Despite Scam Accusations, Decentralized Exchange (DEX) Pond0x Surpasses $100 Million in Trading Volume.
In a recent update shared on X (formerly Twitter), the official Pond0x project channel directed users to a Dune dashboard revealing a remarkable all-time trading volume of over $111 million as of September 29.
At present, the dashboard indicates a cumulative trading volume of $112.4 million.
Pond0x’s recent achievement comes amidst ongoing concerns and accusations related to the launch of its native token, PNDX.
The controversy initially arose when the project introduced the PNDX token on July 28th.
Critics leveled allegations against the project, particularly its founder Jeremy Cahen, also known as ‘Pauly,’ suggesting that it might be a rug pull or an exit scam.
The concerns revolved around the unorthodox approach employed by Cahen during the coin’s launch.
Through a post on X (formerly Twitter), Cahen shared a link to an application enabling users to exchange a set quantity of Ethereum (ETH) for a fixed amount of PNDX.
He also disclosed the contract address for the token.
Consequently, some investors acquired the coin on Uniswap using its contract address, while others utilized the app to deposit ETH and receive PNDX.
Investors Face $2 Million Loss in PNDX
The price of PNDX on Uniswap quickly exceeded the value of the ETH required for PNDX minting, leading minters to sell their coins on the market for a profit.
Critics contended that this process effectively shifted over $2 million from those who acquired the coin on Uniswap to those who minted it via the app.
The ETH deposited into the app entered a contract with no apparent means of retrieval, fueling allegations that the project was crafted to deplete investors’ funds for the benefit of Cahen.
Additionally, coding experts raised concerns about the token’s unusual lack of a standard transfer function.
Rather than restricting token transfers to the owner, PNDX allowed anyone to transfer tokens.
This exposed PNDX owners to the risk of potential token loss at any time, as any programmer could potentially “acquire” their PNDX using developer tools.
On July 29, Solidity enthusiast and blogger Sm-stack claimed to have conducted a test in Foundry that demonstrated this vulnerability.
In spite of these concerns, Pond0x continues to garner a substantial following on Twitter, with some expressing optimistic views about the project.
For instance, cryptocurrency trader and blogger Antony Williams, who claimed to have thoroughly reviewed the app’s smart contract code, contended that Pond0x is essentially an LP Farm rather than an outright scam.
The app assigns each user a unique ID, determining their allocation of Pepe tokens from a shared pool. Users have the opportunity to augment their Pepe rewards by engaging the “BribeforLevelUp” function, necessitating a 0.26 ETH deposit.
This ETH is utilized to procure Pepe tokens, which are then added to the reward pool. The platform also assigns a “Score” to each user, signifying their potential rewards from trading fees.
Williams acknowledged that these rewards might not be immediately claimable, but he speculated that the developer likely intends to distribute them at a later stage.
Furthermore, he proposed that the PNDX token itself might essentially lack intrinsic value, potentially structured in such a way to mitigate potential legal entanglements.
