How to Snipe Memecoins (2026): Sniper Bot Setup Guide

To snipe memecoins, you use a sniper bot that buys a new token in the first seconds after it becomes tradable. The procedure has seven steps: pick a bot for your chain, find launches, check the contract and the dev wallet, set slippage and fees, turn on MEV protection, set the snipe, then attach an auto-sell. This guide uses BasedBot as the worked example and names a Solana alternative where BasedBot's docs do not cover a step.

This page is a setup procedure. If you want to know which bot to pick, read our ranking of the best memecoin sniper bots. Locke snipes with these tools himself; the settings and menu names below come from each tool's official docs, checked on 12 October 2026.

Memecoin sniping at a glance

Sources: BasedBot settings (opens in a new tab), BasedBot Sniper (opens in a new tab), Trojan Sniper docs (opens in a new tab), BONKbot Nighthawk (opens in a new tab).

Step 1: pick the right sniper for your chain

The first decision is the chain, because sniper features differ by network.

• EVM chains (Base, BSC, Ethereum and more): BasedBot's classic Sniper (opens in a new tab) is EVM only, per its docs. It buys a token as soon as a pool is created. BasedBot also has a Custom Sniper that watches all new token creations and a Migration Sniper that buys at migration.
• Solana: BasedBot trades Solana tokens, including Pump.Fun / PumpSwap pairs in its supported DEX list (opens in a new tab), but its docs do not list Solana for the classic Sniper. For Solana launch snipes, Trojan's Auto Sniper (opens in a new tab) and BONKbot's Nighthawk (opens in a new tab) are documented options.

To set up BasedBot itself (wallet, deposit, first trade), follow the BasedBot tutorial first. Open the bot through an official link only: fake sniper bots on Telegram steal wallets. Our official links page lists the real ones.

Step 2: find new launches

A snipe starts with a token you know about before most buyers do. BasedBot has four places to watch:

• Live channels: open "Channels & Alerts" or type /channels. The live channels page (opens in a new tab) lists feeds for Clanker, Flaunch, Virtuals, Ape Store, Creator.Bid, Uniswap new pools, Four.Meme (BSC), Arena (Avalanche) and LiquidLaunch (HyperEVM). Each post has a fast-buy button.
• Pulse (web app): a live feed of new launches, trending tokens and bonding curve tokens with a progress bar, per the Pulse page (opens in a new tab).
• Discover (web app): filter all chains by age, market cap, volume and liquidity on the Discover page (opens in a new tab).
• Trackers: the Wallet Tracker (opens in a new tab) alerts you on Buy, Sell and Token Creation from wallets you follow. The web app's X Tracker (opens in a new tab) shows tweets from tracked handles, with an "Only CA" filter for posts that contain a contract address.

A token that is still on its launchpad curve has not reached graduation yet. Read how pump.fun works if you plan to snipe pump.fun tokens.

Step 3: check the contract and the dev wallet

Most losses in sniping come from the token, not the bot. Check these points before you set any snipe.

On Solana: mint and freeze authority

• Mint authority: if the creator still holds it, they can print new supply and dump it on you. See mint authority.
• Freeze authority: if the creator still holds it, they can freeze your tokens so you cannot sell. See freeze authority.

Trojan's Auto Sniper has filters for mint and freeze authority, socials, dev wallets, liquidity and dev holdings, per its sniper docs (opens in a new tab). Turn them on before you snipe on Solana.

On EVM chains: taxes, limits and holders in BasedBot

• Audit button: on the token monitor, Audit asks Serialized Labs for a contract analysis. It can take up to 3 minutes and shows buy, sell and transfer taxes, Burn %, Clogged % and MaxTx, per the audit page (opens in a new tab). A high sell tax is a common honeypot sign.
• Token page (web app): check Top 10 Holders %, Dev Holding %, Snipers, Insiders, Bundlers and LP Burned, and the Dev Tokens tab for the creator's other launches, per the token page docs (opens in a new tab).
• Blacklist: in /settings, block tokens and developer addresses you never want to trade again. Blocked items cannot be traded, per the settings page (opens in a new tab).

A large dev wallet share or many bundled wallets means the creator can sell into your buy. Read about bundling and the rug pull red flags.

Step 4: set slippage, priority fee and Jito tip

These three settings decide whether your buy lands and how much it costs.

• Slippage: new tokens move fast, so a low value makes the buy fail. BasedBot's web app offers 10%, 20% and 40% presets or a custom value, per the trading page (opens in a new tab). Higher slippage gives more room to a sandwich attack, so pair it with Step 5.
• Gas or priority fee: BasedBot's web app has Low, Medium, High, Max and Custom priority fees, per the web settings page (opens in a new tab). The transaction speed page (opens in a new tab) says that on L2s such as Base and Arbitrum, ordering is first come, first served, so higher custom gas gives no advantage there.
• Jito tip (Solana): a Jito tip pays a block builder to include your transaction early. Jito's docs (opens in a new tab) say bundles compete on tips, and a bundle with a low tip might not be selected. Trojan's sniper docs suggest a 20% priority fee and 80% tip split.

