Understanding Slippage on Solana
Slippage can make or break your trades. Learn how to set it correctly and protect yourself from MEV attacks.
📉 What is Slippage?
Slippage is the difference between the expected price of a trade and the actual price at which it executes. It occurs because prices change between when you submit a transaction and when it's confirmed on-chain.
Example: You want to buy a token at $1.00. You set 2% slippage. Your trade will execute if the price is anywhere from $1.00 to $1.02. If the price moves above $1.02 before your transaction confirms, the trade fails.
⚖️ Slippage Settings Guide
0.1% - 0.5%
Best for: SOL, USDC, major tokens
Low risk of failed transactions
1% - 3%
Best for: Most memecoins, medium volume tokens
Balanced risk/success rate
5% - 10%
Best for: New launches, low liquidity
Higher MEV risk
10%+
Use only for: Sniping, emergencies
High sandwich attack risk
🥪 Sandwich Attacks Explained
A sandwich attack is when a bot sees your pending transaction and places two trades around it:
- 1Bot sees your buy order in the mempool
- 2Bot front-runs with a buy, pushing the price up
- 3Your trade executes at the higher price
- 4Bot immediately sells, profiting from your slippage
⚠️ Higher slippage = bigger sandwich profits. Bots specifically target high-slippage transactions. Only use high slippage when absolutely necessary.
🛡️ How to Protect Yourself
- ✓Use the lowest slippage possible: Start low, only increase if transactions fail
- ✓Trade smaller amounts: Large trades attract more MEV attention
- ✓Use private transactions: Some RPCs offer MEV protection
- ✓Time your trades: Lower activity = less MEV competition
❓ Common Questions
Why did my transaction fail?
If slippage is too low for the token's volatility, the price moves beyond your tolerance before the transaction confirms. Solution: Increase slippage slightly and retry.
I got way less tokens than expected?
You probably got sandwiched or the token has very low liquidity. Check your transaction on Solscan to see if there were suspicious trades around yours.
What's the difference between slippage and price impact?
Price impact is how much YOUR trade moves the price (based on liquidity). Slippage is how much the price might move from OTHER trades before yours executes.
Trade with Optimal Settings
Wallet Bot automatically suggests optimal slippage based on token liquidity and market conditions. Trade smarter, not harder.
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