How to Protect Yourself from Rug Pulls on Solana

Rug pulls are the biggest risk when trading new tokens on Solana. A creator launches a token, waits for buyers to pile in, then drains the liquidity and disappears. Here's how to spot them before you lose money.

What is a rug pull?

A rug pull happens when a token creator removes liquidity from a trading pool after people have bought in. Your tokens become untradable or worthless overnight. On Solana, rug pulls can happen within minutes of a token launching.

There are several variations, but they all end the same way: buyers are left holding tokens they can't sell, and the creator walks away with the SOL.

The most common types

1. Liquidity removal

The creator adds a liquidity pool on Raydium, lets people buy in, then removes all the liquidity. Without liquidity in the pool, there's no one to sell to. Your tokens are stranded.

Some creators lock their liquidity for a set period to build trust. But if the liquidity isn't locked, the creator can pull it at any time.

2. Mint authority abuse

If the token's mint authority is still active, the creator can mint unlimited new tokens and dump them on the market. This floods the supply and crashes the price to near zero. Even if there's still liquidity in the pool, your tokens lose almost all their value.

3. Freeze authority abuse

With freeze authority enabled, the creator can freeze your token account so you literally cannot sell. They buy up the supply cheaply, let the price rise, then freeze everyone else's tokens and sell their own holdings into the remaining liquidity.

4. Honeypots

A honeypot token lets you buy but prevents you from selling. The smart contract has logic that blocks transfers from any address except the creator's. You see your balance going up on the chart, but you can never take profit.

Red flags to watch for

On-chain red flags

• Mint authority not revoked — the creator can print more tokens at will
• Freeze authority not revoked — the creator can freeze your tokens
• Low liquidity — pools with less than 2-3 SOL are easy to drain and high risk
• Unlocked liquidity — LP tokens aren't burned or locked, meaning the creator can remove liquidity anytime
• Creator holds large supply — if one wallet holds 20%+ of the total supply, they can dump and crash the price

Social red flags

• No website or social presence — legitimate projects usually have at least a basic web presence
• Copied branding — scam tokens often copy the name and logo of popular tokens with slight variations
• Artificial hype — bot-filled Telegram groups and fake Twitter engagement
• Pressure to buy fast — "launching in 5 minutes, don't miss it" is classic scammer language
• Anonymous team with no track record — while anonymity is common in crypto, it adds risk

How to check a token before buying

1. Check mint and freeze authority — use Solscan or a tool like RugCheck. Both authorities should be revoked (set to null).
2. Check LP lock status — is the liquidity locked or burned? Burned LP tokens are the safest — the liquidity can never be removed.
3. Check token distribution — look at the top holders. If one wallet (that isn't the pool) holds more than 10-15% of supply, that's risky.
4. Verify the contract — on Solana, most tokens use the standard SPL Token program. Custom programs with unusual logic deserve extra scrutiny.
5. Check the pool age — brand new pools (minutes old) are the highest risk. Tokens that have survived 24+ hours with growing liquidity are safer (though not risk-free).

How automated safety filters help

Manual checks take time. By the time you've verified everything, the buying window may have closed. This is why trading bots use automated safety filters that run these checks in milliseconds.

T7 Pilot runs safety checks before every trade:

• Mint authority check — rejects tokens where the creator can still mint
• Freeze authority check — rejects tokens where your account can be frozen
• Minimum liquidity filter — skips pools below your set threshold (e.g., 5 SOL minimum)
• Maximum liquidity filter — keeps you in the early-stage window where the best returns happen

These filters won't catch every scam, but they eliminate the most common and obvious rug pull patterns automatically.

What to do if you've been rugged

1. Accept the loss. In most cases, the SOL is gone. Don't waste more money trying to "recover" it.
2. Document what happened. Save the token address, pool address, and creator wallet for reporting.
3. Report the token. Flag it on platforms like RugCheck, DexScreener, and Jupiter so others are warned.
4. Learn from it. Ask what red flags you missed and tighten your filters for next time.