Rug Pull
An exit scam in which the developers of a crypto project drain liquidity, sell their pre-mine or disable the contract, leaving holders with worthless tokens.
Also known asExit scamSoft rug / Hard rug
Definition
A rug pull is an exit scam where the developers or insiders of a crypto project drain its value to themselves and abandon it. Common variants:
- Liquidity rug - developer removes liquidity from the DEX pool, making the token unsellable.
- Mint rug - developer mints a massive supply and dumps it.
- Honeypot rug - token contract permits buys but blocks sells from non-owner addresses.
- Soft rug - developer abandons the project without an explicit drain.
Pre-event indicators
- Liquidity not locked, or lock period expiring soon.
- Mint authority not renounced.
- Deployer wallet funded from a mixer or shows past rug history.
- Concentrated holders, top-10 owning >70% of supply.
- Contract code includes
blacklist,setFee,onlyOwnertransfer hooks.
Regulatory anchor
Rug pulls are not a named offence in most jurisdictions but typically map to fraud, market manipulation under MiCA Title VI, and AML offences once proceeds enter the financial system. The DOJ and the SEC have prosecuted multiple rug pulls under wire-fraud and securities-fraud statutes since 2021.