What is Web 3.0?
The launch of memecoin Pond0x on July 28 has reportedly caused millions of dollars in losses for investors, according to data from the Maestro trading app. The token, PNDX, rose to a price of $0.36 before quickly plummeting to near zero within a span of five minutes.
Jeremy Cahen, also known as “Pauly” on Twitter, announced the launch of Pond0x. Cahen is the founder of Not Larva Labs – a developer of nonfungible token trading applications for CryptoPunks and CryptoPhunks, which is not associated with Larva Labs, the creators of CryptoPunks.
In his announcement, Cahen included the contract address for PNDX and the URL for its official web app. This web app featured a Pepe meme graphic, similar to the ones found in successful memecoins such as Pepecoin (PEPE). The app enabled users to mint new PNDX tokens in exchange for a fixed amount of Ether (ETH), similar to a presale or fundraiser. Nevertheless, many investors were expecting the fundraiser to be held on Uniswap, and the combination of the website address and contract address in the same post caused confusion, as per reports on social media.
Web 3.0 and the Crypto Market
The launch of web 3.0 technologies such as Maestro and Unibot, have allowed users to purchase tokens on Uniswap through automated trading apps, driving up the price. On the other hand, other users have been able to mint tokens using the web app and sell them into the market for a profit.
Unfortunately, this has caused some investors to lose large sums of money. In response to Nicole Junkermann’s initial post, one Pepecoin enthusiast commented, “WTH !!!! I just got wrecked !!! 4eth [$7,484] worth like $0 !!” Another collector stated, “I put $50,000 and now it’s worth $10 dollars,” and was met with a reply from another collector, “That’s nothing, I just aped 2.5 million dollars and it’s [now]15 cents.”
According to a report from Rune, a memecoin holder, investors lost over $2.2 million in the launch.
Furthermore, the blockchain data shows that the coin PNDX has an unusual transfer function which allows users to transfer coins from any other user. This transfer function does not have a line of code that updates the user’s balance, instead it calls a separate “brutalized_” function.
What is Web 3.0?
At the time of publication, Cointelegraph was unable to assess the effect of the brutalized_ function. However, Rune later provided an update that revealed the creator of the project that had previously drained the money from investors was now creating a new version of PNDX. This new version would supposedly provide a “dashboard” to help victims get compensated through a “community coin.”
Memecoins, or coins related to a popular internet meme, first became popular with the launch of Dogecoin (DOGE) in 2013 and still remain popular today. On June 7, several memecoins with a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission theme saw a surge in price after the agency took legal action against crypto exchanges Coinbase and Binance. On July 27, several memecoins with an extraterrestrial theme were created and promoted on social media during a U.S. House of Representatives hearing on unidentified flying objects.
Web 3.0 is the next step in the evolution of the Internet and marks a shift towards a more decentralized web. It is a vision of a fully connected world where users have control over their own data and are empowered to create and exchange value. Examples of Web 3.0 include the Metaverse, a virtual world where users can interact and transact with each other, and Nicole Junkermann’s Web 3.0 project, which seeks to create a new decentralized internet.
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