Sep 2025 - Aqua Bot On Solana Audited Rug Pull Claims Lack Of Liquidity - $4.65m (Global)
Aqua Bot was introduced as a next-generation crypto trading bot designed to simplify and supercharge meme-coin and multi-chain trading. It claimed to offer lightning-fast execution, real-time rewards, and secure trading across major blockchain networks like Solana, Ethereum, Base, Hyper EVM, and BSC. With its globally distributed infrastructure and MEV-protected trade execution, it positioned itself as a platform built for both speed and safety, ideal for traders seeking performance without compromising security.
It also promoted itself as an all-in-one trading solution—boasting unified gas management, cross-chain bridging, and liquidity aggregation under a single wallet interface. Aqua Bot leaned heavily into a user-friendly experience with a pro-grade UI/UX, making it accessible even to beginners. The platform emphasized community-driven features, including multi-tier referrals, a points-based leaderboard system, and social sharing of trading performance to encourage user engagement and competition.
Furthermore, Aqua Bot marketed itself as the ultimate destination for meme-coin traders, offering ultra-low fees, instant access to trending tokens, and reward structures tied directly to trading activity. The upcoming $AQUA token was central to its ecosystem, with points accumulation and trading volume contributing to future token rewards. With bold claims and a strong emphasis on user empowerment and innovation, Aqua Bot set out to redefine what a modern crypto trading experience could look like.
Aqua Bot had partnerships and engagements with many teams and influencers including Meteora, Quill Audits, Helius, SYMMIO, and Dialect.
Unfortunately, the Aqua Bot appears to have been a well marketed rug pull operation.
Aqua was able to obtain many partnerships, including Meteora, Quill Audits, Helius, SYMMIO, Dialect, and other influencers.
The team turned off replies on X for all posts.
The incident was reportedly "involving approximately 21,770 SOL (approximately $4.65 million)".
After liquidity was withdrawn from the protocol treasury over an extended period of multiple hours just prior to launch, the Aqua Bot team proceeded with the launch publicly. They claimed that the level of liquidity for the token was roughly half of the initial sell pressure, creating a significatn drop in price. The Aqua Bot team then reported issues with their Medium account being banned, and instead their proposal would be shared to Twitter/X. They proposed that users could vest for periods of 2 months or 4 months, with a 30% penalty if 2 months was chosen, and a 50% bonus if 4 months was chosen.
"We had a full Medium article explaining everything in detail, but our Medium account was unexpectedly suspended.
We're already working on alternative ways to share all the information transparently and as soon as possible. Thanks for your patience."
The team turned off replies on X for all posts.
The Aqua Bot Twitter/X account remains online, promoting 2 possible exit paths for users after 2 months or 4 months. However, funds have already been removed from the smart contract.
It remains to be seen how the situation will be resolved, and whether any funds will be recovered.
Further Analysis
Aqua Bot launched as a next-gen crypto trading platform, promising fast, secure, and user-friendly meme-coin and multi-chain trading across major networks like Solana and Ethereum. With strong marketing, influencer support, and partnerships—including with Meteora, Quill Audits, and Helius—it gained rapid attention, positioning itself as an all-in-one solution with real-time rewards, cross-chain capabilities, and low fees. However, just before its token launch, the team quietly drained over 21,770 SOL (~$4.65 million) from the protocol treasury. Despite going forward with the launch, they offered a controversial vesting plan amid claims of a banned Medium account, all while disabling public replies on social media. As of now, Aqua Bot's future is uncertain, with its smart contracts emptied and growing suspicion that the project was a sophisticated rug pull.
How Could This Have Been Prevented?
More Cryptocurrency Exchange Hacks/Scams/Frauds
SwissBorg Signs Exploit Transaction From Kiln Finance Breach > > < < Nemo Protocol Unaudited Deployment Public Flash Loan Attack
Sources/Further Reading
Solana project Aqua is suspected of running away, involving $4.65 million - ODaily News (Dec 31)
Investigations By ZachXBT - Telegram (Dec 31)
ZachXBT Investigates Aqua, a Solana-based Project, Over Allegations of a $4.65 Million Fraudulent Scheme - Radom (Dec 31)
Solana trading bot Aqua allegedly rug pulls $4.65 million after major ecosystem endorsements - Reddit (Dec 31)
ccvps56243496 - "@evilcos Bro, check this out. It seems they ran off with a mixer and a scam address." - Twitter/X (Dec 31)
First Transfer Of 4,750 SOL - SolScan (Dec 31)
Second Transfer Of 5,000 SOL - SolScan (Dec 31)
Third Transfer Of 4,940 SOL - SolScan (Dec 31)
Final Transfer Of 7,080.857059536 SOL - SolScan (Dec 31)
QuillAudits - "Our role was strictly limited to smart contract security auditing. QuillAudits conducted a comprehensive technical review of Aquabot's smart contract code for security vulnerabilities and implementation flaws only." - Twitter/X (Dec 31)
ZachXBT flags Solana project Aqua for $4.65M rug pull - CryptoBriefing (Dec 31)
Aqua Bot Homepage (Dec 31)
Aqua Bot Twitter/X Account (Dec 31)
Liquidity Ladder Transaction - SolScan (Dec 31)
Aqua Bot - "Liquidity Ladder Completed, Here Are the Results!" - Twitter/X (Dec 31)
Aqua Bot - "A simple token idea grew into a protocol — with a real team, real design, and real infrastructure. So we evolved. And that evolution made the launch stronger." - Twitter/X (Dec 31)
Aquabot Presale Funding address - SolScan (Dec 31)
@cryptoniker Twitter (Dec 31)
@jade_defi Twitter (Dec 31)
Fair3 Community - "After the @Aquabot_io rug, we asked: what’s next? Fair3’s answer: community-driven onchain insurance. On Sept 19, @oviswang, @Mirro7777, @Tintinx2021 & our community shared how fairness can be enforced with rules, not rage." - Twitter/X (Dec 31)
@itsPampaa Twitter (Dec 31)
BTCMillionaire - "Why isn't the claims page working? @Aquabot_io It shows loading, but no data is loading!" - Twitter/X (Dec 31)
MartinSaints - "Another rug on $sol land of soy $aqua @Aquabot_io ... Sadly this will keep happening until you realize there's an option #pulsechain and all of you losing .. welcome to $pikajew on Pulsechain.." - Twitter/X (Dec 31)
Daz_0x - "On September 1st, a new type of presale shill began. You deposit your funds, and then an algorithm randomly executes buys. According to the devs, 12–20% of participants would either end up at a small loss or just break even, while 80%+ were promised to get tokens at a low price and come out with multiples on launch" - Twitter/X (Dec 31)
0xSoju - "Our prerogative will be to support teams using our tech, sometimes that results in a good launch, sometimes it doesn’t." - Twitter/X (Dec 31)
Toprak3d - "Zero tweet about @Aquabot_io scam that you guys promoted? Why any project would work with you after all these scams you guys promoted for few bucks?" - Twitter/X (Dec 31)
z357z357 - "The purpose of the Fair3 community is to fight against unfair actions. Recently, you may have heard some of the drama about @Aquabot_io. Our community didn’t choose to stand by and do nothing for those who were persecuted; instead, we put forward real money to fund and compensate them. Isn’t that a big enough vision?" - Twitter/X (Dec 31)
SpecterAnalyst - "Take note of these accounts (project + influencers). They promoted the @Aquabot_io project, which have just rug-pulled presalers. I recorded 51 accounts." - Twitter/X (Dec 31)
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