Can a Sandwich Attack Be Performed on a Crypto Futures Market?

A direct sandwich attack, as commonly seen on DEXs, is generally not possible on a crypto futures market because futures exchanges use a centralized, off-chain order book and matching engine, not a public mempool. However, the principle of sandwiching can be adapted.

A sophisticated attacker could place large orders on the spot market to manipulate the underlying price, knowing that this will trigger a cascade of liquidations or force a large hedge trade on the futures market. This coordinated attack achieves a similar outcome: profiting from a predictable, forced price movement caused by another party's action.