Rugpull
A scam in which the developers of a token or DeFi protocol drain investor funds and abandon the project, typically by removing liquidity or exploiting backdoors in the contract.
Rugpulls take several forms. The classic: a team launches a token, drives up the price via marketing, then dumps their pre-mined supply into the liquidity pool, draining all paired ETH/USDC and leaving holders with worthless tokens. This was endemic in 2020-2021 DeFi.
Smart-contract rugpulls add complexity. Hidden minting functions let founders create unlimited supply on demand. Owner-only privileges to "pause trading" let founders trap holders while they exit. Backdoor admin keys override what looks like a fully audited contract.
Detecting rugpulls before they happen requires checking: liquidity locking (is the LP token locked or burned?), contract permissions (can owners mint? pause?), team identity (is doxxed?), audit status (real audit or paid stamp?), token distribution (is supply concentrated in dev wallets?).
Crypto's permissionless nature means anyone can launch a token. Rugpulls are the dominant scam vector for new launches, costing investors billions per year.
How CryptoRadar24 tracks it
CryptoRadar24 doesn't list pre-rugpull projects but reports on major scam events when they affect market sentiment.
Related terms
FAQ
How do I avoid rugpulls?
Check liquidity is locked (>6 months), audit reports from reputable firms, doxxed team, contract permissions (no hidden mint/pause), and be skeptical of token launches with aggressive shilling.
Are all anonymous teams rugpulls?
No, but anonymous teams can rugpull with no consequences. Doxxed teams have reputation at stake. The base rate of rugpulls among anon-team projects is meaningfully higher.
What is a soft rugpull?
When the team doesn't drain liquidity outright but slowly abandons development while continuing to shill. The token bleeds to zero over months instead of overnight.
Can rugpulls be reversed?
Almost never. Once funds are drained and bridged through mixers (Tornado Cash etc.), recovery requires law enforcement, jurisdictional cooperation, and luck — typically <5% of stolen funds are ever recovered.