Sniper bot
In short A sniper bot is automated software that tries to buy a new token the moment it becomes tradable, ahead of ordinary traders.
A sniper bot is a program that watches a blockchain for a launch event, usually liquidity being added to a new token or trading being switched on, and sends a buy transaction as soon as the token can be traded. The goal is to be among the first buyers, sometimes in the same block as the launch, before regular traders can even load the chart.
Mechanically, the bot connects to a fast node and watches pending transactions or freshly confirmed blocks. It keeps a signed buy ready and submits it with a high priority fee, or a tip to the block builder, which improves the odds of early inclusion but never ensures landing first. The buy only works if liquidity exists and trading is enabled, and a pool can be empty or a contract can keep trading locked. Many bots also filter by contract address, deployer wallet, or token name, so they only act on matching launches.
This matters because early buyers often get a very low entry price and can sell into demand that arrives later. A sniper can still lose money, since a token can fall below its launch price or go to zero. If you buy a few minutes after launch, you may be buying from a wallet that holds a large share of supply at a tiny cost basis, which often shows up as a sharp early pump followed by a quick drop.
Before buying a fresh token, open the launch block on a block explorer and look at who bought in the first block or two. Many brand-new wallets holding a big share of supply is a warning sign, not proof, since one operator can split holdings across many wallets. Also check whether the deployer or linked wallets appear among the early buyers, because teams sometimes snipe their own launch.
Keep slippage sensible: set it too low and your swap fails, though a failed transaction can still cost a network fee. Anti-bot measures such as high initial taxes, blacklists, or delayed trading can catch ordinary buyers too. Be careful with sniper software shared in chat groups, since it is a common way to trick people into pasting a private key or approving a malicious contract.