Guide · Trading
Meme coin sniper bots and the anti-sniper fee
On the default Meteora route of KABOOM!, a sniper bot buying in a coin's first block pays a 50% trading fee, falling exponentially over 60 seconds to the tier fee, 2% or 2.5%. A meme coin sniper bot is a script that buys new tokens within seconds. Only the maker's dev-buy, the launch's first swap, pays the normal fee.
How a meme coin sniper bot works
A sniper bot is a program that watches the chain for one thing: a new token it is allowed to buy. It listens to new launch and pool-creation transactions through a fast RPC connection or a validator stream. When a launch matches its filter, it sends a buy at once, usually with a high priority fee so the buy lands in the same block as the launch or the one right after.
The filters differ per bot. Common ones are:
- the size of the maker's own first buy (the dev-buy) as a share of the supply;
- the maker's wallet history: earlier launches, and whether those coins were dumped;
- the market cap at the moment of the buy, and a ceiling above which the bot skips;
- links to a website or social account, or a name that matches a trend;
- the buys of a wallet the bot copies.
None of that needs a person in the loop. That is the point: a person who finds a new coin on a website is seconds behind, and on a fresh launch a few seconds is the whole edge.
Why the first block is worth so much
New coins on KABOOM! trade on a bonding curve: a formula that raises the price with every buy and lowers it with every sell. The first buyer pays the lowest price and gets the most tokens per SOL. Everyone after pays more.
A bot that buys in the first block and sells into the buyers who arrive a minute later takes that difference. For the coin it looks like a spike and a drop before most people have even seen it, and the people who bought the spike hold the loss. A maker who wants a fair start has no way to stop a bot from buying, so the only lever is the price of buying early.
The anti-sniper fee on KABOOM!
In the mainnet config, the trading fee of a Solana coin on the default Meteora route does not start at its normal level. It starts at 50% and falls exponentially in 30 steps over the first 60 seconds. The bonding-curve program reads the second a trade lands and charges the fee for that second; nobody sets it per trade. The one exception is the maker's dev-buy, the first swap inside the launch transaction, which pays the normal fee.
The fee is split like the normal trading fee: 20% to Meteora, and of the rest 69% to the platform and 31% to the maker. A bot that pays the high early fee is funding the coin's maker share, not slipping past it. A Raydium launch has no anti-sniper fee window: every curve trade pays the same 1.75% from the first block.
| Seconds after launch | Verified | Open bundle |
|---|---|---|
| 0 s | 50% | 50% |
| 10 s | 29.247% | 30.354% |
| 20 s | 17.107% | 18.427% |
| 30 s | 10.007% | 11.187% |
| 40 s | 5.853% | 6.791% |
| 60 s and later | 2.003% | 2.503% |
The schedule stores each step in whole basis points, so the fee settles just above the nominal 2% (2.003%) on a Verified coin. Full table and a fee calculator: tokenomics.
What a 1 SOL buy pays in fees
The fee is collected in SOL, as a share of the trade. On a Verified coin, the same 1 SOL buy costs this much in fees depending on when it lands:
| Buy lands at | Fee rate | Fee on 1 SOL |
|---|---|---|
| 0 s | 50% | 0.5 SOL |
| 10 s | 29.247% | 0.2925 SOL |
| 20 s | 17.107% | 0.1711 SOL |
| 30 s | 10.007% | 0.1001 SOL |
| 40 s | 5.853% | 0.0585 SOL |
| 60 s or later | 2.003% | 0.02 SOL |
Waiting 60 seconds is the cheapest way in, and that is the design: it turns a race measured in milliseconds into a choice between paying a lot to be first and paying the normal fee a minute later.
What the fee does and does not do
- It does make a buy in the first seconds expensive for every wallet, including bundle buys in the launch transaction.
- It does not stop a bot that waits until the window has passed, and it does not stop anyone from selling. A coin can still drop hard after the first minute.
- It does not tell you who the early buyers are. For that, check the dev-buy, the bundle wallets and the holder list; the rug pull checklist walks through them.
- On Robinhood Chain, coins launched through PONS carry a snipe tax that starts at 99% and lasts 3 seconds, per project research. PONS sets that rule, not KABOOM!.
Sniping on KABOOM! yourself
KABOOM! has its own sniper for coins on this curve. You set rules on the dev-buy share, the disclosure badge, the market cap and the maker's history, and it buys from your own wallet. It runs client-side in your browser tab, so it only works while that tab is open. It pays the anti-sniper fee like every other buyer; a maximum-fee rule makes it skip a buy, never avoid the fee.
If you launch on the default Meteora route, you do not need to do anything: every Meteora launch here starts with the fee window, on both tiers (Verified and Open bundle). A Raydium launch has no anti-sniper fee window: every curve trade pays the same 1.75% from the first block. The launch guide for Solana tokens covers the rest of the launch.
Frequently asked questions
What is a sniper bot in crypto?
A sniper bot is a script that watches the chain for new tokens or pools and sends a buy in the same or the next block, often with a high priority fee, so it gets in before people who find the coin on a website. Some buy every launch that matches a set of rules; others copy the buys of a wallet they follow.
Why do sniper bots hurt a new meme coin?
On a bonding curve every buy raises the price for the next one, so the first buyer gets the most tokens per SOL. A bot that buys in the first block and sells into the buyers who follow pushes the price down right after launch. The anti-sniper fee is meant to make that first-block buy expensive.
How does the anti-sniper fee work?
In the mainnet config, the trading fee on a Solana coin starts at 50% and falls exponentially in 30 steps over 60 seconds, to the normal fee of the launch tier: 2% on a Verified launch and 2.5% on an Open bundle launch. The bonding-curve program sets the fee by the second a trade lands, and it is split like the normal trading fee.
How much does a sniper bot pay in the first seconds?
On a Verified launch the fee is 50% at launch, 29.247% after 10 seconds and 10.007% after 30 seconds, then settles just above the nominal 2%. On an Open bundle launch it is 30.354% after 10 seconds and settles just above the nominal 2.5%.
Can a sniper bot avoid the anti-sniper fee?
No. Apart from the maker's dev-buy, the first swap inside the launch transaction, every buy pays the fee for the second it lands, whoever sends it. Bundle buys in the launch transaction pay it too. A bot can only wait until the fee is lower, which gives up the head start it was built for.
Is there a sniper tool on KABOOM!?
Yes. The KABOOM! sniper buys new coins on this curve by your rules on the dev-buy share, the badge, the market cap and the maker's history. It runs in your browser tab with your own wallet and pays the anti-sniper fee like every other buyer; a maximum-fee rule only skips a buy, it never avoids the fee.
Does a Raydium launch have the anti-sniper fee?
No. A Raydium launch has no anti-sniper fee window: every curve trade pays the same 1.75% from the first block. The fee window is part of the Meteora curve config, the default route on KABOOM!.
How do Robinhood Chain launches handle snipers?
Coins launched through PONS on Robinhood Chain carry a snipe tax that starts at 99% and lasts 3 seconds, per project research. PONS sets that rule, not KABOOM!.
Keep reading
- Bonding curve explainedHow a bonding curve prices a new token, where the SOL goes, what migration to a DAMM v2 pool means and how fees work.
- What is bundling in cryptoWhat bundling means in crypto, why bundled launches hide who holds the supply and how to check a token for bundle wallets.
- How to make a meme coin on SolanaMake a meme coin on Solana in 5 steps: wallet, name, image, optional dev-buy, simulated cost, sign. Launches open on Solana mainnet.
- TokenomicsSupply, curve and fee split per launch route, a fee calculator and the KABOOM token plan: 20% team, 12-month cliff, no presale.