Interrogator guide

What is a honeypot token?

A honeypot token is a coin you can buy but can't sell. The chart goes up, everyone's buying, and when you try to take profit the transaction fails. Here's how the trap works and how to check for it in seconds.

How a honeypot works

On EVM chains like Ethereum, Base and BNB Chain, a token is a smart contract, and the contract decides who is allowed to move tokens. A honeypot contract has a rule hidden in its transfer code: buys from the trading pool go through, but sells into the pool are blocked, or charged a tax so high you get almost nothing back. Only the deployer, or a short list of wallets they control, can sell.

Because nobody can sell, the price chart only goes up. That green chart is the bait. People see a token that never dips, buy in, and add more liquidity for the scammer to pull out. When the scammer is done, they sell their own tokens or remove the liquidity, and everyone else is left holding something worthless they could never sell anyway.

The common honeypot tricks

• Sell block: the contract simply reverts sells from anyone not on an allowlist.
• Tax trap: the buy tax is low, but the sell tax is 50%, 90% or 100%. Some contracts start with a normal tax and let the owner raise it later.
• Blacklist: the owner can add any wallet to a blacklist, so buyers get frozen one by one.
• Pause switch: the owner can stop all trading whenever they want.
• Balance edits: some contracts let the owner change balances directly, so your tokens can just disappear.
• Upgradeable proxy: the code you checked today can be swapped for different code tomorrow.

Not every one of those features is malicious. Big, legitimate tokens sometimes have a pause or blacklist for compliance. The question is who controls it and whether that control has been given up (renounced).

Warning signs you can see without tools

• The chart has almost no red candles even though lots of people are trading.
• Lots of buys, very few sells in the transaction list.
• The token is hours old and being pushed hard in group chats.
• Nobody in the community can show a successful sell.
• The contract source code isn't verified on the explorer, so nobody can read the rules.

How The Interrogator checks for honeypots

When you paste an EVM token contract, The Interrogator asks two free sources. GoPlus Security reads the contract's settings: honeypot flags, buy and sell tax, whether it can mint, pause, blacklist or change balances, hidden owners and proxies, and whether ownership has been renounced. honeypot.is simulates a real buy and sell to see if the sell goes through and what tax it actually charges.

A confirmed honeypot or a failed simulated sell is the heaviest flag in the whole system. Sell tax over 30% adds 4 points, and over 10% adds 2. Owner powers only count while the owner hasn't renounced. Every flag links to the source, so you can open GoPlus or honeypot.is yourself and see the same thing.

If either source is down or doesn't know the token yet, the case says "No evidence found / source unavailable" and adds zero. No answer isn't the same as a clean answer, so be extra careful with brand-new tokens.

What about Solana?

Solana tokens work differently. Most use the standard token program, which has no custom sell logic, so a classic contract honeypot is rare. The Solana version of the trap is freeze authority: if the creator kept it, they can freeze your token account so you can't move or sell. The Interrogator flags active freeze authority with 3 points. See what mint authority revoked means for the full story.

Honeypot checker FAQ

Can a token become a honeypot after I buy? Yes, on some contracts. If the owner hasn't renounced and the contract lets them change taxes, pause trading or blacklist wallets, the rules can change later. That's why owner powers are flagged even when today's simulated sell works.

Is a 5% tax a honeypot? No. Small taxes are common. The trap is a sell tax so high that selling returns almost nothing, or a tax the owner can raise at will.

Bottom line

Before you buy anything new, check that you can sell it. Paste the contract into The Interrogator, read the Developer round, and open the receipts. If it says it can't sell, believe it.

These are findings, not accusations. Not financial advice. Do your own homework.

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