Notes on liquidity: locked, burned, and everything else
Liquidity is not a feature of a token; it is the exit. Every other metric can be flattering, but if the pool is thin or controllable, the trade ends the moment many holders try to leave at once.
Locked versus burned
Burned LP tokens are provably gone — sent to an incinerator address. Nobody can pull the pool. Locked liquidity is promised to stay until a date, but the promise depends on who controls the unlock and whether the lock is verifiable on-chain. The status line in an explorer is a summary, not evidence; check the actual transactions.
The gray zone nobody mentions
- Partially locked. A pool that is 20% locked is 80% withdrawable. The status label can still say “locked”.
- Single-sided additions. Liquidity added after launch from collected fees changes the pool ratio without changing the story.
- Migratable pools. Some pool designs allow migration to a new contract. Migration is not automatically a rug, but it is a coordination event you should know about before entering.
- Depth versus notional. A pool can show a large TVL while the realistic depth within 5% of price is tiny. Look at what a 1% trade moves.
How I measure, practically
- Size a hypothetical exit — my realistic position size — and simulate the price impact, both directions.
- Check who controls the pool authority and whether it is renounced.
- Compare pool age against promised lock duration. Short locks on old pools are a countdown, not a feature.
- Re-check after momentum spikes. Liquidity that vanishes during volatility was never really there.
Bottom line
Locked and burned are good answers, but the question is bigger: can I exit at the size I intend, under stress, without being the last one in line? If the honest answer is unclear, the token is a pass regardless of the chart.
Not financial advice; meme tokens are extremely high-risk. Verify on-chain.