You can't avoid every rug pull, because new memecoins are risky by design and most go to zero even without one. What you can do is avoid the obvious ones and limit the damage from the rest. These nine rules are the ones that matter most, in the order to use them. This is education, not financial advice, and it names no coins.
Before you buy
- Work from the contract address, never the name. Copycat tokens reuse names and logos. Copy the address from a source you trust and check that exact one. See copycat tokens.
- Run a free check first. Paste the address into a rug checker such as our free coin check and read the warning signs, not just the grade. A clean result is not a promise, as this guide explains.
- Look at who holds the coin. Remove the liquidity pool and exchange wallets from the holder list. If a few wallets hold a large share, or many wallets hold identical amounts, treat it as one seller. See insider wallets and how to check holders on Solscan.
- Check the creator's powers. If the creator can still mint new tokens or freeze your wallet, the coin can be changed after you buy. See mint and freeze authority.
- Be suspicious of paid hype. A paid boost, a promotional post or a trending list is somebody else's exit as often as your entry. See paid promotion.
When you buy
- Decide your maximum loss first. Only use money you can afford to lose completely, and size the trade so a total loss is survivable. This one rule protects you even when every check misses.
- Start small and test the exit. A small first buy and a small sell shows you whether you can get out at all, and what the fees and slippage really cost. See slippage and priority fees.
After you buy
- Re-check the coin. A grade is a snapshot, and warning signs can appear days later, such as liquidity shrinking or top wallets selling. See slow rug pulls.
- Plan your exit before you need it. Decide where you will take profit and where you will cut a loss, and set the orders in advance. Stop-losses can fail in a crash, so know their limits. See how to set a stop-loss on Jupiter and taking profits.
What none of this can do
No check can predict a price, and no rule makes a memecoin safe. The default outcome for a new coin is zero, as this free chapter shows with real arithmetic. The rules above help you avoid the coins built to get there faster, and keep the ones that get there anyway from hurting you.
If you tell us about a coin you've lost money on, our rugged? guide covers what to do next, and what recovery services to ignore.
Not financial advice. This guide explains how things work. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold anything. Memecoins are extremely high risk and most go to zero.