Solana News Today: Why Trust Crumbled in Solana’s $4.65M Aqua Fiasco

A Solana-based Telegram trading bot project, Aqua, has sparked controversy after allegedly executing a rug pull that drained $4.65 million in presale funds. According to blockchain investigator ZachXBT, the platform moved 21,770 SOL from its presale address—4Ea23VxEGAgfbtauQZz11aKNtzHJwb84ppsg3Cz14u6q—into multiple intermediary wallets before routing the funds to instant exchanges. The transfers were conducted in four tranches, a common tactic used to obscure transaction trails and evade scrutiny [2].

The funds had been raised through a "gamified" presale model, where investors were promised multipliers on their allocations via a randomizer mechanism. The team initially assured participants of a 100% token distribution without vesting, but shortly before the token generation event, it abruptly introduced vesting terms for presale buyers. The change, combined with the sudden movement of funds, has led to widespread accusations of fraud across the Solana community [2].

Aqua positioned itself as a low-fee trading bot with a novel "liquidity ladder" presale model, designed to stagger entry prices and prevent inorganic trading patterns. The platform claimed to have processed over $90 million in trading volume with sub-millisecond execution speeds and promised revenue sharing to AQUA token holders via staking and buy-and-burn mechanisms [3]. However, the rug pull has cast doubt on the legitimacy of these claims.

The project’s credibility was further bolstered by endorsements from major Solana ecosystem partners, including Meteora, Helius, SYMMIO, and Dialect, as well as support from influencers. QuillAudits, a well-regarded security firm, had even published a positive assessment of Aqua’s code, awarding it a 99.7% score [3]. These endorsements contributed to the project’s rapid fundraising, with the presale reportedly raising $1 million in just 30 minutes [3].

Following the alleged exit, Aqua’s team locked replies on all of its X (formerly Twitter) posts and reportedly deleted messages sent through Telegram. Ethos Network CEO Serpin Taxt confirmed that Aqua had briefly reached out to his team for collaboration before vanishing [3]. In response to accusations of complicity, Meteora co-lead Soju acknowledged the risks inherent in supporting early-stage projects but stated that the team was already tightening internal processes to mitigate future risks [3].

The incident has sparked broader concerns within the Solana community about the prevalence of presale scams and the role of endorsements in perpetuating a false sense of security. Critics argue that repeated incidents—like those involving Aqua—highlight systemic issues in due diligence and project vetting within the ecosystem [2].

Despite the suspicious activity reported by ZachXBT and the subsequent inaction from the Aqua team, there remains no formal confirmation that a rug pull occurred. However, the project’s sudden disappearance, altered terms, and lack of transparency have left investors and community members deeply skeptical [3].

Source:

[1] title1 (https://worldmarketlive.com/cryptocurrency/)

[2] title2 (https://finance.yahoo.com/news/solana-project-aquabot-vanishes-4-221301862.html)

[3] title3 (https://cryptorank.io/news/feed/8e8c2-solana-trading-bot-aqua-allegedly-rug-pulls-4-65-million-after-major-ecosystem-endorsements)