The Cost of Dumping:
A Year of BRETT Swaps Analysed
How TWAP execution changes the economics of large token sales on Base.
Every week, traders on Base try to sell large positions in low-cap tokens and get destroyed by price impact. They watch the number in the "you receive" field drop as they type. They hit confirm anyway because they don't have a better option.
We analysed 2,789,377 real BRETT swaps on Uniswap V3 on Base — filtered out bots, MEV sandwiches, and dust — and simulated what a Slicr TWAP order would have gotten vs an instant swap across 1,335 scenarios.
The Data
We filtered 2,789,377 raw swaps down to 102,858 clean human trades using four filters: dust removal (<$1K), block density, sandwich pair detection, and bot pattern removal. Filters are conservative — results understate the TWAP advantage, not overstate it.
Results — Savings at a glance
| Order size | Est. % of swaps | Est. % of volume | Median saving |
|---|---|---|---|
| ≥ $10K | ~8% | ~45% | +$667 (+7.3%) |
| ≥ $25K | ~3% | ~28% | +$3,650 (+18.2%) |
| ≥ $50K | ~1% | ~18% | +$11,802 (+35.2%) |
| ≥ $100K | <1% | ~12% | +$33,414 (+66.4%) |
TWAP benefits sellers and buyers equally — AMM price impact is symmetric.
TWAP won 100% of the time
Across 89 weekly simulations, TWAP outperformed instant swap every single week for every order size tested. The median saving on a $50K order was $11,802 — against a Slicr fee of ~$150. That's a 79:1 value-to-fee ratio.
The five largest swaps
These five wallets each had fewer than 25 lifetime on-chain transactions. Each sold between $339K and $412K in a single instant swap. Each left an estimated $180K–$220K on the table.
| # | Date | Volume | Est. instant out | TWAP sim (24h) | Est. saving |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apr 26, 2024 | $412,275 | ~$105,800 | ~$327,600 | ~+$221,800 |
| 2 | Apr 20, 2024 | $359,863 | ~$103,900 | ~$303,500 | ~+$199,600 |
| 3 | Apr 20, 2024 | $358,888 | ~$103,700 | ~$302,700 | ~+$199,000 |
| 4 | May 16, 2024 | $349,230 | ~$102,900 | ~$295,200 | ~+$192,300 |
| 5 | Apr 21, 2024 | $339,281 | ~$101,800 | ~$287,600 | ~+$185,800 |
TWAP outputs extrapolated beyond $100K model ceiling — treat as directional.
Transaction hashes (verify at basescan.org):
Caveats
- AMM formula is V2 constant-product — slightly overstates impact vs real V3
- Pool liquidity estimated from rolling medians, not live on-chain state
- TWAP gains come from arb recovery, organic market flow, and price drift between slices — not from LPs
- Concurrent large sellers compete for the same recovery; figures are single-order simulations