From Rug Pulls to Reliability with Liquidity Lockers

Liquidity lockers have become a pretty important part of how decentralized trading works these days. Project teams use them to show they are serious — that they are not just launching a token and disappearing, but actually planning to stick around and build something long-term.

These tools didn’t come out of nowhere. They emerged due to the various scams occurring in DeFi and decentralized trading. One of the most common scams was the classic rug pull — founders would add liquidity to a DEX, let the token get some buzz, and then pull all their funds out, leaving everyone else holding worthless tokens. Another trick was holding a huge chunk of the token supply and dumping it on the market, tanking the price and draining liquidity.

To help avoid that kind of thing, third-party liquidity lockers were created — basically to lock up funds in a way that can’t be messed with. One of the best-known platforms doing this is UNCX Network.

While teams could technically write their own smart contracts to lock liquidity or vest tokens, doing so introduces risks—such as coding errors, hidden backdoors, or intentionally dishonest behavior. Using a trusted, audited locker reduces those risks and demonstrates that the project is serious about long-term commitment. It also makes it much easier for investors to verify that funds are actually locked and not accessible to the team until a set time has passed.

UNCX does two main functions: it locks liquidity and tokens. Liquidity locking just means the project’s LP tokens are held in a smart contract and can’t be moved until a set time passes. It is a simple way to show the team plans to stick around and earn trust.

Tokens locking (or vesting) work the same way, but with regular tokens. The team locks some of their supply, and it gets released gradually over time. That way, the team can’t just dump everything at once, and it helps avoid wild price swings. It also shows the devs are committed for more than a quick exit.

Beyond the technical benefits, lockers also serve an important role in project perception. Platforms like UNCX are integrated into popular DeFi dashboards and token trackers, allowing the community to easily see lock details. This kind of visibility has become an unofficial stamp of legitimacy, especially in a space still dealing with the fallout of scams and rug pulls. For many teams, using a locker isn’t just a smart security choice — it’s a reputation booster.

UNCX has been around since 2020, and it is actually securing over $240 million in value right now. Since launch, people have used it to create more than 70,000 token locks. It has become sort of a must-have if you want your project to look legit. And it is not just on Ethereum — it works across most major chains, including Solana, BNB Chain, Avalanche, and others.

But here is the thing—even though the platform is highly active and clearly useful, it hasn’t translated into significant value for $UNCX token holders. Project’s fee returns have ranged from $300k to $1.7 million per month over the past year. However, the token has been on a downward trend since 2021, with its market cap now at only $5 million.

To try and change that, the UNCX team has launched a few extra tools — like a token launchpad, a minter, and some staking options — but so far, they haven’t really caught on in a big way.

At the end of the day, UNCX is one of those projects that has a legit, widely used product, but is still trying to figure out how to make that usage really pay off for its token holders.