How do you check if a token’s liquidity is locked?

Find the token’s main pool on DexScreener or GeckoTerminal, open the pool on a block explorer, and see who holds its LP tokens. If they are burned or held by a time-lock contract with a clear unlock date, the liquidity cannot be withdrawn before then. If an ordinary wallet holds them, it can be pulled at any time.

Last reviewed: 6 November 2026

These guides and the DegenPass trust score are measurements, not investment advice: no check can prove a token is honest, and none can predict its price.

What liquidity and LP tokens are

A DEX token trades against a pool that holds two assets, for example the token and USDT, SOL or ETH. The money in that pool is what lets you sell: every sell takes coins out of it. Whoever adds liquidity receives LP tokens, a receipt that can be redeemed for a share of the pool.

So the question is never just “is there liquidity?”, but “who holds the receipts, and when can they cash them in?”

Locked, burned or neither

• Burned: the LP tokens were sent to an address nobody controls. That liquidity can never be withdrawn by anyone.
• Locked: the LP tokens sit in a time-lock contract until a set date. Before then they cannot be withdrawn; after it, the address the lock names can take them back.
• Neither: the LP tokens are in an ordinary wallet, often the creator’s. The pool can be emptied in a single transaction.
• Partly locked: only some of the LP tokens are locked or burned. Only that part counts.

How to check a liquidity lock, step by step

1. Find the real pool

   Open the token on DexScreener or GeckoTerminal using its contract address. If it trades in several pools, start with the one that holds the most money: that is where your sell will go. Copy the pool (pair) address.

2. See who holds the LP tokens

   On EVM networks, paste the pool address into Etherscan, BscScan or Basescan and open its holders list: the holders of the pool’s LP token are listed there. Look for a burn address (such as 0x…dEaD), a lock contract, or an ordinary wallet.

3. Read the lock itself

   If a lock contract holds the LP tokens, open it on the explorer or on the locking service’s own page. Note how much is locked, the unlock date, and which address can withdraw after it. A lock that ends in days protects you for days.

4. On Solana, check the pool type

   Some Solana pools issue LP tokens that can be burned or locked; others hold liquidity as positions with no LP token at all. RugCheck reports how much of the liquidity it reads as locked or burned. For position-based pools, check who owns the position.

5. Compare the pool with the market value

   Put the money in the pool next to the token’s market value. A token with a large market value and a small pool can lose most of its price on a few sells, locked or not, because there is little on the other side of the trade.

6. Check the rest of the token

   A lock covers the pool and nothing else. Read mint and owner powers and the holder list before you decide.

What a liquidity lock does not protect against

• Minting: an owner who can mint can create new tokens and sell them into the locked pool, draining it just as surely.
• Tax changes and sell blocks: the pool stays, but you cannot get your share out of it.
• Large holders selling: a wallet with a big share of the supply can sell into the pool and take most of the money in it.
• The end of the lock: once the date passes, the liquidity can be withdrawn like any other.

Do not rely on a “liquidity locked” badge

Projects often post a screenshot or a badge saying the liquidity is locked. Treat it as a claim to verify, not as proof. A badge can refer to an old pool, to a small part of the LP tokens, or to a lock that has already ended. The reliable source is the chain itself: the pool address, its LP token holders and the lock contract you can open yourself.

How DegenPass checks this

The DegenPass trust score reads a token’s pool lock and measures what a $1,000 buy-and-sell round trip would cost against the live pool, which shows how deep the liquidity really is. Until the pool lock has been read, the score is capped at 70.

Read the trust score methodology

Frequently asked questions

Is burned liquidity better than locked liquidity?

Burned liquidity can never be withdrawn; locked liquidity can be withdrawn after the unlock date. Burning is more permanent, but neither one protects against minting, tax changes or large holders selling.

How long should a liquidity lock last?

There is no standard length. What matters is that the lock clearly outlasts the time you plan to hold, that you can see the unlock date on-chain, and that you know which address can withdraw after it.

Can locked liquidity still be removed early?

Not if the lock contract works as written. Check that the lock contract’s source code is verified and that it is not a contract the project deployed itself with its own withdraw function.

Why does pool size matter if the liquidity is locked?

Because the pool is what pays you when you sell. A small locked pool behind a large market value means every sizeable sell moves the price sharply, and the value you see on the chart may not be value you can take out.

Related pages

• All token-check guides
• How do you check if a token is a rug pull before you buy?
• How do you check if a token is a honeypot?
• What are mint authority, freeze authority and owner powers, and how do you check them?
• How do you verify a token’s real contract address and spot fake copies?
• All DegenPass tokens and their checks
• DegenPass trust scores
• How the trust score is calculated
• DegenPass help: buying tokens with USDT

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