How BarryGuard Works
23 automated on-chain checks across contract security, market structure, and behavioral signals. Every score is explainable.
Overview
When you submit a token address to BarryGuard, the scoring engine fetches public on-chain data and runs 23+ individual checks. Each check analyzes a specific risk signal and produces a score from 0 (maximum risk) to 100 (no risk detected). The checks are grouped into three categories:
- Contract Security (7 checks): Can the creator still manipulate this token at the contract level?
- Market Structure (8 checks): Is this a real, healthy market — or an artificial setup designed to lure buyers?
- Behavioral Signals (8 checks): Are the creator and early participants acting in good faith?
Not all checks carry the same importance. Each check has a weight reflecting how strong that signal is for rug pull detection. The total risk score is the weighted combination of all 23 individual scores, clamped to a range of 1–99. No token ever receives a perfect 0 or 100 — because no on-chain analysis can be 100% certain.
Scoring and Risk Levels
The combined result of all applicable checks maps to five risk levels:
| Risk Level | Score Range | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| Danger | 1 – 29 | Critical red flags detected. Likely a rug pull or honeypot. |
| High | 30 – 54 | Significant risk signals. Proceed with extreme caution. |
| Caution | 55 – 74 | Some concerning signals. Research further before trading. |
| Moderate | 75 – 89 | Minor risk indicators. Generally acceptable but stay alert. |
| Low | 90 – 99 | No significant red flags detected. Lower risk profile. |
Certain critical findings are so severe that the scoring engine applies automatic overrides. For example, if a token cannot be sold at all, or if the creator has a history of serial rug pulls, the score is forced to Danger regardless of how other checks perform. These overrides exist to prevent dangerous tokens from hiding behind a few passing checks.
Three subscores are also computed — one for each category (Contract, Market Structure, Behavior). These help you understand where exactly the risk comes from, even when the total score looks moderate.
Contract Security Checks (7)
These checks analyze the token's smart contract permissions and liquidity configuration.
Mint Authority
Checks whether the creator can still mint unlimited new tokens, instantly diluting all existing holders to zero. This is one of the most common rug pull mechanisms on Solana.
Freeze Authority
Checks whether the creator can freeze any wallet holding the token, preventing holders from selling. This effectively traps your funds.
Liquidity Lock
Checks whether the LP (liquidity pool) tokens are burnt, locked, or completely unlocked. If liquidity is not locked, the creator can pull all liquidity at any time — the classic rug pull.
Update Authority
Checks whether the creator can still modify the token's on-chain metadata — including its name, symbol, and image. This can be used for bait-and-switch schemes.
Honeypot Simulation
Simulates an actual sell transaction to check whether the token can be sold at all. A honeypot is a token that can be bought but not sold — or only with extreme losses.
LP Creator Match
Checks whether the token creator also controls the liquidity pool tokens. If they do and the LP is not locked, they can remove all liquidity at any time.
Permanent Delegate (Token-2022)
Detects whether a token uses the Token-2022 permanentDelegate extension. A permanent delegate can transfer tokens out of ANY holder's wallet at any time without approval.
Market Structure Checks (8)
These checks evaluate whether the token has a real, healthy trading market.
Top Holder Concentration
Measures what percentage of the total supply is held by the largest wallets. If a single wallet holds a dominant share, they can crash the price by selling.
Holder Count
Counts the number of unique wallets holding the token. A very low holder count means the token has not achieved meaningful distribution — most rug pulls happen with very few holders.
Token Age
Checks how long ago the token was created. Brand-new tokens carry the highest risk because there is no track record. Most rug pulls happen within the first few hours.
Liquidity Depth
Estimates the actual USD value in the liquidity pool. Shallow liquidity means any moderately-sized trade will cause extreme price swings.
Bonding Curve Status
Checks whether the token has graduated from its bonding curve to a DEX, and whether liquidity was secured upon graduation. Tokens stuck on their bonding curve may be abandoned.
Price Impact
Evaluates the token's market cap relative to its age. A token that has been around for a while with almost no market cap has likely already been rugged.
Liquidity Ratio
Compares pool liquidity to market cap. A low ratio indicates that the token is hard to trade at scale — its supposed value is not backed by real liquidity.
Post-Rug Detection
Identifies tokens that were already rugged through insider dumping but remain technically clean on paper. These tokens are economically dead even though their contract checks may pass.
Behavioral Signal Checks (8)
These checks look at the actions and history of the people behind the token.
Developer History
Analyzes the creator wallet's track record — how many tokens they previously created and how many of those are suspected rug pulls. Past behavior is the strongest predictor of future behavior.
Insider Network
Detects whether multiple top holders are secretly controlled by the same entity. Coordinated wallets holding a large share of the supply can dump simultaneously.
Bundle Detection
Checks whether early transactions used Jito bundles to front-run other buyers. Bundling the mint with early buys is a strong indicator of premeditated manipulation.
Early Dump
Detects whether the creator sold a significant portion of their holdings shortly after launch. A creator who dumps right after launch is running a classic rug pull.
Sniper/Bot Dominance
Measures how much of the early buying was captured by automated trading bots rather than real users. High bot dominance usually leads to fast price crashes for later buyers.
Metadata Legitimacy
Analyzes whether the token's name, symbol, and image show signs of being a scam — such as impersonating well-known tokens or using common scam keywords.
Creator Wallet Age
Checks how old the creator's wallet is. Most rug pull creators use freshly created wallets with no history. A brand-new wallet is far more suspicious than one with months of activity.
Creator Retention
Measures what percentage of the token supply the creator still holds. A creator holding a dominant share can crash the price at any time by selling.
Confidence Level
Every analysis includes a confidence level: High, Medium, or Low. This reflects how many of the applicable checks were able to execute successfully:
- High: All applicable checks executed without errors.
- Medium: Some checks could not retrieve the data they needed, but the majority succeeded.
- Low: More than half of the checks failed. The score should be treated with extra caution.
When a check cannot retrieve the data it needs, it returns a cautious fallback rather than guessing. This means incomplete data never results in a falsely reassuring score. The confidence level and coverage percentage always reflect the actual data quality behind the result.
Limitations
BarryGuard is a risk analysis tool, not a guarantee. Important limitations to understand:
- A low-risk score does not mean a token is a good investment. It means our checks did not find common rug pull signals. The token could still lose value for market reasons.
- A high-risk score does not mean a token will definitely rug. It means we detected signals that are commonly associated with scams.
- BarryGuard analyzes on-chain data only. Off-chain factors like social media sentiment, team credibility, or project roadmaps are not evaluated.
- Sophisticated scammers may find ways to pass some checks. Multiple passing checks together are more meaningful than any single one.
- Scores are based on the state of the blockchain at the time of analysis. The risk profile of a token can change at any time.
Always do your own research. BarryGuard should support your decision, not replace it.
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