Aping into new shitcoins? Learn how to spot a mint function.

Sniping new listings on Uniswap or Pancakeswap? Don't let anyone shame you, every so many times you get scammed, you can easily luck into a 10x, 100x, or better. You can also sometimes make a quick 2-3x on completely worthless coins if you get in early and don't get greedy.

Still, don't get scammed! I've been learning through experience over the past few weeks, and while I am happy to report that I don't find myself getting rugged lately, I have been seeing others get rugged, and in many cases it is avoidable.

I am not going to give a full tutorial, in part because there are various ways a dev can rug, I'm not even aware of all of them, and the bottom line is you should trust your instincts if something seems off. But there are easy checks that can be made prior to purchase - like checking for proof of locked liquidity. Luckily, everyone knows (most people know) by now to check for proof of locked liquidity before purchase. But can you spot a mint function?

Well, for starters, do you know how to pull up the source code of a contract? If you aren't familiar with etherscan (or bscscan), use this link and replace the contract address:

https://etherscan.io/address/0xa49f00260d8befd33455188bff174a67199f913d#code

What does a mint function look like? Well, code wise minting is no different than transferring a token from one wallet to another; the exception is that the transfer happens from "address(0)" rather than from someone's wallet.

Basically, a mint function looks something like this:

function Reflect(uint256 amount) public onlyOwner {
require(_call() != address(0));
_totalTokens = _totalTokens.add(amount);
_router[_call()] = _router[_call()].add(amount);
emit Transfer(address(0), _call(), amount);
}

Note the "emit transfer (to,from,amount)" line - it is key.

EDIT - I meant "emit transfer (from,to,amount)"

A lot of standard contracts have internal mint functions, fittingly called "Mint." This isn't necessarily suspicious. All (or most) contracts call for minting in the 'constructor' section - this refers to the initial token generation.

But if the contract contains a public mint function called "Reflect," chances are the "dev" is trying to decieve you, and plans to rug you. Locking liquidity means nothing if they can drain the liquidity pool anyways.

Ownership was renounced? So what. I suppose the 'onlyOwner' modifier serves some purpose, but I have seeing lots of "devs" execute mint functions like this after renouncing ownership.

Ctrl F is your friend!

(sidenote, last week I observed this guy mint new tokens by burning zero tokens - I'm still curious to figure out how that worked)