LP burned vs locked: what it means for a memecoin
When you buy a memecoin, you trade against a liquidity pool. Whoever controls that pool's liquidity can take it out, and then nobody can sell for anything close to the chart price. Burned or locked LP removes that option.
How a pool works
A pool holds two sides: the coin, and SOL or USDC. Whoever adds liquidity gets LP tokens, a receipt that lets them take their share back out. A classic rug is the dev withdrawing the pool: the SOL side leaves, and the chart drops close to zero in one candle.
Burned, locked or unlocked
- Burned: the LP tokens were sent to an address nobody controls, so the liquidity can never be withdrawn. This is the best case.
- Locked: the LP tokens sit in a locker until a set date. You're protected until then, so check when the lock ends.
- Unlocked: the dev still holds the LP tokens and can pull the liquidity at any time. Treat it as a red flag.
- Partly locked: the unlocked part can still be pulled.
Pools without LP tokens
Some newer pool types, with concentrated or dynamic liquidity, don't issue LP tokens at all. Each provider holds a position they can withdraw whenever they like. That isn't a rug by itself, but no lock protects you either.
Bonding curves and graduation
Coins on launchpads such as pump.fun start on a bonding curve. The liquidity sits in the launchpad's curve, where the dev can't pull it. When a coin graduates, its liquidity moves to a regular pool, and the big launchpads usually burn that pool's LP as part of the move. Check anyway, especially for coins launched elsewhere.
Size matters too
A locked pool with almost nothing in it still hurts you. With only a few thousand dollars of liquidity, a single sell can move the price by double digits. Compare liquidity with market cap: a pool under 3% of the market cap is thin for the coin's size.
How to check
RugCheck shows how much of the LP is burned or locked, and DexScreener shows liquidity, volume and pool age. Trench Scout puts both in one panel when you open a coin on Padre, pump.fun or DexScreener. An unlocked pool takes 30 points off the score, a partly locked one 12.
Check it in two seconds
Trench Scout runs these checks for you on coin pages on Padre, pump.fun, DexScreener, Axiom, Photon and BullX. Free for 5 checks a day, no wallet connection.