Recently, I’ve been watching on-chain transaction replay, and it feels like seeing my own waveform being forcibly stabbed with a few spikes… MEV, put simply, is all about who holds the power to order transactions. Others can see your intended order in advance, cut in line / squeeze in on it, and in the end, the slippage and fees all land on ordinary people. You think you’re trading with the market, but in reality, you’re wrestling a bunch of “seat-snatching” robots.

Airdrop season is even more obvious. The task platforms are cracking down on bots while also running an points system—turning the “farming” crowd into something that’s as clock-in routine as going to work. Once on-chain congestion kicks in, the line-cutting fees get even more outrageous. Even in the group chat, it’s pretty real: some people complain about unfairness, while others say, “that’s just how the rules are.” My approach right now is simple: smaller amounts, split up into batches, and if you can use limit orders, use limit orders—don’t let yourself become the point that gets pierced through by the waveform. That’s it for now.