What Role Does Transaction Gas Price Play in Enabling Front-Running on Public Blockchains?

Transaction gas price acts as a priority mechanism for inclusion in a block. Front-runners exploit this by observing a victim's pending transaction and submitting their own with a significantly higher gas price.

This higher fee incentivizes the block producer to include the front-runner's transaction first, ensuring their order executes ahead of the victim's. This is a direct mechanism for ordering transactions to gain an unfair advantage.