Rug Pull

The definition above names admin keys and unlocked liquidity as the enablers, and the specific mechanisms are worth separating, because each leaves a different trace. In the liquidity version the deployer keeps the LP tokens for the trading pool and withdraws the pool, leaving holders with a token that has no market. In the supply version a retained mint function creates new units that are sold into the existing pool. A third route uses transfer restrictions so that selling reverts for everyone except the deployer, and a fourth swaps the implementation behind an upgradeable proxy after the reviewed version has been deployed.

The TradFi analogy is the promoter who absconds with subscriptions, and it holds on intent. It breaks on reversibility. Conventional theft has to move through a custodian, a transfer agent and a bank, each of which creates a record and a window in which the transfer can be stopped. On chain the same act is one valid transaction.

All four setups are readable before deposit: lock status of the LP tokens, mint authority, proxy admin, and the privileged functions an audit lists but does not object to. The decision is whether those remaining privileges are acceptable, not whether the team reads as credible.