MEV searcher extracted ~$2M from a trader via backrunning on a thin Uniswap V3 AVAIL/WETH pool using flash swaps across V2, V4, and V3.
DeFi & Yields ·
A maximal extractable value (MEV) searcher extracted approximately $2.0 million from a trader on July 5, 2026, through a backrunning attack on Uniswap V3. The exploit targeted a thin AVAIL/WETH pool holding roughly $24,000 in total value locked. When a large swap pushed AVAIL's in-pool price to extreme levels, the searcher bot executed a flash-swap chain across Uniswap V2, V4, and V3 in a single transaction, ultimately exchanging 2,154 AVAIL tokens (worth approximately $6.30 at the $0.002923 rate) for 1,072 WETH valued near $1.9 million.
The attack exploited the illiquidity of the AVAIL/WETH pool by routing the initial large swap through a venue too shallow to absorb the order without severe price impact. The searcher's flash-swap sequence allowed it to acquire USDT via Uniswap V2, convert that USDT to AVAIL through Uniswap V4's PoolManager, and then sell the AVAIL back through the mispriced V3 pool to pocket the difference. The V3 pool's WETH liquidity was fully depleted in the transaction.
Whether similar pools remain at risk from comparable routing patterns and whether the trader used a standard router or custom logic remains unclear. No details indicate whether the pool has since received additional liquidity or whether protocol-level safeguards were deployed.