The Solana Foundation recently took action against a group of validator operators involved in sandwich attacks on traders, resulting in their removal from the delegation program. These malicious activities were identified through memepools, where attackers manipulate asset prices by placing orders before and after pending transactions.
In a sandwich attack, a trader positions a pending transaction between a front-run and a back-run to profit from the price difference, disadvantaging retail investors. The Solana Foundation strictly prohibits such malicious behavior by validators, leading to the exclusion of the guilty parties from future delegation work.
Tim Garcia, a lead in Solana validator relations, made the announcement on Discord, emphasizing a zero-tolerance policy towards operators engaging in harmful activities towards Solana users. The Foundation’s Delegation Program aims to support validators by assigning them SOL tokens, enabling users to delegate staking rights to them based on performance.
The use of third-party meme pools to scam retail users is unacceptable, as explained by Mert Mumtaz, co-founder of Solana’s RPC provider Helius. Some operators have modified their validators to enable sandwiching on Solana, exploiting retail users for personal gain. The Solana Foundation remains dedicated to protecting users from fraudulent activities that could result in financial losses.
The Foundation’s commitment to preventing exploitation and abuse of the system is paramount, particularly in safeguarding retail users from falling victim to such scams. The focus is on maintaining the integrity of the delegation program and ensuring a fair and secure environment for all users.