On September 28, Pond0X decentralized exchange (DEX) announced via its official social media channel that it had achieved a total trading volume surpassing $100 million. However, it's important to note that when the exchange initially launched its native token, PNDX, investors reportedly lost more than $2 million due to certain token features that allowed transfers without the owner's permission. Supporters of the project argue that these losses cannot be attributed to the developers.
To substantiate Pond0X's claimed trading volume, the official channels referred to a Dune dashboard created by a user known as Mogie, which displayed historical trading volume exceeding $111 million as of September 29. The PNDX token was introduced on July 28, and its launch was met with criticism and accusations of being a pull-or-exit scam.
The controversy stemmed from the unorthodox manner in which the project's founder, Jeremy Cahen, also known as "Pauly," introduced the coin. Cahen shared an app URL that enabled users to deposit fixed amounts of Ether (ETH) and receive a fixed amount of PNDX. He also published the token's contract address.
Some investors acquired the token on Uniswap by using the contract address, while others deposited ETH into the app to receive PNDX. The price on Uniswap quickly exceeded the ETH price required to mint PNDX, prompting minters to sell the tokens on the market for profit. Critics argue that this process resulted in the transfer of over $2 million in wealth from those who purchased tokens on Uniswap to those who minted them using the app.
Critics also highlighted that the coin lacked normal transfer functionality, allowing anyone to transfer tokens, not just token owners. This means that PNDX owners could potentially lose their tokens at any time, as any programmer could use developer tools to "steal" them. On July 29, Solidity enthusiast and blogger Sm-stack conducted tests at Foundry, confirming this vulnerability.
Despite the controversy and criticisms, Pond0X continues to garner support on Twitter, with many users expressing positive sentiments. The project launched its decentralized exchange on September 1, and the reported trading volume now exceeds $100 million, indicating that some traders are undeterred by the earlier criticisms surrounding Pond0X.
