  We consider front-running to be a course of action where an entity benefits
from prior access to privileged market information about upcoming transactions
and trades. Front-running has been an issue in financial instrument markets
since the 1970s. With the advent of the blockchain technology, front-running
has resurfaced in new forms we explore here, instigated by blockchains
decentralized and transparent nature. In this paper, we draw from a scattered
body of knowledge and instances of front-running across the top 25 most active
decentral applications (DApps) deployed on Ethereum blockchain. Additionally,
we carry out a detailed analysis of Status.im initial coin offering (ICO) and
show evidence of abnormal miners behavior indicative of front-running token
purchases. Finally, we map the proposed solutions to front-running into useful
categories.
