Ben Coverston of MRGN Research has highlighted the efforts of a Solana-based MEV bot to maintain a low profile while reaping significant profits.

The notorious maximal extractible value (MEV) sandwich bot, referred to as “arsc,” has amassed approximately $30 million from Solana users over the past two months through MEV strategies.

A sandwich attack involves an attacker placing two transactions around a victim’s transaction to manipulate the price and profit from it. The attacker buys the victim’s token at a lower price than the market rate and sells it within the same block for a profit.

In a June 15 post on X, Coverston, the founder of MRGN Research, pointed out that arsc has taken considerable measures to stay under the radar while profiting from Solana network users.

One of the bot’s major wallet addresses, “9973h…zyWp6,” is thought to be used primarily for cold storage. Coverston described it as largely inactive and likely a secure, cold wallet based on its behavior.

According to Solana explorer site SolanaFM, this wallet holds over $19 million, which includes $17 million in Solana’s SOL tokens and $1.1 million in USDC stablecoin. It also contains small amounts of wrapped-SOL (wSOL), Cringe Coin (CRINGE), and Kabosu (KAB).

Another significant wallet, identified as “Ai4zq…VXKKT,” is much more active in decentralized finance (DeFi) activities. Coverston noted that this wallet is gradually converting SOL into USDC via JUP DCA and holds substantial positions in Kamino and various liquid staking tokens (LSTs). This wallet holds over $9.9 million, mostly in non-SOL tokens.

Coverston also identified a third wallet, “BCbrp…vi58q,” which he believes serves as arsc’s “main SOL bank,” employing numerous signers and tippers to execute the sandwich attacks.

Combined, the three wallets hold around $29.8 million at current market prices. Coverston believes the operator behind arsc is attempting to avoid drawing attention.

“It seems they don’t enjoy the attention, as they’ve recently gone to great lengths to hide their activities and profits,” Coverston remarked.

MEV sandwich bots frequently use sophisticated algorithms to identify and exploit profitable opportunities. This activity is also prevalent among MEV bots on Ethereum. According to MEVBlocker, over $1.38 billion had been taken from unsuspecting Ethereum users by April 2023.