Solana’s Faster Slots Fail to Curb Early Memecoin Sniping, Bitquery Data Shows
Solana's reductions in block times have not significantly changed how quickly newly launched Pump.fun tokens attract outside buyers, according to blockchain data company Bitquery. Its analysis, verified on Oct. 26, found that approximately 52% of sampled tokens received a purchase from an outside wallet within roughly 1.3 seconds, compared with 53% in an earlier sample.
The findings suggest that faster transaction processing has not eliminated rapid buying activity or detected sandwich trading patterns in the sampled markets. However, the data does not establish that every early buyer was an automated bot or engaged in predatory trading.
Early Buying Remains Nearly Unchanged Over Comparable Time
Bitquery compared activity from Aug. 5, 12 and 19 with observations from Sept. 23 and 30 and Oct. 7. Both comparison periods ended on Oct. 7, two days before Solana's final reduction to a 200-millisecond slot target on Oct. 9. Consequently, the analysis did not include trading observations following that final step.
The study measured outside buying, defined as a purchase made by any wallet other than the token's first buyer. This metric captures how quickly newly launched coins attract additional buyers, but it does not independently identify automated trading or determine whether a purchase was intended to exploit other traders.
Looking only at the first block, the share of new Pump.fun tokens receiving an outside purchase dropped from 42% in the earlier sample to 32% in the later one. However, the first block also became shorter, averaging approximately 0.27 seconds in the later sample, compared with 0.42 seconds previously.
That shorter interval reduced the time available for a purchase to qualify as a first-block transaction. Bitquery's broader comparison covered three slots in the earlier sample and five in the later sample, spanning approximately 1.3 seconds. Over that comparable elapsed time, the difference in outside buying was minimal, at 53% versus 52%.
Detected Sandwich Trading Patterns Rebounded
Bitquery also tracked detected sandwich patterns across swaps on Pump.fun and PumpSwap, the associated exchange. The reported rate declined from approximately 30 detected patterns per 10,000 swaps in early August to 26 during Aug. 22-27 and 21 during Aug. 29-Sept. 17.
The rate subsequently rose to 33 during Sept. 19-Oct. 7, reversing the earlier decline in the sampled activity.
The figures were based on daily sandwich detections associated with bot wallets before Bitquery applied the final filters used in its study. A sandwich strategy involves buying before another trader's swap and selling afterward, potentially benefiting from the price movement caused by that transaction.
The data therefore shows that detected patterns persisted and later increased during the observation period. It does not, by itself, establish that shorter Solana slots caused the rebound or that every detected pattern resulted in a specific financial loss.
Solana's Faster Slots Have Competing Effects
The Solana Foundation's August modeling outlined competing effects that shorter slots could have on sandwich trading profitability. Faster block production can reduce the time available for an attacker to react, potentially limiting some opportunities.
However, shorter slots can also mean fewer competing trades occur before a transaction executes. If a trader's permitted price movement remains unchanged, a fast attacker may have more room to exploit that allowance, according to the mechanisms described in the Foundation's model.
The Foundation has described shorter slots as a way to improve transaction latency and reduce the period during which a block leader controls block construction. Bitquery's findings highlight why those performance improvements should be evaluated separately from measures of protection against predatory trading.
The available observations cover trading through Oct. 7 and do not measure the impact of Solana's final slot-target reduction introduced on Oct. 9. Further data would be needed to determine whether that change materially affected early token buying or sandwich activity.
source: cryptoslate
Writer: Ethan Collins
Crypto Journalist
Ethan Collins reports on developments across the cryptocurrency and blockchain sector. His work covers market movements, protocol updates, regulatory changes, and emerging trends in digital assets.
He focuses on presenting complex topics in a clear and accessible manner for a broad readership.
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