What's the biggest rug risk on Ethereum?

Proxy-upgradeable contracts are the most dangerous pattern unique to Ethereum — devs can replace the entire token logic post-launch, introducing fees, blacklists, or mint functions that didn't exist at audit time. Always check proxy implementation address on Etherscan before sizing.

How do I detect a honeypot on Ethereum?

A honeypot blocks selling while allowing buying. Sharpe's Rug Check runs a simulated sell transaction to detect this pre-trade. If simulation fails or returns unexpected tax, the token is flagged as a honeypot or tax-token.

Tokens with coded buy or sell fees that redirect a percentage of each trade to a dev wallet, burn address, or liquidity pool. Legitimate tax tokens disclose fees (1–5%); malicious ones hide 50–99% sell taxes. Sharpe simulates both directions to detect hidden fees.

Is renounceOwnership() enough?

Not always. For simple ERC-20 contracts, ownership renunciation eliminates most admin-function risks. For proxy contracts, renouncing the proxy owner doesn't affect the implementation — devs can still control via upgrade authority. Always verify both.

Ethereum Rug Checker | Free ERC-20 Scanner

ERC-20Uniswap V2/V3, SushiSwap, Curve-style pools

Ethereum Rug Checker

Ethereum rug check — scan ERC-20 tokens for hidden transfer fees, honeypots, proxy upgrade risks, and dangerous contract functions.

Use the Ethereum rug checker to test ERC-20 contracts against the risk patterns that matter most on mainnet: proxy upgrade control, Etherscan source verification, hidden sell taxes, blacklist functions, and high-value liquidity concentration.

What this scanner checks

Chain-specific signals used in the live scan.

Uniswap buy and sell simulation for honeypot behavior
EIP-1967 and EIP-1822 proxy implementation checks
Owner, blacklist, pause, fee, and mint function detection
Etherscan verified-source and admin wallet review
Holder and liquidity concentration scoring for ERC-20 pools

How to rug-check Ethereum tokens

The same scanner stays above the fold. These steps explain what changes when the target chain is Ethereum.

1Paste the ERC-20 contract

Copy the token contract from Etherscan, Uniswap, CoinGecko, CoinMarketCap, or the project's official site. The Ethereum page defaults pasted 0x addresses to mainnet instead of another EVM chain.

2Check proxy and sell simulation results

Ethereum rugs often hide behind upgradeable proxies or dynamic taxes that small test trades miss. Review the proxy implementation, admin type, blacklist controls, and simulated sell result before entering.

3Confirm the token is canonical

Large Ethereum tickers attract copycats. Compare the contract address against the project's official links and ignore pools that reuse a known ticker with a fresh, unverified contract.

Ethereum rug checker overview

Ethereum mainnet has a decade of smart contract history and by far the widest variety of rug patterns — hidden transfer fees (tax tokens), honeypots that silently block selling, proxy-upgradeable contracts where devs can replace logic post-audit, dangerous admin functions like blacklist, pause, setFees, and unrestricted mint. Ethereum's high gas has pushed most new meme launches to L2s, but established ERC-20 tokens still hold the largest dollar-value attack surface: a single upgrade on a token with a billion-dollar market cap can drain more value than any Base or Solana launch. Key Ethereum-specific risks: (1) proxy contracts with retained upgrade authority — the ERC-1967 and EIP-1822 patterns let devs swap implementation logic after an audit, introducing fees, blacklists, or mint functions that didn't exist when holders entered. (2) Hidden transfer taxes in the 50-99% range that route value to dev wallets on sell — these are often dynamic, triggered only above a certain volume threshold so small test trades pass. (3) Blacklist / blocklist functions letting devs freeze specific buyer wallets to prevent dumps before their own exits. (4) Pause functions that halt all trading at the admin's discretion. (5) Unlimited mint authority or proxy-introduced mint logic. Sharpe's Rug Check analyzes ERC-20 tokens with a layered security scan — simulated buy/sell through Uniswap V2 and V3 to surface honeypot and tax patterns, proxy-detection against EIP-1967 storage slots, and Etherscan verified-source lookups. Paste any Ethereum contract address to get a 0-100 risk score.