Audit log

Every state-changing event for Aquabot (AQUA): moderation decisions on community submissions, plus corrections and updates from the news pipeline. URL-based decisions are designed to carry three independent witnesses — the original source, an Internet Archive snapshot, and a Solana memo signed by our publicly-disclosed publisher key. Archive coverage is still being backfilled, so each decision below reports its own snapshot status rather than assuming one exists.

1. #1publishby system:backfill

   2026-07-28 17:24:07Z
   Score: ? → ? (no score change)
   anchorpending

   chain

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   hash

   Cr7kkgEG7u5h…MWik6B25copysha256 → base58

   verifying row…

   canonical bytes (18173 B) ▸

   {"actor":"system:backfill","investigation_id":"3f3f16c4-97dc-4eab-bec5-e5b587b9a324","kind":"publish","page_slug":"aquabot-aqua","published_at":"2026-07-28T17:24:07.143Z","sequence_num":1,"snapshot":{"content_type":"investigation","entity_name":"Aquabot (AQUA)","sections":[{"content":"On or around September 8, 2025, on-chain investigator ZachXBT flagged suspicious activity originating from the Aquabot presale wallet at address 4Ea23VxEGAgfbtauQZz11aKNtzHJwb84ppsg3Cz14u6q. According to ZachXBT and subsequent reporting by Crypto Briefing and CryptoSlate, the presale wallet moved 21,770 SOL — valued at approximately $4.65 million at the time — by splitting the funds into four separate tranches and routing them through multiple intermediary addresses before dispersing to instant exchanges. Splitting funds into multiple tranches and routing through intermediary wallets is a tactic commonly associated with attempts to obscure on-chain transaction trails. A secondary on-chain investigator identified as 'dethective' also contributed findings. Additionally, reports allege that Aquabot operators manipulated Meteora liquidity pools during the token launch phase and scattered tokens across dozens of side wallets to simulate token distribution. The token AQUA launched at approximately $0.03303 and collapsed 61% within roughly 75 minutes to around $0.0129, according to reporting by CryptoSlate. Prospect of fund recovery is considered extremely low given that funds were routed to instant exchanges.","heading":"Alleged Rug Pull and Fund Movements","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"ZachXBT flags Solana project Aqua for $4.65M rug pull — Crypto Briefing","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptobriefing.com/aquabot-rug-pull-22k-sol-presale/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Solana trading bot Aqua allegedly rug pulls $4.65 million after major ecosystem endorsements — CryptoSlate","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptoslate.com/solana-trading-bot-aqua-allegedly-rug-pulls-4-65-million-after-major-ecosystem-endorsements/"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Aquabot presale wallet on Solscan (4Ea23VxEGAgfbtauQZz11aKNtzHJwb84ppsg3Cz14u6q)","type":"on_chain","url":"https://solscan.io/account/4Ea23VxEGAgfbtauQZz11aKNtzHJwb84ppsg3Cz14u6q"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Aquabot Rug Pull: $4.65M in Solana Stolen Before Token Launch — CoinCentral","type":"news_article","url":"https://coincentral.com/aquabot-rug-pull-4-65m-in-solana-stolen-before-token-launch/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"AquaBot Rug Pull Drains $4.65M in Solana Presale Funds — NullTX","type":"news_article","url":"https://nulltx.com/aquabot-rug-pull-drains-4-65m-in-solana-presale-funds/"}]},{"content":"Aquabot marketed itself as a low-fee Telegram trading bot built on Solana, claiming to have processed over $130 million in transaction volume and promising millisecond execution speeds. The project launched in August 2025. Its presale used a proprietary 'Liquidity Ladder' model, described by the team as a gamified staggered-entry mechanism intended as an alternative to traditional flat-price presales. The project claimed the presale would have zero vesting, with investors receiving 100% token distribution at launch immediately. The presale reportedly raised $1 million in 30 minutes during its public phase, according to a press release published by The Block. Shortly before the token generation event, Aquabot altered its presale terms to impose vesting on buyers — a change directly contradicting earlier commitments and widely cited as an early fraud indicator.","heading":"Project Background and Presale Structure","severity":"high","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"Aqua's Liquidity Ladder Raises $1 Million in 30 Minutes — The Block (press release)","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.theblock.co/press-releases/369648/aquas-liquidity-ladder-raises-1-million-in-30-minutes-changing-the-game-for-token-launches-on-solana"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Solana Project Aquabot Vanishes With $4.65M in Presale Rug Pull — CryptoNews","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptonews.com/news/solana-project-aquabot-vanishes-with-4-65m-in-presale-rug-pull-after-being-promoted-by-major-influencers/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Aqua Bot Leverages Promotion from Ecosystem Partners to Rug $4.6M Presale — SolanaFloor","type":"news_article","url":"https://solanafloor.com/news/aqua-bot-leverages-promotion-ecosystem-partners-rug-4m-presale"}]},{"content":"Several prominent Solana ecosystem entities promoted Aquabot in the weeks before the alleged rug pull, lending the project reputational credibility it allegedly used to attract investors. Meteora, a Solana decentralized exchange, shared promotional posts for Aquabot and was also the venue for alleged liquidity pool manipulation during the token launch. Meteora co-lead 'Soju' publicly acknowledged that the team could have 'managed expectations better' and committed to tightening internal vetting processes. Helius, a Solana RPC and developer infrastructure provider, was named among promoters, though critics noted that basic RPC service use does not constitute a formal endorsement. Dialect, a developer tooling provider, was named as a promoter; Dialect founder Chris Osborn stated the organization received no compensation and expressed regret at having supported 'a new team using our developer tools.' SYMMIO and QuillAudits were also named. On August 31, 2025, QuillAudits posted publicly on X congratulating the Aquabot team for achieving a '99.7% score' in their security assessment and praising the team's commitment to security — a statement that drew backlash after the alleged rug pull, given that smart contract audits generally do not evaluate operator intent or exit-scam risk.","heading":"Ecosystem Promoters and Endorsements","severity":"high","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"QuillAudits congratulates Aquabot on 99.7% security audit score — X (QuillAudits_AI)","type":"social_media","url":"https://x.com/QuillAudits_AI/status/1962143243732504741"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Solana trading bot Aqua allegedly rug pulls $4.65 million after major ecosystem endorsements — CryptoSlate","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptoslate.com/solana-trading-bot-aqua-allegedly-rug-pulls-4-65-million-after-major-ecosystem-endorsements/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Aqua Bot Leverages Promotion from Ecosystem Partners to Rug $4.6M Presale — SolanaFloor","type":"news_article","url":"https://solanafloor.com/news/aqua-bot-leverages-promotion-ecosystem-partners-rug-4m-presale"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Solana's Aqua Vanishes in $4.65M Rug Pull After Influencer Hype — The Shib Daily","type":"news_article","url":"https://news.shib.io/2025/09/09/solanas-aqua-vanishes-in-4-65m-rug-pull-after-influencer-hype/"}]},{"content":"No verified real-world identities for Aquabot's founders or operators have been publicly established in available reporting as of the date of this investigation. The project operated under the X (formerly Twitter) handle @Aquabot_io. Following the fund movement, the team disabled replies on all X posts and went silent on social channels. The team also reportedly deleted Telegram messages previously sent to potential partners. In a move flagged by community members as suspicious, the team published a new smart contract address and claimed their Medium account had been 'unexpectedly suspended,' without offering substantive explanation for the presale fund movements. The anonymity of the team is considered a significant risk factor consistent with exit-scam patterns.","heading":"Team Identity and Anonymity","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"Aquabot official X account (@Aquabot_io)","type":"social_media","url":"https://x.com/aquabot_io"},{"credibility":2,"name":"ZachXBT flags Solana project Aqua for $4.65M rug pull — Crypto Briefing","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptobriefing.com/aquabot-rug-pull-22k-sol-presale/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Aquabot Rug Pull: $4.65M in Solana Stolen Before Token Launch — CoinCentral","type":"news_article","url":"https://coincentral.com/aquabot-rug-pull-4-65m-in-solana-stolen-before-token-launch/"}]},{"content":"On-chain investigator ZachXBT was the first to publicly flag the suspicious activity via his Telegram channel. A secondary X post by user Tommy B. (@realtommybibi) confirmed the presale wallet address and described the fund movement pattern. ZachXBT was quoted calling for 'radical transparency across Solana' in the incident's aftermath. A second on-chain investigator identified as 'dethective' contributed independent findings corroborating the fund movements. The presale wallet (4Ea23VxEGAgfbtauQZz11aKNtzHJwb84ppsg3Cz14u6q) is publicly verifiable on Solscan. The split-tranche routing pattern, use of instant