Original author: GABE TRAMBLE

Translated by: Deep Tide TechFlow

"Learn by example" summarizes the speculative atmosphere of the encryption field Gamblefi well. Here, traders are driven by daily returns of hundreds of times, Rug, and liquidity extraction. In this field, Meme coins have unique appeal, especially when traders follow the market and promote these tokens on Twitter. Platforms like Banana Gun have emerged to provide users with the basic tools needed for high-speed trading.

A few years ago, Maestro was leading in this field, initially gaining attention under its original name Catchy. Maestro is a necessary platform for traders who pursue short-term market volatility profits. Then came Unibot, which improved this field by reducing its focus on sniping and focusing more on ordinary users who are troubled by Uniswap's unfriendly interface. They strategically focused on recommending fees to drive rapid growth, a strategy similar to what we see on platforms like Rollbit and Stake.

Recently, Banana has entered this field, offering products that compete with Maestro in terms of sniper functionality and are more cost-effective. Banana seems destined to win the hearts of "Degen" traders who are willing to take extreme risks for potentially huge returns.

This fluid pattern emphasizes the continuous development of platforms and strategies in the underground world of encrypted Gamblefi, with each one striving to meet the ever-changing needs and risk preferences of its user base.

During the bear market and the lowest DEX trading volume since 2020, hundreds of ERC-20 tokens are being deployed every day. For some traders, monitoring the Meme coin market is a full-time job. A project that increases 100 times can break even and earn decent profits. Traders can participate in various ways, including presales, purchases, and spot purchases of tokens.

预售: Allocating funds before the token is issued.

抢购（狙击）: Using robots to automatically purchase tokens during issuance.

现货: Tokens that can be purchased directly on exchanges such as Uniswap or Coinbase.

Traders tend to determine their strengths and choose a few categories to focus their energy on. In this process, we will mainly focus on the buying stage; let's delve into it.

Token Sniper

Before the emergence of Telegram bot purchases, this game relied entirely on professional knowledge. Top token snipers and robot operators would carefully analyze Meme coin contracts to identify key functions that trigger token releases, maximum trading volumes, and any measures implemented by developers to prevent early buyers. With the emergence of Telegram bots such as Banana Gun and Maestro, this approach has largely been replaced.

In short, token snipers are automated trading bots that allow users to quickly execute buy and sell orders on newly issued tokens on decentralized exchanges such as Uniswap. Many of these bots use Telegram as a platform. Developers prefer Telegram because it is a thriving hub for trading ideas and a native messaging app for crypto. The product-market fit for token snipers is clear as users adopt them at an increasingly rapid pace. Sniping bots can also purchase already issued tokens with similar speed and efficiency, which accounts for a large portion of their trading volume.

These top-tier sniping bots can now simulate the entire contract functionality, allowing users to bypass the user interface of platforms such as Uniswap and simply decide how much ETH to deploy. This shift makes the sniping landscape more user-friendly, but also more competitive.

For example, in the case of Maestro, users still need to input the maximum transaction volume and have a certain understanding of contract methods in non-advanced mode. This is where Banana differs from other competitors - there is no need for such professional knowledge, and the process is even simpler and clearer.

Compared with platforms like Uniswap, the latter recently removed expert mode. Although this change may benefit retail traders by increasing security layers for high-impact trades, it forces skilled traders to manually adjust their strategies. The removal of expert mode has affected experienced traders who have built their own front-ends to improve their experience. This highlights why Telegram bots designed for more mature user bases, such as Banana Gun, have gained attention in the fiercely competitive ERC-20 token trading landscape. By using these bots, traders not only optimize their strategies but also avoid the limitations imposed by decentralized exchange interfaces aimed at retail traders.

These sniper robots, how do they operate?

Imagine a trader staring at the release of $TOKEN after a few days. They just need to load the Telegram application and put the smart contract into the token snatcher. After specifying the amount of ETH they are willing to risk, it's just waiting for the game. Once the token enters the DEX pool, the Telegram snatcher will be triggered to execute predefined trading parameters. If everything goes according to plan, the trader enters at a market value of 10k (assuming the example) and skyrockets to a market value of 200k in just a few seconds - a whopping 20-fold profit. But it's not that simple anymore. The effectiveness of these snatching robots has led to a large influx of traders using the same strategy, often using 10 or more wallets to beat their competitors.

This is why having just one purchasing robot is not enough now; timing is crucial. Banana Gun is here. Unlike other platforms that require manual input or specific monitoring, Banana Gun streamlines the entire process. Once the contract is added to the robot before token trading begins, Banana's snipers will automatically search for smart contract triggers like "EnableTrading" and buy in as soon as the token is released.

Snipers can also monitor "liquidity adding" transactions. Now there is liquidity available to enable trading.

