Learn how to use RugCheck to verify any Solana token before buying. Understand risk scores, red flags, liquidity checks, and what each warning means. Protect yourself from rugs and scams.
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Here's the fastest way to verify a token before buying:
Tokens created on Pump.fun have some built-in protections:
This means most graduated Pump.fun tokens will show favorably on RugCheck for liquidity and authority checks. However, holder concentration can still be an issue if early buyers accumulated large positions.
Tokens still on the bonding curve (pre-graduation) are harder to assess because the liquidity model is different from traditional DEX pools.
RugCheck tells you about technical safety, not investment quality. A token can pass every RugCheck test and still go to zero because nobody wants to buy it. Use RugCheck as one input, not the only input.
"But everyone on Twitter is buying it" doesn't override RugCheck warnings. Hype can sustain a risky token temporarily, but unlocked liquidity is unlocked liquidity. The rug can happen whether 10 people or 10,000 people are holding.
Token conditions can change. A token that was safe yesterday might have a new risk today (e.g., a liquidity lock that expired, or LP tokens transferred to a new wallet). Re-check before significant new purchases.
RugCheck is excellent but it's one tool. Combine it with:
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Open the KOL TrackerBefore you buy any token on Solana — especially a memecoin — you should spend 30 seconds checking it on RugCheck. Those 30 seconds can save you from losing your entire investment to a rug pull, honeypot, or other scam.
RugCheck is a free tool that analyzes Solana tokens and gives you an instant risk assessment. It checks things that would take you 15-20 minutes to verify manually: liquidity status, mint authority, holder concentration, and more.
This guide shows you exactly how to use it and what each warning means.
A rug pull happens when a token creator exploits their control over the token or its liquidity to steal investors' money. Common types:
RugCheck detects all of these patterns and more.
Every Solana token has a unique contract address (CA). Get this from wherever you found the token — Twitter, Telegram, DEXScreener, Pump.fun, etc.
Important: Always copy the address directly. Don't type it manually (too easy to make a mistake), and verify it matches the official token.
Visit rugcheck.xyz. You'll see a search bar front and center.
Paste the token address into the search bar and hit Enter or click Check. RugCheck analyzes the token in seconds and returns a detailed report.
RugCheck gives you:
Let's break down what each section means.
RugCheck assigns one of three categories:
Here's what each specific warning means:
What it means: The token creator can still create (mint) new tokens at any time.
Why it's risky: If someone can mint unlimited tokens, they can inflate the supply and crash the price by selling the newly minted tokens.
Severity: High. For any token claiming to have a fixed supply, this is a major red flag.
When it's okay: Some legitimate projects intentionally keep mint authority for tokenomics reasons (e.g., staking rewards, vesting schedules). But for memecoins, there's no legitimate reason to keep it.
What it means: The token creator can freeze any holder's token account, preventing them from selling or transferring.
Why it's risky: The creator could freeze your tokens, making them effectively worthless to you even if the token has value.
Severity: High. This should almost always be revoked for trustworthy tokens.
RugCheck also flags Token-2022 extensions, which can embed a transfer fee directly into the token. Our breakdown of Token-2022 transfer fees and why they break AMMs explains how to spot one before you get wrecked on the exit.
What it means: The liquidity pool (LP) tokens are still in the creator's wallet. They can remove liquidity at any time.
Why it's risky: If the creator pulls all liquidity, you can't sell your tokens. The price effectively goes to zero because there's no market to sell into.
Severity: Critical. This is the most common rug-pull vector. Always check liquidity status.
Locked vs Burned:
If you're the one launching a token rather than just checking one, our guide to locking liquidity and setting up vesting schedules with tools like Streamflow walks through the process end to end.
What it means: A small number of wallets hold a large percentage of the total token supply.
Why it's risky: If one wallet holds 20% of supply, they can dump and crash the price at any time. This is called "insider concentration."
Severity: Moderate to High, depending on the percentage. General guidelines:
Note: Exclude known addresses like liquidity pools, burn addresses, and exchange wallets. RugCheck usually labels these.
What it means: The trading pool has very little value locked in it.
Why it's risky: Low liquidity means high slippage. Your buy pushes the price up significantly, and your sell crashes it down. You may not be able to exit at anything close to the current price.
Severity: Moderate. Not a scam indicator per se, but a practical risk. Tokens with < $5K liquidity can lose 50%+ from a single moderate sell.
What it means: The wallet that deployed the token still holds a percentage of the supply.
Why it's risky: The creator could sell at any time, crashing the price. However, many legitimate projects have team allocations, so this isn't automatically bad.
Severity: Context-dependent. Check the percentage and whether there's a vesting schedule.
Beyond the headline risks, RugCheck provides:
Check the liquidity lock duration: "Locked" doesn't mean "safe forever." A 7-day lock only protects you for 7 days. Look for locks of 6+ months or burned liquidity
Watch for split wallets: A savvy scammer might spread tokens across 50 wallets instead of holding 20% in one. Check if multiple top wallets were funded from the same source
Verify on multiple tools: Cross-reference RugCheck results with other analysis tools. No single tool catches everything
Use the RugCheck browser extension: If available, install it for instant checks when browsing DEXScreener, Birdeye, or Pump.fun — saves the copy-paste step
Check the deployer's history: If the deployer wallet has launched 10 tokens that all went to zero, the 11th probably isn't different
RugCheck analyzes on-chain data. It cannot detect:
RugCheck is a safety check, not an investment thesis. Use it to filter out the obvious dangers, then apply your own judgment for everything else. For the wider playbook — the red flags and tools that catch rugs RugCheck alone can miss — see our guide on how to spot and avoid rug pulls on Solana.
Explore more Solana security tools on MadeOnSol. Read our how to buy memecoins safely guide for the full due diligence process. And if you are securing a treasury rather than vetting a single trade, our Squads multisig setup guide covers protecting funds with multiple signers.