Safety Guide

Rug Pull Warning Signs to Investigate

New tokens can hide transfer restrictions, concentrated control, or removable liquidity. This guide covers questions you can investigate on-chain before interacting with a contract.

Educational purposes only. These checks can help you identify red flags, but no checklist guarantees safety. Always do your own research. Read full risk disclosure.

7 Warning Signs to Check

1Honeypot Contracts

A honeypot lets you buy but prevents selling. The _transfer function reverts conditionally for sell transactions.

  • Review _transfer logic for require statements filtering on to or spender
  • Simulate a sell from a non-whitelisted address using Tenderly
  • Use automated tools like Honeypot.is, but verify results yourself

2Liquidity Removal

Liquidity is the pool that enables trading. If a controller can remove it or materially change pool conditions, holders may be unable to exit at the displayed price.

  • Check if LP tokens sit in the deployer wallet vs. a lock contract
  • Verify the assets, amount, duration, controller, and unlock terms claimed by any lock
  • Review DEX Screener liquidity history for sharp drops

3Supply Concentration

A highly concentrated supply gives a small group of wallets substantial influence over available liquidity. Active mint() authority can add another source of dilution or control.

  • Check top-10 holder percentage (Bubblemaps, DEXTools)
  • Verify mint authority is revoked on Solana tokens
  • Confirm ownership is renounced or transferred to burn address

4Social Media Manipulation

High engagement with thin on-chain activity is a classic signal.

  • High follower count with low engagement ratio
  • Large channel membership with little specific or sustained discussion
  • No GitHub activity or fake audit claims

5Fake or Misleading Audits

Some projects pay for cosmetic reviews or audit different contracts than deployed.

  • Cross-reference auditor's website and client list
  • Use TokenSniffer to compare deployed bytecode vs. audited version
  • Treat every score as scope-limited and verify which code, chain, and deployment it reviewed

6Pausable Functions

Contracts with pause() / unpause() can freeze all trading at the owner's will.

  • Look for Pausable inheritance in source code
  • Check if pause is owner-only with no time-lock
  • Some add cooldown variables that change after price rises

7Changeable Tax Functions

Owners who can change tax rates after launch can raise sell costs to a prohibitive level, creating a soft honeypot.

  • Check for setTax or setFee functions
  • If they're onlyOwner and ownership isn't renounced, this is critical
  • Look for transparent caps, clear control boundaries, and independently verifiable changes

Pre-Trade Review Checklist

Important: A token can pass all these checks and still fail. These are filters, not guarantees. No pre-trade checklist eliminates all risk.
Risk Disclosure: Trading meme coins carries extreme risk. A token may lose all value at any time due to market conditions, liquidity removal, contract exploits, or regulatory action. Nothing in this article is financial advice, a recommendation to buy or sell any token, or a guarantee of returns. Always conduct your own on-chain research before interacting with any smart contract.
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Related: 72-Hour Maturity Concept · Wallet Connection Safety · Safety Guide · Risk Disclosure