Banana Gun

Banana Gun has democratized the sniper landscape in the encryption space. Previously, sniping was an exclusive activity reserved for individuals with advanced technical skills who could read and configure smart contracts. Banana Gun has opened this door to everyone by automating most of the sniping process. Their platform is designed to be very user-friendly: you paste a contract and let the robot handle complex tasks such as determining method IDs, tax rates, and maximum transaction amounts. This feature sets them apart from competitors like Maestro, where users need to manually read contract addresses and configure settings.

Banana Gun's unique value proposition is based on its user-centric focus on automation and preventing most Rug scams. Banana Gun not only achieves automation, but also executes each transaction privately with the Ethereum bribe set by the user. This clever mechanism provides an additional layer of security. In an environment where someone tries to execute a Rug with expensive gas fees, Banana Gun allows you to preempt at an affordable price. The private transaction feature also ensures that you will never be sandwiched or front-run. Sandwich attacks are a way for traders (bots) to exploit transaction ordering by placing trades before and after user transactions. In fact, Banana Gun goes further and will cancel your transaction if it detects the risk of sandwiching, even if it is executed privately. Even competitors like Maestro lack this subtle feature.

Speed is crucial, and Banana Gun is currently one of the fastest retail purchasing robots on the market. It was first launched in early June and has attracted approximately 700 daily active users, with a total of over 12,000 users.

When users make a purchase, the interface will move to the selling channel, where users can focus on the sales mechanism. Typically, other flash sale robots buy and sell on a single interface.

Core Functionality

0 Block Bribery

Bribery is an important feature of Banana Gun, but it is worth noting that Maestro originally led the concept of collective bribery. Maestro's system makes it extremely difficult for a single robot user or sniper to defeat the collective bribery of the participating group, effectively democratizing the process.

However, Banana Gun has advanced this method with a fresh perspective. While Maestro may introduce collective bribery, Banana Gun improves it by attracting a smaller but more seasoned and experienced user base. These people are familiar with the mechanism of buying and know how to overcome even a collective group.

Banana Gun uses custom RPC, a dedicated node that communicates directly with the blockchain, allowing for faster data transmission than standard providers such as Infura or Alchemy. In this high-speed environment, pending transactions from Banana Gun's elite snipers are bundled into a transaction package. This package is then forwarded to the block generator, which is responsible for grouping transactions in the Ethereum network.

When the package enters the block generator, the battle becomes fierce. The sniper of Banana Gun participates in blind bribery, and each participant provides a hidden bribe, also known as a "tip", to ensure faster transaction confirmation. Taking user A as an example, he purchased X tokens at a price of 0.20 ETH and included a bribe of 0.10 ETH. This bribe directly incentivizes the block generator to confirm user A's transaction faster. If the token involves transaction taxes, user A may initially lose money until the token appreciates.

The blindness of these bribes adds a layer of strategy and unpredictability to the transaction process. Since you cannot see the bribes of others, and they cannot see yours, your experience and shrewdness become your greatest assets. This explains why Banana Gun has always maintained its lead in the race for the 0th block, despite its smaller community. The combination of fast custom RPC, bundled transactions, and blind bribes provides Banana Gun with a unique competitive advantage, making it a powerhouse in the token grab field. This unique trio streamlines the transaction process, creating an environment that combines skill, strategy, and speed, setting Banana Gun apart from its competitors.

Highest Cost

Banana Gun has made a crucial update to address one of its initial flaws: users were unable to control sniper restrictions. In the early stages, the bot would automatically purchase any amount set by the user. However, this made some traders vulnerable to sandwich attacks.

In order to solve this problem, Banana Gun has added slippage control and limit orders to its trading package. Now, users can define a "maximum spending" limit in ETH, which will limit the amount of tokens and gas they are willing to spend. This is particularly useful when dealing with tokens that have a maximum trading volume, which means that the token contract code limits the maximum amount that can be purchased in a single transaction. For example, if a user's spending limit is "0.25 ETH", the bot will keep the total expenditure (including gas) below this limit. If the maximum allowed trading volume is reached, any remaining ETH will be refunded to the user.

An important new feature based on user feedback has been added to ensure that if a transaction cannot meet the maximum allowable purchase amount, it will be automatically cancelled. This protection measure is crucial in preventing situations where users receive a small amount of tokens but pay high fees due to others offering higher bribes. This update adds a layer of risk mitigation, making the rush to buy tokens more strategic.

These improvements make the competitive environment more fair, allowing Banana Gun users to navigate more confidently in more brutal and cooperative trading scenarios.

Trading Revenue

Traders use this product, but you may still wonder if it's worth anyone's time to develop trading infrastructure like Banana Gun. Ultimately, Banana Gun generates 10-25+ ETH in revenue per day through trading fees. This is without token revenue (as of September 15th), while for Unibot, token revenue would add additional trading fees to its trading volume.

Competition Landscape

There are several robots competing with Banana Gun for space, including Maestro and Unibot, which are the biggest snipers. Overall, Maestro has the largest user base. Based on daily robot usage, Banana Gun has recently surpassed Maestro in the past few days.

