How to spot a honeypot wallet
A token contract that lets you buy but blocks selling. Here is how the trap works.
What it is
A honeypot is a token whose smart contract contains code that lets buyers purchase the token but prevents them from selling. Once your money is in, it stays in.
How the contract traps you
The simplest honeypot has a sell-only-from-allowlist function in the contract: only certain wallet addresses can sell. Sometimes the trap is a 'sell tax' set so high (90 percent or more) that selling is effectively impossible. Other variations include a buyer cooldown that resets each time you try to sell, or a transfer-pausable function the owner triggers as soon as your buy clears.
Why simple price-chart checks miss this
On a price chart, a honeypot looks healthy. Plenty of buys, prices going up, no sell pressure (because nobody can sell). The first red flag often only appears when the victim tries to exit and finds they cannot. By that point the money is gone.
Where AVA fits
For any token contract you can paste in, AVA scores the entity from 0 to 100 with explainable reasoning. See the public how-it-works summary for our methodology overview.
What to do
Always run AVA's wallet check before buying any new token. If a token has even one rug-pull signal, walk away.
Practice spotting this in AVA Scam Hunter
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📚 Read the full lesson at AVA Academy
This page is a quick spotter card. The full plain-English lesson lives in the AVA Academy. Read the Honeypot Wallet lesson → or browse all 9 lessons.