Trader Spends $118k in Ether on Memecoin

In recent news, a single trader has spent an enormous amount of money on gas fees to purchase a memecoin called Four (FOUR) on the Ethereum network. The trader paid $118,000 in gas fees using Ether (ETH) to buy $155,000 worth of FOUR tokens through a Uniswap trade. The trade involved swapping 84 Wrapped Ether (WETH) for 13.8 billion FOUR tokens.

The trader voluntarily increased their gas fee to speed up the transaction time and has reportedly gained 133 ETH ($245,667) in unrealized profit on their investment in the memecoin. However, this raises the question of whether the rise in gas fees is sustainable for mass adoption, as many have criticized the fees for being too high.

The Ethereum network has been facing a lot of criticism for its gas fees, which have been increasing due to the rise in activity on the network. Some prominent Ethereum advocates have praised the heightened activity for its revenue-generating effects and long-term deflationary pressure on the supply of Ether. However, others have claimed that mass adoption will never be achieved if the network remains unaffordable.

Another major reason behind the drastic uptick in gas fees is the maximal extractable value (MEV) trading bot that is front-running memecoin trades en masse. A pseudonymous attacker known only as jaredfromsubway.eth has been profiting significantly from the heightened network use. The attacker has been using a sandwich attack to manipulate the price and profit from the user.

A sandwich attack occurs when an attacker "sandwiches" a victim's transaction between their two transactions. Jared has cleared a whopping $950,000 in profits from the sandwich attacks alone. On April 20, Jared used 7% of the total gas on the network and spent 455 ETH in transaction fees.

In conclusion, the rise in gas fees on the Ethereum network has caused debates in the crypto community over its impact on mass adoption. The attacker, jaredfromsubway.eth, has been using a sandwich attack to manipulate the price and profit from the user. While some advocate for the heightened activity, others have criticized the fees for being too high, and it remains to be seen whether the network will become more affordable for mass adoption.