Liquidity Lock — Rug Check Risk Guide

What is a liquidity lock in crypto?

A liquidity lock is a time-bound escrow of the LP tokens generated when a new token's first pool is seeded on a DEX. When liquidity is added to Uniswap V2, Raydium, Aerodrome, or any AMM, the provider receives LP tokens that represent their share of the pool. These LP tokens can be burned (permanent) or locked in a trusted vault (e.g., UNCX, Team.finance, pinksale.finance, PumpFun's native locker) for a specified duration. Without a lock, the dev can withdraw the entire pool at any time — the classic "liquidity pull" rug where the token price drops to zero in a single transaction. Lock duration matters: 1-month locks are effectively short-term, 6–12 month locks are acceptable for serious launches, and permanent burns are the gold standard. Watch for two subtle patterns: (1) locks that expire just before the project's roadmap deadline (timed for exit), and (2) partial locks where only a fraction of LP is locked while the rest sits on a dev wallet. Sharpe's Rug Check verifies LP lock status across the major locker contracts on each chain and surfaces the lock duration, percentage locked, and unlock date.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a liquidity lock?

A liquidity lock is a time-bound escrow of the LP tokens generated when a token's first DEX pool is seeded. It prevents the dev from withdrawing liquidity and rug-pulling the token.

How long should a liquidity lock be?

Serious launches lock LP for at least 6–12 months; the safest tokens burn LP permanently (send to 0x000...dead). A 1-month lock is effectively zero protection. Sharpe's Rug Check surfaces the lock duration and unlock date.

What's the difference between locked and burned liquidity?

Locked LP is held by a time-bound locker contract and returns to the dev when the timer expires. Burned LP is sent to an unrecoverable address and can never be withdrawn — the strongest possible commitment, and the standard for pump.fun Raydium graduates.