exchanges, and token-scattering across side wallets are consistent with tactics commonly used to launder stolen cryptocurrency. No blockchain analytics firm (e.g., Chainalysis, Elliptic) has published a formal attribution report as of available reporting.","heading":"On-Chain Investigator Findings","severity":"critical","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"Tommy B. on X identifying presale wallet and fund movements","type":"social_media","url":"https://x.com/realtommybibi/status/1965116028448637029"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Aquabot presale wallet on Solscan","type":"on_chain","url":"https://solscan.io/account/4Ea23VxEGAgfbtauQZz11aKNtzHJwb84ppsg3Cz14u6q"},{"credibility":2,"name":"ZachXBT flags Solana project Aqua for $4.65M rug pull — Crypto Briefing","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptobriefing.com/aquabot-rug-pull-22k-sol-presale/"}]},{"content":"As of available reporting through late 2025, no public regulatory action by the SEC, CFTC, DOJ, or any other law enforcement body has been reported in connection with the Aquabot rug pull. No civil litigation or class action filings have been identified in publicly available court records. The use of instant exchanges to disperse funds substantially reduces the likelihood of asset recovery through traditional legal channels. Investors have not reported coordinated attempts to file complaints or pursue restitution through legal mechanisms in any reviewed sources.","heading":"Regulatory and Law Enforcement Status","severity":"medium","sources":[{"credibility":2,"name":"Solana Project Aquabot Vanishes With $4.65M in Presale Rug Pull — CryptoNews","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptonews.com/news/solana-project-aquabot-vanishes-with-4-65m-in-presale-rug-pull-after-being-promoted-by-major-influencers/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Solana Project Aqua Accused Of $4.65 Million Rug Pull — FinanceFeeds","type":"news_article","url":"https://financefeeds.com/solana-project-aqua-accused-of-4-65-million-rug-pull/"}]},{"content":"The Aquabot incident was widely discussed as a signal of systemic risk in the Solana project promotion ecosystem. Critics argued that endorsements by established entities such as Meteora, Helius, and Dialect created a false sense of security for retail investors who interpreted ecosystem promotion as due diligence or vetting. Meteora's Soju acknowledged this in a public statement, committing to tighten internal processes. The QuillAudits smart contract audit, which awarded a 99.7% score days before the rug pull, was also criticized as misleading — smart contract audits evaluate code correctness, not operator intent or fund custody risk. The incident was cited in broader analysis of the Solana ecosystem's vulnerability to exit scams enabled by influencer-driven marketing cycles, including a September 2025 piece by AInvest titled 'Investor Trust in Solana Shaken by Scandal and Vanishing Funds.'","heading":"Broader Implications for Solana Ecosystem Trust","severity":"high","sources":[{"credibility":3,"name":"Investor Trust in Solana Shaken by Scandal and Vanishing Funds — AInvest","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.ainvest.com/news/investor-trust-solana-shaken-scandal-vanishing-funds-2509/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"Navigating the Volatility of Solana Telegram Bots: A Guide to Avoiding DeFi Rug Pulls — AInvest","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.ainvest.com/news/navigating-volatility-solana-telegram-bots-guide-avoiding-defi-rug-pulls-2509/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Solana Project Aquabot Vanishes With $4.65M — CryptoRank","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptorank.io/news/feed/1929d-solana-project-aquabot-vanishes-with-4-65m-in-presale-rug-pull-after-being-promoted-by-major-influencers"}]}],"sources_used":[{"credibility":2,"name":"ZachXBT flags Solana project Aqua for $4.65M rug pull — Crypto Briefing","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptobriefing.com/aquabot-rug-pull-22k-sol-presale/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Solana trading bot Aqua allegedly rug pulls $4.65 million after major ecosystem endorsements — CryptoSlate","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptoslate.com/solana-trading-bot-aqua-allegedly-rug-pulls-4-65-million-after-major-ecosystem-endorsements/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Solana Project Aquabot Vanishes With $4.65M in Presale Rug Pull — CryptoNews","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptonews.com/news/solana-project-aquabot-vanishes-with-4-65m-in-presale-rug-pull-after-being-promoted-by-major-influencers/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Solana Project Aquabot Vanishes With $4.65M — Yahoo Finance","type":"news_article","url":"https://finance.yahoo.com/news/solana-project-aquabot-vanishes-4-221301862.html"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Aquabot