Key Takeaways:
- Crypto influencer Pauly’s recent token launch ran into some muddy waters.
- Traders lost millions after the token’s price dropped to zero within hours of launch.
NEW DELHI (CoinChapter.com) — Crypto Influencer Jeremy Cahen, better known by his X username ‘Pauly,’ launched his memecoin Pond0x on July 28. However, the launch of the token, PNDX, was marred by a technical glitch that resulted in traders losing millions of dollars.
Multiple posts on social media platform X noted that traders’ investments in the PNDX token dropped to zero within an hour of launch.
The PNDX token reached $0.36 before crashing and burning to reach zero. The price crash resulted in chaos as traders started looking for answers.
Traders Swarm X, Speculating If The Influencer Scammed His Followers
Hundreds of users flocked to X, replying to Pauly’s tweets with scores of complaints. Many traders were left wondering why their investments plummeted. Moreover, some users even complained of tokens missing from their wallets.
X user Sean stated that his MetaMask wallet has 47 billion PNDX tokens, which mysteriously declined to 3 billion PNDX. Another user, Tedi, had a similar woe with his PNDX token holdings dropping from 53 billion tokens to 15 billion.
As the number of affected traders increased, users began speculating if the crypto influencer had scammed his followers. However, it seems that in his announcement, Cahen had listed the PNDX contract address and the URL for the platform’s official web app.
The app allowed users to mint PNDX tokens in exchange for Ether (ETH). But, Pauly listing both the contract address and the website in the same post created confusion.
Cahen advised users to “stick to” the Pond0x website for mining the tokens, but the damage had been done by then. An NFT trader claimed his investment of $50,000 in the PNDX token dwindled to $10.
Another user invested over 712 ETH (worth $1.33 million) and lost nearly all of it. Furthermore, an X user and co-founder of Pop Punk, Harrison Leggio, pointed out that the smart contract for the PNDX token contained some malicious code that would allow users to transfer tokens from any other users.
The faulty code snippet was likely responsible for users losing tokens from their wallets. However, Pauly claimed that no one had stolen users’ tokens, stating, “The contract is literally designed as such.“
X Users Call Out Pauly For The “PNDX Scam“
Several prominent X users blamed Pauly for the losses, calling the PNDX token a scam and accusing the influencer of scamming his followers. Crypto sleuth ZachXBT called the project “another PSYOP,” to which Pauly replied, “LOL.”
An NFT trader, @0xQuit, noted that the faulty transfer function made the PNDX tokens worthless.
Any LP set up can be immediately drained, and that’s what’s been happening. As soon as there is a deposit to the pool, PNDX gets drained out instantly. With no PNDX liquidity in the pool, uniswap correctly assigns it a near infinite value
@0xQuit explained
Maximus DAO founder Goldkey alleged that Pauly, who had called Pulse Chain a scam earlier, “just launched an actual scam PNDX.”
Crypto Tony, a crypto and NFT investor, also called Pauly a scammer. Tony warned his more than 324,000 followers not to buy the PNDX “scam” token.
However, not everyone investing in the Pond0x (PNDX) token suffered losses. Memecoin holder Rune noted that a “couple of wallets” made $700,000 on an investment of $10,000, while most others lost.
FAQ
At the moment, it seems that the faulty transfer function could either be deliberate or innocent. Whatever the cause, the crypto influencer failed to heed the warnings and caution his followers about the potential dangers from the issue.
It is difficult to predict PNDX’s price action in the future. However, it seems the token would remain near zero since new buyers would be reluctant to enter the market following its spectacular crash and burn.
