Honeypot
A token or contract rigged so buyers can purchase but never sell, trapping their funds by design.
A honeypot is a smart contract dressed up as a normal token, with hidden code that blocks selling. Victims buy in, watch the price climb, then find every sell transaction reverts. The deployer drains the liquidity whenever they choose.
The trick hides in the transfer function: a whitelist only the owner passes, or a 100% sell tax that confiscates proceeds. Honeypot scanners and reading the code help, but the surest defense is skipping unaudited, anonymous low-cap tokens. If a small test sell won't go through, walk.
Related terms
A scam where a project's creators drain its funds or dump their tokens, leaving investors with worthless holdings.
Smart Contract AuditA structured review of contract code that hunts for vulnerabilities before attackers find and exploit them.
Liquidity PoolA pot of tokens locked in a smart contract that traders swap against, with prices set by a formula.
Exit ScamA project that collects user funds, operates long enough to build trust, then vanishes with the money.