Snipers Bag $1.3M Exploiting JESSE Coin Launch on Base

Two snipers exploited Base’s flashblocks during the JESSE coin launch, securing over $1.3 million in profits by acquiring a large share of tokens before public buyers, exposing vulnerabilities in token launch mechanisms.

The launch of the JESSE creator coin on the Base network was swiftly exploited by two snipers who used automated bots and Base’s new flashblocks system to secure over $1.3 million in profits. These traders acquired more than a quarter of the 500 million tokens seeded into the liquidity pool by paying high sequencer fees and acting within the same on-chain block as the token’s deployment. Their tactics involved routing transactions through private channels and leveraging the 200-millisecond micro-blocks of Base’s flashblocks, allowing them to front-run public buyers and secure large allocations before regular investors could participate. The JESSE token’s market value peaked at $25 million before declining sharply after the snipers sold their holdings. The incident has highlighted vulnerabilities in current token launch mechanisms, with calls for improved anti-bot protections and fairer distribution methods to prevent similar exploits in the future.