Someone built an MEV bot to frontrun the Wayfinder PROMPT airdrop claims on Kaito, stealing $200,000 in ETH from ‘yappers’

An MEV bot named "Yoink" exploited vulnerabilities in Wayfinder's newly-launched PROMPT token airdrop, front-running Kaito user claims and draining around 119 ETH (approximately $200,000) before the issue was flagged and the process halted, according to onchain data.MEV attacks, where malicious actors reorder Ethereum transactions to profit at users' expense, have been a persistent problem in crypto. Now, with the rise of AI-driven bots like "Yoink," these threats are growing more acute, becoming both widespread and increasingly sophisticated.TokenTable, the entity managing the airdrop, paused the process to address the failed transactions and promised full compensation for affected users, including gas fees. The team noted the underlying smart contract "remains secure and unaffected," with signs pointing to an MEV attack as "the root cause.""Hey @AIWayfinder i think a MEV frontrunner is stealing and swapping s all $PROMPT @KaitoAI claims for ETH," @0x_ultra, who claims to have been "yoinked," said on X on Thursday. Wayfinder is an AI blockchain project that offers users an onchain “agent” that interacts with smart contract applications on their behalf. The project kicked off a token generation event on the Ethereum mainnet and Base Layer 2 on Thursday that allocated tokens to users who staked PRIME — the governance and utility token of the Echelon Prime Foundation behind Wayfinder — and so-called Kaito “yappers” who discussed the project on social media. Kaito is a platform for tracking crypto projects that processes unstructured social media data into market insights. Last month, the project airdropped its KAITO token to people who earned "Yaps" through social media engagement. Wayfinder allocated 0.25% of the total $PROMPT token supply specifically for Yappers who completed “social missions” like connecting their X account to the Wayfinder dashboard, launching a wallet and sharing a referral code. Earlier on Thursday, some users complained that they had not received their expected allocation, prompting some crypto commentators to warn users from claiming their tokens. "if you got $PROMPT from kaito yapping DO NOT CLAIM IT until they fix the claim contract!!!!! otherwise you will get your claim Yoink'd by a mev bot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" popular trader notsofast said. The bot's address, at 0xFDe0d, has a current balance of over 64 ETH. It redirects PROMPT claims to an address beginning 0xB16207 after swapping the tokens to ETH before they can be claimed legitimately.TokenTable has not yet announced when the Kaito claims process will be restarted. The team has promised a "detailed post-mortem" once the claim is back online.Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.© 2025 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.