and trading platform, GMGN.Ai, confirmed the completion of the full reimbursement to users affected by a recent MEV attack in DeFi. The incident, which occurred last weekend, affected hundreds of transactions before the team managed to neutralize the threat.
The attack occurred on Saturday, October 25, taking place over a period of nearly 13 hours (from 08:35 to 21:34 UTC). According to the company, GMGN’s “anti-sandwich” nodes on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC) suffered multiple coordinated attacks. In total, 729 user transactions were affected by this vulnerability.
In an update on the X platform, GMGN reported that the nodes were restored to normal a few hours after detection and that the investigation into the root cause was underway.
The tactic used was a “sandwich attack,” a common form of MEV manipulation. In this method, bots detect a user’s pending transaction in the mempool and strategically place a buy order just before and a sell order just after the victim’s transaction. By “sandwiching” the order, the bot manipulates the price, extracting value, and leaving the user with a much worse trade execution.
Rapid Response and Full Reimbursement
GMGN’s response was noted for its speed. The platform’s co-founder, Haze, confirmed on October 26 that the team had calculated the losses and completed the compensation distribution. “Affected users do not need to take any action. The reimbursed funds will be automatically credited to their wallets,” the company stated.
This transparency and agility in the reimbursement generated praise in the crypto community. However, the incident highlights a persistent challenge in the sector: the vulnerability to MEV exploitation, even on platforms that, like GMGN, implement specific safeguards to prevent it.
Although GMGN offers an optional “anti-MEV mode” for its users, this MEV attack in DeFi demonstrates the growing sophistication of exploits. The industry awaits GMGN’s investigation report to understand how the “anti-sandwich” defenses failed, while the debate on operational risks in DeFi continues.
