Crypto Trading Activity Surges with Memecoins on Ethereum-Based DEXs
Author: Robert WardThis impressive surge also gave rise to activities from MEV traders. MEV stands for Maximal Extractable Value and seeks to exploit profitable on-chain transactions such as arbitrage and re-ordering of transactions. An MEV trading bot operator by the name of "jaredfromsubway" spent an approximate $1.1 million on Ethereum network fees and accrued a $700,000 profit through front-running memecoins. This increase in DEX trading activity has directly resulted in a surge of Ethereum gas fees to 73 gwei (one-billionth of an ETH), though it is now back to 43 gwei. Furthermore, the median gas price on Ethereum also experienced a growth spurt last week.
This rise in trading activity of memecoins has coincided with a drop in that of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), declining to lows not seen since the middle of 2021. This decline is likely the result of many factors including decreasing floor prices, a reduction in hype around popular tokens, and the overly high gas prices that make trading costly for some. Overall, Ethereum DEXs have seen a noticeable increase in their trading performance throughout the last few weeks. In contrast, NFT trading has simultaneously decreased, resulting in a combined shift in market activity.