Market Structure

Currently, the total number of robot users exceeds 100,000, with daily active users consistently exceeding 4,000 since August. Several leading products account for over 90% of the total number of users - specifically Maestro, Banana Gun, and Unibot.

Revenue and Cost Structure

As of September 15, 2023, Banana Gun reported trading fee revenue of 756 ETH, exceeding $1.2 million. Banana Gun adopts a low fee model, charging only 0.5% for total buy and sell transactions, which is attractive to its smaller but more experienced user base.

Understanding the fee structure is crucial to understanding why Banana Gun's average daily fee income is lower despite its trading speed and strategic advantages. In comparison, Maestro charges a 1% fee on total buys and sells, and even offers a premium membership for $200 per month to access additional features. Another competitor, Unibot, has a completely different model - its revenue comes from taxes as part of its fee structure.

The word 'total' is crucial here. If you conduct a 10 ETH transaction and break even (buy 10 ETH/sell 10 ETH), you still need to pay fees based on the total transaction volume. With Maestro, you pay 0.1 ETH when buying and another 0.1 ETH when selling, for a total of 0.2 ETH. In the case of Banana Gun, you pay only 0.005 ETH when buying and selling, for a total of only 0.01 ETH. The significant difference in fee structure partly explains Banana Gun's lower daily transaction fee revenue, but also represents a competitive advantage for cost-conscious users.

By decomposing the cost difference, it can be seen that although there are fewer daily active users, Banana Gun provides an attractive alternative for experienced traders seeking to maximize strategy while minimizing costs.

Outlook: Intent-based Exchange

We predict that Telegram bot tools will trend towards "intent-based trading", essentially acting as automatic executors of user-specific trading intentions - whether it's exchanging x, executing y, or z.

The intention is to execute the signature based on the defined standard, rather than on individual transactions (TXN) or paths leading to the same result. By using intention, users can have more flexible control over the outcome of their transactions.

If a transaction says "execute A before executing B, pay C to get X return", then one intention is to say "I want X, and I am willing to pay up to C for it".

—Paradigm

Due to the fact that BananaGun does not route exchanges to third parties for execution, it is typically not considered an intent-based exchange. However, we may see tools such as Banana Gun auctions or RFQ models that allow users to submit an offline fulfillment order. Currently, Banana Gun can interact with block builders to expedite transaction processing and enable flash sales. In the future, snipers may turn to off-chain solutions to fulfill early bird purchases or general exchanges. In theory, users can sign a transaction confirming their willingness to spend X, and then Banana Gun can process the transaction on behalf of the user or send it to a sophisticated participant for additional fees.

Risk

Like most protocols, Banana Gun is not without risks. Risks are typically similar in DeFi protocols, including economic exploitation or smart contract risks. Economic exploitation refers to the use of the monetary system within the protocol mechanism, while smart contract exploitation may exist in unaudited code. Both of these risks may exist in sniper robots.

Security Risks

When it comes to Banana Gun, security risks are not limited to smart contract vulnerabilities. The robot can access users' private keys, which means that the project team has technical control over users' funds. To mitigate this risk, most traders only keep enough funds in their Telegram wallet to execute trades and transfer the rest of their funds to a more secure wallet.

There is always a risk of exposing private key data due to unexpected circumstances. However, it is worth mentioning that both Banana Gun and Maestro will immediately delete the private key from the Telegram user interface after the user provides or generates it in the application. For Banana Gun, if you forget or lose your private key, the platform cannot retrieve it for you. The private key is stored on a separate encrypted server that only the robot can access, and it is protected by multiple layers of security, including grouping, hashing, and conversion. Grouping packages the data for secure storage, hashing converts the data into a one-way, irreversible string, and conversion further obfuscates the data into an unreadable format, all of which ensure the highest level of protection for the private key.

Bribery (Tip)

Becoming the fastest requires paying a price. Just like cheetahs can run very fast, the downside is that they need time to rest. Using Banana Gun, users may over-bribe tokens based on pure hype and speculation, eroding profits. If "Sniper A" bribes 0.1 ETH and competitor "Sniper B" bribes 0.2 ETH, then "Sniper A's" buy-in point will be higher. In some cases, unreasonable bribes may be added, resulting in losses for many participants. Tips are non-refundable and are fully sent to the block builder.

Conclusion

Banana Gun stands out for its speed, low cost, and strong stability, focusing primarily on execution timing. Many successful transactions can be attributed to the efficiency and transaction bundling architecture of Banana Gun.

Banana Gun's continued growth in the bear market proves the practicality and demand for the product. Despite its complexity, the user base for Banana Gun remains strong, with over 700 users per day in just a few months and daily revenue exceeding 10 ETH in recent weeks.

However, the user group of token sniper Bot is ruthless and has no loyalty to the brand, so the Banana Gun team must continue to iterate and ensure that they have a competitive product.

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