What is a rug pull?
Typically, operators attract buyers then remove liquidity or dump a concentrated inventory. It can also be slow: unresolved privileges, rules that can change, and apparent activity without enough liquidity to absorb an exit.
Risk checklist
- Liquidity: pool size, pool age and known LP status. A quote in a shallow pool is not proof you can exit at that price.
- Top holders: check concentration and distinguish LP, burn addresses, exchanges and known contracts from ordinary wallets.
- Creator wallet: look at creator identification, position size and wallet age. One signal is not proof; several should reduce size or end the trade.
- Contract privileges: mint, freeze, pause, blacklist and upgradeable-proxy capabilities expand the space in which rules can change.
- Trading quality: look for one-sided buys/sells, extreme volume-to-market-cap ratios and very fresh data.
Missing data is not safety. A new token with no holder or trading history is not fully verifiable. Waiting for data is often better than guessing.
How to use a score
Treat a score as triage: it tells you what deserves a closer look. The final decision should come from the individual flags and on-chain evidence you can independently verify.