Prominent blockchain investigator ZachXBT has alleged that Aqua, a Solana (SOL) based trading platform, executed a “rug pull,” absconding with 21,770 SOL, valued at $4.65 million. This occurred despite the platform securing endorsements from prominent ecosystem partners and recently undergoing security audits.
Aqua presented itself as an inclusive trading infrastructure, aiming to broaden access beyond “insiders or whales.” They reported processing over $90 million in trading volume, boasting execution speeds measured in milliseconds.
The platform attracted users with promises of revenue sharing through its AQUA token. Token holders were to receive a portion of trading fees through buy-and-burn mechanisms and staking rewards.
Aqua conducted a public token sale, providing an address for investors to send SOL in exchange for AQUA tokens after the platform’s launch. Reports indicate the protocol successfully raised $1 million within 30 minutes.
Multiple endorsement
The project initially garnered trust through collaborations with established Solana ecosystem players, including Meteora, Helius, SYMMIO, and Dialect. Furthermore, various influencers promoted the platform.
QuillAudits further bolstered Aqua’s reputation by publicly announcing on August 31st that the Aqua team had achieved a “99.7% score” in their security assessment, lauding their dedication to security.
ZachXBT’s investigation uncovered that funds were “divided into four portions and routed through intermediary accounts before being transferred to numerous instant exchanges,” just hours before his report was published.
Following the alleged exit scam, the Aqua team disabled comment functionality on all their X (formerly Twitter) posts.
Serpin Taxt, CEO of Ethos Network, verified Aqua’s disappearance. He stated that Aqua briefly contacted his team regarding a potential partnership before ceasing all communication. He also noted that Aqua’s team had deleted the messages they sent through Telegram.
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‘Liquidity ladder’
The platform introduced its token utilizing a “Liquidity Ladder” model, which they promoted as a substitute for traditional presales. This model was designed to ensure “deep launch liquidity” and “fair price discovery.”
The stated intention of this mechanism was to reward early believers while preventing insider allocations that typically favor institutional investors.
After the suspected rug pull, Aqua posted a new smart contract address and claimed their Medium account had been “unexpectedly suspended,” hindering their ability to provide a comprehensive explanation.
The team pledged to share updates through alternative channels, but no further information has been released as of the time of this report.
Soju, co-lead of Meteora, addressed the allegations that their protocol inadvertently assisted a fraudulent project in gaining traction.
Soju commented:
“Our primary goal is to support teams utilizing our technology. Sometimes that leads to successful launches, and sometimes it does not. I have personally implemented procedures that strongly favor positive outcomes. However, I acknowledge that we could have better managed expectations and will further refine internal processes to minimize the recurrence of similar incidents.”
Despite the suspicious movement of funds originating from their presale address, there is currently no official confirmation that Aqua definitively executed a rug pull.