20x on Day One: Is MoneyArk, an Ethereum-based Ponzi project, Sparking a New FOMO?
TechFlow Selected TechFlow Selected
20x on Day One: Is MoneyArk, an Ethereum-based Ponzi project, Sparking a New FOMO?
Can MoneyArk, under the banner of "store of value," replicate the algorithmic stablecoin momentum from the previous bull market?
Navigating Web3 tides with focused insightsAuthor: Jiang Haibo, PANews
Recently, DeFi projects on Ethereum have been overshadowed during the ongoing minor bull market, significantly underperforming compared to inscriptions and the Solana ecosystem in terms of wealth generation. However, a new Ponzi-like project called MoneyArk has recently launched with an IDO, causing its $Mark token price to surge over 20x on December 10.
There are two ways to participate in MoneyArk: one is by purchasing and holding the $Mark token; the other is depositing USDC into an algorithmic vault to receive a "permanent" daily yield of 0.5%. Below, PANews provides an overview.
Value Storage Token $Mark
$Mark is the value storage token within MoneyArk, designed to maintain long-term low volatility and steady growth, managed through automated on-chain transactions by an algorithmic treasury.
A key feature of $Mark is its transaction tax mechanism: each transaction (buy, sell, or transfer) incurs a 10% fee, where 5% is distributed evenly among all holders and 5% is used for liquidity provisioning (half of which is automatically sold). Thus, a complete buy-and-sell cycle incurs a total 20% transaction tax, discouraging frequent trading. Conversely, holding $Mark allows participants to earn dividends from transaction fees.
The total supply of $Mark is fixed at 100 million tokens: 49% allocated to a "Blackhole" contract; 19% for IDO; 8% for initial liquidity; 14% to boost early USDC pool yields; and a small portion reserved for marketing, airdrops, and team allocation.
Since nearly half of the tokens are sent to the Blackhole address—rendering them effectively non-circulating—the circulating supply can be considered lower when calculating $Mark’s market cap. The Blackhole address also accumulates transaction fees. Initially holding 49% of $Mark, its share gradually increases over time. When the Blackhole's holdings reach 51% of total supply, a rebalancing mechanism triggers: 0.5% of the total $Mark supply is sold for USDC, and another 0.5% is paired with it to form new LP tokens.
This process of accumulating fees via the Blackhole can be seen as the protocol capturing increasing value. Initial and subsequently accumulated liquidity together constitute the liquidity owned by the MoneyArk protocol, which strengthens over time.
USDC Pool and Algorithmic Treasury
The second way to participate is by depositing USDC into the algorithmic treasury, where depositors earn a daily return of 0.5% on their deposited funds. However, this comes with significant risk: principal cannot be withdrawn, and investors must recover their costs solely through daily earnings (and potentially generate additional profits).
Of the deposited funds, 85% of USDC is automatically used to purchase $Mark tokens, 10% is directed to the USDC pool to pay out yields, 1% goes to referrers, and the remaining 4% is reserved for future use.
When withdrawals exceed 1% of the USDC pool, the smart contract automatically sells some of its $Mark holdings to replenish the pool.
Unclaimed earnings can be compounded. However, once part of the earnings is withdrawn, the base amount for calculating future returns decreases. For example, if a user deposits 10,000 USDC and earns 250 USD over five days, withdrawing that amount would reduce subsequent daily earnings to (10,000 - 250) * 0.5%.
Upward Spiral vs. Death Spiral
Initially, MoneyArk features a strong upward spiral mechanism. The project conducts its IDO at a low valuation, allowing early $Mark buyers not only high certainty of price appreciation but also substantial fee income during periods of high trading activity. Additionally, during the first two weeks, 1% of the total $Mark supply is distributed daily to USDC depositors, enabling early contributors to quickly recoup their costs through $Mark rewards.
In the initial phase, MoneyArk aims to achieve self-reinforcing growth through a “bootstrapping” mechanism:
-
Attract investors to buy $Mark early via low valuations and fee rewards;
-
Incentivize users to deposit USDC early with additional $Mark rewards;
-
Deposited USDC is used to buy $Mark, driving up its price;
-
Higher $Mark prices increase reward payouts to USDC depositors, further attracting deposits;
-
More active trading leads to greater protocol-owned liquidity via fees and the Blackhole mechanism;
-
Improving metrics encourage more investment in $Mark.
However, after 14 days, no additional $Mark rewards will be provided to USDC depositors, meaning cost recovery would take at least 200 days. USDC depositors then face a dilemma: if they withdraw earnings early, they incur high gas fees and reduce their earning base, prolonging the breakeven period; if they delay withdrawals, there’s uncertainty about whether they’ll ever fully recover their capital.
Ways and Timing to Participate in MoneyArk
By evaluating participation methods (buying $Mark vs. depositing USDC) and timing (early vs. mid-to-late stage), we can categorize participation into four scenarios:
Purchasing $Mark early is the most ideal strategy. Deposited USDC creates new buying pressure, allowing early holders to benefit from both capital appreciation and fee-based dividends.
Depositing USDC early is a secondary option, potentially allowing cost recovery within the first 14 days via bonus $Mark rewards, followed by continued yield generation.
Buying $Mark in the mid-to-late stages is less favorable. At this point, round-trip trading incurs a 10% fee, trading activity slows down, and investors must rely solely on further price increases for profit.
The worst investment strategy is depositing USDC in the mid-to-late stages. By then, no extra $Mark rewards are available, and deposited capital may end up serving as exit liquidity for earlier participants.
Note: Both purchasing $Mark and depositing USDC carry high risks. Investors should proceed with caution.
Join TechFlow official community to stay tuned
Telegram:https://t.me/TechFlowDaily
X (Twitter):https://x.com/TechFlowPost
X (Twitter) EN:https://x.com/BlockFlow_News
PANews
