The pump.fun Safety Checklist: 7 Steps Before You Ape Into Any Token
pump.fun makes launching a Solana token trivially easy — and that's exactly the problem. With thousands of new tokens every day, the vast majority are designed to extract money from buyers. But with the right checklist, you can filter out the obvious scams in under 60 seconds and focus your attention on tokens that at least have a chance.
Here's the exact process, in order of priority.
This is the fastest, most important check. If either authority is still enabled, the creator can mint infinite tokens or freeze your wallet. On pump.fun, tokens created through the standard flow should have both revoked automatically when they migrate to Raydium — but some don't.
✓ PASS: Both revoked
✗ FAIL: Either still active — extremely high risk, avoid
Look at the top 10 holders (excluding liquidity pools and known program addresses). If a small group controls a disproportionate amount, a dump is one click away.
✓ PASS: Top 10 hold less than 25% combined
⚠ WARN: Top 10 hold 25-40% — elevated risk
✗ FAIL: Top 10 hold more than 40% — very high dump risk
Were there coordinated buys at launch? If multiple wallets bought in the same transaction as the liquidity addition, insiders may control a large hidden position.
✓ PASS: No bundles detected, or minimal bundle supply (<5%)
⚠ WARN: Bundles detected holding 5-15%
✗ FAIL: Bundles holding 15%+ — insiders likely control the launch
Has the creator wallet launched other tokens? If so, what happened to them? A creator with 10+ dead tokens is a serial rugger until proven otherwise.
✓ PASS: First token, or previous tokens with healthy lifespans
⚠ WARN: 2-5 previous tokens, mixed results
✗ FAIL: 5+ previous tokens, all dead within days — serial rugger
Is the dev wallet holding or selling? Track their current balance and recent transactions. Early dev selling is one of the strongest exit signals.
✓ PASS: Dev holding or hasn't sold yet
⚠ WARN: Dev sold small amounts (<20%)
✗ FAIL: Dev sold 50%+ — they're exiting
For tokens that have migrated from pump.fun to Raydium, are the LP tokens burned? Burned LP means liquidity can never be removed. If LP is unlocked, the rug can happen at any time.
✓ PASS: LP burned
⚠ WARN: LP locked (with expiry date — check when it expires)
✗ FAIL: LP unlocked — liquidity can be pulled at any moment
A composite risk score weighs all of the above signals (plus additional factors like sniper activity, insider networks, and market metrics) into a single number. Use it as a final sanity check.
✓ PASS: Score under 30 — lower risk
⚠ WARN: Score 30-60 — moderate risk, proceed with caution
✗ FAIL: Score above 60 — high risk, serious red flags present
Run All 7 Checks in One Scan
DeFade runs every check on this list automatically — plus 7 more modules — when you paste a token address. Get a full risk breakdown in seconds, free.
Scan a Token Now →A Note on Speed vs. Safety
In the pump.fun meta, speed matters. A token can 10x in 5 minutes and die in the next 5. There's a real tension between doing thorough due diligence and getting in early enough to profit.
The checklist above is ordered by priority for exactly this reason. If you only have 30 seconds, check items 1-3. If you have a full minute, check all 7. And if you're using an automated tool that checks everything in parallel, you can have the full picture before you click buy.
No checklist eliminates risk entirely. Memecoins are inherently speculative. But the difference between informed speculation and blind gambling is whether you looked at the on-chain data before you put money in.
Related Guides
How to Spot a Solana Rug Pull: 10 Red Flags — a deeper dive into each risk signal.
What Is Bundle Sniping? — understanding check #3 in detail.
Whale Wallet Tracking — finding smart money signals among the noise.