Rug Pull: $4.65M in Solana Stolen Before Token Launch — CoinCentral","type":"news_article","url":"https://coincentral.com/aquabot-rug-pull-4-65m-in-solana-stolen-before-token-launch/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"AquaBot Rug Pull Drains $4.65M in Solana Presale Funds — NullTX","type":"news_article","url":"https://nulltx.com/aquabot-rug-pull-drains-4-65m-in-solana-presale-funds/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Solana Project Aquabot Vanishes With $4.65M — CryptoRank","type":"news_article","url":"https://cryptorank.io/news/feed/1929d-solana-project-aquabot-vanishes-with-4-65m-in-presale-rug-pull-after-being-promoted-by-major-influencers"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Aqua Bot Leverages Promotion from Ecosystem Partners to Rug $4.6M Presale — SolanaFloor","type":"news_article","url":"https://solanafloor.com/news/aqua-bot-leverages-promotion-ecosystem-partners-rug-4m-presale"},{"credibility":1,"name":"Aquabot presale wallet on Solscan","type":"on_chain","url":"https://solscan.io/account/4Ea23VxEGAgfbtauQZz11aKNtzHJwb84ppsg3Cz14u6q"},{"credibility":3,"name":"QuillAudits congratulates Aquabot — X","type":"social_media","url":"https://x.com/QuillAudits_AI/status/1962143243732504741"},{"credibility":3,"name":"Tommy B. on X identifying presale wallet","type":"social_media","url":"https://x.com/realtommybibi/status/1965116028448637029"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Solana Project Aqua Accused Of $4.65 Million Rug Pull — FinanceFeeds","type":"news_article","url":"https://financefeeds.com/solana-project-aqua-accused-of-4-65-million-rug-pull/"},{"credibility":2,"name":"Solana's Aqua Vanishes in $4.65M Rug Pull After Influencer Hype — The Shib Daily","type":"news_article","url":"https://news.shib.io/2025/09/09/solanas-aqua-vanishes-in-4-65m-rug-pull-after-influencer-hype/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"Investor Trust in Solana Shaken by Scandal and Vanishing Funds — AInvest","type":"news_article","url":"https://www.ainvest.com/news/investor-trust-solana-shaken-scandal-vanishing-funds-2509/"},{"credibility":3,"name":"Aquabot official X account (@Aquabot_io)","type":"social_media","url":"https://x.com/aquabot_io"}],"summary":"Aquabot was a Solana-based Telegram trading bot project that raised approximately 21,770 SOL (roughly $4.65 million USD) through a presale before alleged operators drained the presale wallet and routed funds through intermediary addresses to instant exchanges in early September 2025. The incident drew heightened scrutiny because several prominent Solana ecosystem entities, including Meteora, Helius, Dialect, SYMMIO, and QuillAudits, had publicly promoted or audited the project prior to the alleged rug pull. No law enforcement action or fund recovery has been publicly reported as of the time of this investigation.","timeline":[{"date":"2025-08-12","event":"Aquabot project launches on Solana, marketing itself as a Telegram trading bot with low fees and high-speed execution.","source":"SolanaFloor","source_url":"https://solanafloor.com/news/aqua-bot-leverages-promotion-ecosystem-partners-rug-4m-presale"},{"date":"2025-08-31","event":"QuillAudits publicly congratulates the Aquabot team on achieving a 99.7% score in its security audit, praising the team's commitment to security.","source":"QuillAudits on X","source_url":"https://x.com/QuillAudits_AI/status/1962143243732504741"},{"date":"2025-09-03","event":"Aquabot's X handle (@Aquabot_io) references a September 3 launch date in its profile description, consistent with a planned token generation event window.","source":"Aquabot X profile","source_url":"https://x.com/aquabot_io"},{"date":"2025-09-08","event":"On-chain investigator ZachXBT flags Aquabot presale wallet (4Ea23VxEGAgfbtauQZz11aKNtzHJwb84ppsg3Cz14u6q) for moving 21,770 SOL ($4.65M) through intermediary wallets to instant exchanges in four tranches. The AQUA token launches and collapses 61% within 75 minutes. Aquabot disables replies on all X posts.","source":"Crypto Briefing / CryptoSlate","source_url":"https://cryptobriefing.com/aquabot-rug-pull-22k-sol-presale/"},{"date":"2025-09-09","event":"Multiple crypto news outlets including CryptoNews, CoinCentral, CryptoRank, and NullTX publish coverage of the alleged rug pull. Meteora co-lead Soju issues a public statement acknowledging the team could have managed expectations better and commits to tightening internal processes. Dialect founder Chris Osborn states no compensation was received and expresses regret.","source":"CryptoNews / CryptoSlate / SolanaFloor","source_url":"https://cryptonews.com/news/solana-project-aquabot-vanishes-with-4-65m-in-presale-rug-pull-after-being-promoted-by-major-influencers/"}]},"v":1}

   Verify offline (run on your own machine)

   python -m src.verify_decision 7749b76f-2c41-41d5-b977-369745534dd8copy