# what mev and a sandwich are on solana, simply

MEV is extra profit someone takes by reordering transactions around yours. The common one on Solana is a sandwich: a bot buys right before you and sells right after, so you get a worse price. Low slippage limits what they can take, and MEV protection is there to stop it.

## a sandwich, step by step

1. You send a buy with some slippage allowed.
2. A bot gets a buy of the same token in just before yours, pushing the price up.
3. Your buy fills at that higher price, still inside your slippage.
4. The bot sells right after you, into the price your buy pushed up.

You paid more than you had to, and the difference is the bot's profit. Your slippage setting is how much room you gave it.

## how to not get sandwiched

- **Keep slippage low** when protection is off. A wide slippage limit is permission to fill you at a bad price. [Slippage on Axiom](/axiom/slippage/).
- **Turn on MEV protection** for buys. It can make the trade a little slower.

## on axiom

Axiom has three modes: Off, Reduced and Secure. Secure waits for a validator Axiom trusts and is the one Axiom recommends. What each mode does and where to set it: [MEV protection on Axiom](/axiom/mev-protection/). What the Jito part means: [Jito tips](/axiom/jito-tip/).

The link below is our Axiom referral link.

> **code apebrief.** Open Axiom through https://go.apebrief.com/axiom/mev-inline-explainer?src=md&asset=axiom%2Fmev&cta=after-resolution and paste the code where the signup shows a code field. Signing up through this link takes 10% off your Axiom trading fees, which signing up without one does not. We get a commission from Axiom, which helps support our work, at no extra cost to you.

## related questions

- **What does Axiom actually charge?** Platform fee starts at 1% of the fill, plus priority you set, plus impact. A referral is a fee cut on the account if the field shows the code. Gas is separate.
- **I swapped on Axiom and the token is gone** Check the tx on a Solana explorer first. Destination address and mint are the ground truth. Then enable that mint in the wallet. Do not swap again to find it.

## how we know: every number on this page

- what MEV is, in Axiom's words **sandwiching** (https://docs.axiom.trade/getting-started/fees/solana-fees), checked 2026-09-28
- with no protection, trades are exposed to front-running and worse entry prices **front-running** (https://docs.axiom.trade/getting-started/fees/solana-fees), checked 2026-09-28
- keep slippage low without MEV protection so the trade is not sandwiched **sandwiched** (https://docs.axiom.trade/getting-started/fees/solana-fees), checked 2026-09-28
- Axiom's three MEV modes; Secure waits for a whitelisted validator and is the one Axiom recommends **Secure** (https://docs.axiom.trade/getting-started/fees/solana-fees), checked 2026-09-28
- protection prevents sandwiching and may slightly delay execution **delay** (https://docs.axiom.trade/getting-started/fees/solana-fees), checked 2026-09-28
- Axiom gives users who sign up through a referral link a 10% discount on trading fees **10%** (https://docs.axiom.trade/getting-started/referral-program), checked 2026-09-24

## next

- [axiom mev protection: off, reduced, secure](https://apebrief.com/axiom/mev-protection/): Axiom has three MEV modes, Off, Reduced and Secure, and Secure is the one it recommends, at the cost of waiting for a whitelisted validator.
- [axiom fee tiers: the cashback and net fee at each tier](https://apebrief.com/axiom/fee-tiers/): Axiom pays cashback in SOL against its own trading fee, from 0.05% at the lowest tier to 0.25% at the highest, which is why Axiom gives the net fee as 0.95% rather than 1%.
- [what a jito tip is, and how it differs from a priority fee](https://apebrief.com/axiom/jito-tip/): A Jito tip is SOL you pay to a validator running Jito so it picks up your transaction or bundle.
- [what a solana priority fee is, simply](https://apebrief.com/axiom/solana-priority-fee/): A priority fee is an optional extra you pay on a Solana transaction so the validator puts it ahead of others.
- [Axiom Pulse or Photon Memescope?](https://apebrief.com/vs/pulse-memescope/): Axiom Pulse if you trade launches on more than one chain: eight chains feed the same three columns, and every column carries its own filters and three presets.

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HTML version: https://apebrief.com/axiom/mev/ · figures checked 2026-09-28