What Is a “Front-Running” Attack in the Context of a Low-Throughput Chain?

Front-running is when an attacker observes a pending transaction (like a large trade or liquidation) in the mempool and submits their own transaction with a higher gas fee to ensure it is processed first. On a low-throughput chain, the congestion and slow block times make it easier to observe and successfully front-run, often leading to a profit for the attacker at the expense of the original user.