This article is part of the "Voices from Web3 Newbie Village" series.
It mainly explores how to avoid getting rugged in meme coin trading, how to view smart wallets rationally, and whether or not to follow their trades.
The following does not constitute investment advice.
There are already tools for this, such as GMGN, BullX, and others that provide fairly comprehensive features.
Mint/Burn Functions: Check if the contract allows arbitrary minting or burning
Blacklist Functionality: Can the project blacklist wallets from trading?
Burned Liquidity Pool: Is liquidity truly locked?
Top 10 Wallets Overconcentration: Too centralized = easier to manipulate
Insider (Mouse Trap) Behavior: Did insiders front-run the launch by accumulating beforehand?
With GMGN, these basic checks can be done quickly.
You’d better avoid:
Rug projects often simulate hype by using one entity to control many wallets, making it appear like there’s volume and demand.
GMGN can help identify these behavior patterns as well.
A legit dev ideally behaves like they’re "dead"—no buying, no selling, no market manipulation.
But sometimes, here's what happens:
Sometimes when the dev exits (rugs), there might be a rebound.
But during this time, it's easy to get harvested by some well-known farming addresses. A common scenario is: market cap rises from 7K to 15K, then gets farmed and dumped.
Especially when you’ve set up automated copy-trading.
Don’t get too hyped about celebrity-backed coins. These are often the same team behind different tokens, rugging again and again with new faces.
Sharp dumps usually begin when top holders start exiting
If top holders are holding and not selling, it’s okay to keep watching
But once they start dumping in sequence, it's best to get out fast
The meme coin world is wild—trading here is like bargaining with a tiger. But with solid filtering logic, constant awareness, and a rational mindset, you can be one of the survivors.