Crypto Scam Glossary: Every Token Security Term Explained
Every term below is explained in one or two plain sentences here, with a link to the full guide for the mechanics, worked examples, and how to check for it yourself. This glossary covers the same risks the free RugShield scanner checks automatically — start with the complete token security checklist if you want the organized walkthrough instead of an alphabetical list.
Blacklist function
A function in a token contract that lets the deployer block specific wallets from transferring the token at all — a step beyond a honeypot, since it can target individual holders instead of everyone. Read the full guide →
Bundled wallets
Multiple wallets funded and used together at launch by the same actor to buy up supply cheaply while looking like independent, decentralized buyers. Read the full guide →
Buy/sell tax
A percentage fee charged automatically on every purchase or sale of a token, built into the contract. Legitimate at a modest fixed rate; a red flag when it's modifiable after launch. Read the full guide →
Deployer wallet
The wallet address that created a token's contract. Checking what else that wallet has launched — including past rug pulls — is one of the fastest risk signals available. Read the full guide →
Freeze authority
On Solana (SPL) tokens, a separate authority from mint that can block a specific wallet from transferring the token — the Solana equivalent of an EVM blacklist function. Read the full guide →
Holder concentration
How much of a token's supply sits in a small number of wallets. High concentration means a handful of holders can crash the price by selling. Read the full guide →
Holder distribution
The full breakdown of who holds a token's supply and in what proportions — reading it correctly means checking top-10% share, not just the raw number of holders. Read the full guide →
Honeypot token
A token whose contract allows buying but blocks selling through hidden logic in the sell function, trapping any funds used to buy it. Read the full guide →
Liquidity lock
Liquidity pool tokens placed in a time-locked contract so they can't be withdrawn before a set date — the main defense against a liquidity-removal rug pull. Read the full guide →
Liquidity removal
When a deployer withdraws the liquidity backing a token from its trading pool, collapsing the price to near zero in one transaction. The single most common rug-pull mechanic. Read the full guide →
Mint authority
The privilege, retained by a contract's deployer, to create new tokens after launch — an active mint function means the supply can be inflated at will. Read the full guide →
MEV bot / sandwich attack
A bot that reorders or surrounds an ordinary trade to extract value from it — placing one order right before and one right after the victim's transaction. Read the full guide →
Proxy contract
An upgradeable contract structure where the logic behind a token's address can be swapped out after launch, meaning the rules can silently change after you've already bought in. Read the full guide →
Renounced ownership
The deployer giving up the privileged "owner" role on a contract. Not automatically safe — some contracts renounce cosmetically while retaining the same powers elsewhere. Read the full guide →
Rug pull
A broad term for any exit scam where a token's creators abandon the project and take the value with them — most often via liquidity removal or an unrestricted mint. Read the full guide →
Sniper bot
A bot that buys a token in the very first block after launch, ahead of ordinary buyers, then sells into the price rise that follows. Read the full guide →
Unverified contract
A deployed contract whose human-readable source code was never published to match the on-chain bytecode, making it impossible for anyone outside the deployer to independently confirm what it does. Read the full guide →
Wallet clustering
Splitting token holdings across many separate-looking wallets controlled by the same actor, so holder-concentration numbers look more decentralized than reality. Read the full guide →
Wallet drainer
Malicious code on a phishing site that tricks a user into signing a token approval or "Permit" signature, giving an attacker pull access to their wallet — a scam technique, not a property of any token contract. Read the full guide →
Wash trading
Trading a token against yourself (or coordinated related wallets) to fake volume and make a thinly-traded token look active and liquid. Read the full guide →
pump.fun / bonding curve
A Solana launchpad model where anyone can deploy a token in seconds against an automated pricing curve — extremely easy to launch, and the large majority of tokens launched this way are abandoned within hours. Read the full guide →
Still not sure about a specific token?
Definitions only go so far — the fastest way to check any of the risks above against a real contract is to run it through the free RugShield scanner. No wallet connection required, results in seconds.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the most dangerous crypto scam term to know?
- Honeypot token and wallet drainer are the two most damaging, since both can result in a total loss with no way to reverse it — a honeypot traps funds inside a bad contract, a wallet drainer uses a signed approval to pull funds directly from your wallet.
- What's the difference between a rug pull and a honeypot?
- A honeypot blocks selling from the moment of launch — you can never get funds out. A rug pull usually lets trading work normally for a while before the deployer removes liquidity or mints new supply, so it can take hours, days, or weeks before it happens.
- Is a wallet drainer the same as a hack?
- No. A wallet drainer relies on the victim actively signing a malicious approval or permit transaction, usually on a phishing site — the wallet's private keys are never compromised. This is why revoking token approvals and being cautious about what you sign matters as much as protecting a seed phrase.