AquaBot Rug Pull Drains $4.65M in Solana Presale Funds

Onchain investigator @zachxbt has flagged Solana’s latest major rug ￰0￱ bot project AquaBot (@Aquabot_io) raised 21,770 SOL ($4.65M) in its presale before vanishing with investor ￰1￱ data shows that the project’s main presale wallet, 4Ea23VxEGAgfbtauQZz11aKNtzHJwb84ppsg3Cz14u6q, quickly split the funds across multiple ￰2￱ assets were later routed through instant exchanges, making recovery nearly ￰3￱ move has left thousands of retail investors burned, just hours before Aqua’s scheduled token ￰4￱ Launch Hype Ends in Chaos The Aqua team had hyped up today’s launch for ￰5￱ AQUA token was set to go live via a Meteora DLMM pool on Monday at 5:00 PM UTC.

A few hours before the rug, Aqua posted a thread on X: “AQUA just ￰6￱ we know the path won’t be ￰7￱ follows is the real story for those who want to understand what we’ve built, what changed, and what’s next.” AQUA just ￰8￱ we know the path won’t be ￰9￱ follows is the real story for those who want to understand what we’ve built, what changed, and what’s ￰10￱ this carefully: — Aqua | 8th Sept (@Aquabot_io) September 8, 2025 But instead of a “real story,” investors got a vanishing ￰11￱ after the presale rug, Aqua disabled replies on all their X posts. Presale: Gamified Gamble AquaBot’s presale model was ￰12￱ were told to send SOL into a contract with a gamified “multiplier” ￰13￱ smart contract randomly boosted allocations, creating a lottery-like ￰14￱ Raised: 21,770 SOL (~$4.67M) Promise: 0 vesting, 100% token unlock at TGE Reality: Minutes before launch, vesting was suddenly imposed This last-minute switch set off alarm bells across ￰15￱ members accused Aqua of orchestrating a classic bait-and-switch scam.

A new rug just happened in Solana and it was promoted by famous platforms like @MeteoraAG and@saydialect. Once again, reputable protocols interact and make partnerships with ruggers like @Aquabot_io and then they act like nothing ￰16￱ MUST STOP THIS TL:DR 1.… ￰17￱ — Sensei (@0xSenseiSOL) September 8, 2025 Backlash Hits Promoters The rug is now sparking criticism of big names who boosted the project. X users called out @MeteoraAG, the liquidity platform used for launch, as well as @saydialect and other KOLs who promoted ￰18￱ viral post summed up the frustration: “Once again, reputable protocols interact and make partnerships with ruggers like @Aquabot_io and then act like nothing ￰19￱ MUST STOP THIS ” Meteora Responds Within hours, Meteora’s co-lead issued a ￰20￱ admitted their team had retweeted Aqua after seeing “an innovative liquidity design” using DLMM, but stressed Meteora wasn’t directly ￰21￱ full response: Meteora’s marketing did a single QT on Aqua’s DLMM design The team is reviewing internal processes to avoid future mishaps Acknowledged emotions are high but urged perspective “Sometimes that results in a good launch, sometimes it doesn’t.

I recognize we could have managed expectations better and will further tighten internal processes to reduce this from happening.” JUST IN: Onchain investigator @zachxbt reports Solana telegram trading bot project @Aquabot_io has likely rug pulled 21.77K SOL ($4.65M) raised in its ￰22￱ from wallet 4Ea23VxEGAgfbtauQZz11aKNtzHJwb84ppsg3Cz14u6q were split across addresses before being sent to… ￰23￱ — SolanaFloor (@SolanaFloor) September 8, 2025 Token Data According to CoinMarketCap, AQUA was never formally listed due to the rug ￰24￱ buyers have effectively lost their allocations, and secondary liquidity pools remain empty. Token: AQUA Presale Raised: 21,770 SOL ($4.65M) Launch Status: Abandoned Exchange Listings: None This makes AQUA one of the largest Solana presale rug pulls of 2024, joining a list of scams that continue to undermine confidence in the ￰25￱ Pattern of Rugs The Aqua rug highlights a recurring ￰26￱ with flashy marketing and influencer support raise millions, only to ￰27￱ stings most is when established protocols and influencers amplify these projects, whether knowingly or ￰28￱ everyday investors, the message is the same: hype ≠ ￰29￱ one user put it: “We keep seeing the same scam playbook, flashy presale, randomizer gimmicks, KOL support, then a last-minute vesting switch.

It’s rinse and repeat.” The AquaBot rug pull has cost investors $4.65M and tarnished trust in Solana’s growing trading bot ￰30￱ Meteora and others scramble to distance themselves, the community is demanding ￰31￱ stricter due diligence becomes the norm, presales like Aqua’s will continue to thrive on hype, leaving retail investors ￰32￱ story of Aqua is yet another reminder: in crypto, trust is fragile, and once it breaks, it rarely comes back. Disclosure: This is not trading or investment ￰33￱ do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any ￰34￱ us on Twitter @nulltxnews to stay updated with the latest Crypto, NFT, AI, Cybersecurity, Distributed Computing, and Metaverse news !