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Home/Glossary/Front-running
DeFi

Front-running

In shortPlacing a trade just ahead of someone else's known pending trade to profit from the price move it will cause.

On public blockchains, bots see your swap in the mempool and pay higher gas to get in first. It is one form of MEV.

← Four-year cycleAll terms A–ZFUD →

Related terms

  • MEV (maximal extractable value)Profit that bots and block producers make by reordering, inserting or censoring transactions in a block.
  • Sandwich attackA bot buys right before your swap and sells right after it, profiting from the price impact you pay.
  • MempoolThe waiting room of pending transactions that have been broadcast but not yet included in a block.

More in DeFi

  • APY vs APR
  • Automated market maker (AMM)
  • Collateral
  • DAO (decentralized autonomous organization)
  • DeFi (decentralized finance)
  • DeFi lending
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