Step 5: turn on MEV protection

A public buy with high slippage is easy prey for MEV bots. MEV protection sends your transaction through a private route instead.

• BasedBot: in the Telegram bot, MEV protection is a switch in /settings for Ethereum, Base and BSC, per the settings page (opens in a new tab). The web app offers it on EVM chains.
• Solana bots: BONKbot's MEV protection (opens in a new tab) uses Jito. Turbo mode sends through Jito only when that is fastest; Secure mode always protects, even if slower.

Protection can cost a little speed. For a snipe, decide what matters more on that token: the first block, or a price that a sandwich bot cannot move.

Step 6: set the snipe in BasedBot

BasedBot has three sniper types. All of them show up in /orders, where you can edit or cancel them, per the orders page (opens in a new tab).

Classic Sniper: one token, first pool

1. 1

   Open /sniper

   Type /sniper in the bot. The classic Sniper works on EVM chains only, per the Sniper docs (opens in a new tab).
2. 2

   Paste the token address

   Enter the address of a token that has no pool yet. Copy it from an official source, never from a DM.
3. 3

   Set amount, min liquidity and slippage

   Set the buy amount, a Min Liquidity floor so the bot skips a pool that is too thin, and your slippage. Turbo is optional; see the warning above.
4. 4

   Wait for the pool

   The bot buys as soon as a pool is created, with the amount you set. The new position then shows in /manage.

Custom Sniper: rules instead of one address

The Custom Sniper (opens in a new tab) watches all new token creations and buys the ones that match your filters: name or symbol pattern, Factory Sources (DEXes or launchpads), chains and creator addresses. Set a buy amount per chain, the wallets and an optional delay in milliseconds. Keep the filters narrow and the amount small: a broad rule can buy many tokens in a short time.

Migration Sniper: buy at graduation

Open the token, tap Orders, then Add Order, and choose Migration Buy, per the Migration Sniper page (opens in a new tab). Set the amount and the wallets. The order is single-use. Migration Sell does the opposite and sells your holdings at migration.

Step 7: attach an auto-sell

The first minutes of a memecoin are the most volatile, so set the exit before you need it.

• Take profit and stop loss: on the token monitor, turn TP or SL on, set the target percentage and the share of the position to sell, per the TP/SL page (opens in a new tab). Set defaults for new trades in /settings.
• Trailing stop loss: the stop rises with the price and sells when the price falls the set percentage from its peak.
• Dev Sell: sells 100% of your tokens when the developer sells, per the Dev Sell page (opens in a new tab). On a fresh launch, this is the rule that matters most.
• Limit sell: sells when the market cap rises to your target, per the limit orders page (opens in a new tab).

Safety checklist

1. Use a separate wallet. Keep only sniping money in it, and save its private key offline.
2. Check before you buy. Mint and freeze authority on Solana; taxes, dev holdings and bundlers on EVM.
3. Cap the size. Set a small amount per snipe, and a max number of snipes where the bot has one.
4. Protect the transaction. Turn on MEV protection when you use high slippage.
5. Set the exit first. TP, SL and Dev Sell go on before or right after the buy.
6. Open bots from official links. Never share your private key or seed phrase.

Costs of sniping

Tips and gas are extra on every bot. If you raise your tip on every snipe, fees can eat your profit. For fee tables across tools, see best memecoin trading platforms.

Mistakes to avoid

• Never snipe a token you did not check. A fast buy into a honeypot is still a loss.
• Do not use Turbo by default. It skips the checks that protect you.
• Do not raise gas on Base to win. BasedBot's docs say L2 ordering is first come, first served.
• Do not snipe without an exit. Without TP, SL or Dev Sell, a dev dump takes your position to zero while you sleep.
• Do not trust addresses from DMs or replies. Fake tokens copy names and tickers.
• Do not leave broad Custom Sniper rules running unattended. A popular ticker can trigger many buys.

Want a ranking instead?

This guide shows how to snipe. To compare sniper bots on launch snipes, migration snipes, MEV protection, chains and fees, read best memecoin sniper bots. For the tools used above, see the BasedBot review, the Trojan review, the BONKbot review and BasedBot vs Trojan. New to memecoins? Start with how to buy memecoins and the sniping glossary entry.

Bottom line

Sniping memecoins is a procedure, not a button: find the launch, check the contract, set slippage and fees, protect the buy and set the exit. On EVM chains, BasedBot covers every step in one bot, from live channels to /sniper and Dev Sell. On Solana, Trojan or BONKbot cover the launch snipe with Jito tips. Start small.

Changelog

• 2026-10-12: first version published.