LESSONS

The Pre-Buy Checklist That Keeps You Out of the Graveyard

A cold, repeatable checklist designed to stop you from buying the next 99% drawdown before it happens.

· 3 min read · Blackhat Empire

Why you need a checklist

Every memecoin trade starts the same way — a chart that looks like a rocket, a Telegram group screaming "LFG," and your finger hovering over the buy button. That moment is the most dangerous part of the trade. Your brain is flooded with dopamine and FOMO. You are not thinking clearly.

A pre-buy checklist exists to protect you from yourself. It is a set of hard rules you run through before you commit capital. No exceptions. If the token fails even one item, you walk.

The checklist

1. Liquidity check

Look at the locked liquidity on GMGN. If the liquidity is under $10,000 and unverified, the pool can be pulled in seconds. You want at least $50,000 in locked liquidity for a low-cap memecoin. Anything less means the deployer can rug you with a single transaction.

2. Holder distribution

Use the holder tab on GMGN. Sort by percentage. If the top ten holders control more than 30% of the supply, you are the exit liquidity. The deployer or early snipers will dump on you. Look for a relatively flat distribution — no single wallet holding more than 2-3% outside of the liquidity pool.

3. Contract renunciation

Check if the contract is renounced. On Solana, that means the mint authority is revoked. On EVM chains, it means ownership is renounced. If the contract is not renounced, the deployer can mint infinite tokens and sell them into the pool. That is a hard pass.

4. Social footprint with substance

A Telegram with 10,000 members and zero real conversation is a bot farm. Look for:

  • A verified Twitter account with at least a few weeks of activity.
  • A website that explains the project, not just a meme image.
  • Active development — code commits, announcements, a roadmap (even a simple one).

If the only content is a single tweet and a Telegram full of rocket emojis, you are early to a scam.

5. Buy and sell tax

Check the transaction tax. On GMGN you can see buy and sell fees. Anything above 5% total is a trap. Some tokens have a 0% buy tax and a 20% sell tax — you can buy but you cannot exit without losing a fifth of your money.

6. Time since launch

Avoid tokens that are less than 24 hours old unless you are comfortable with a 90% chance of losing everything. The first day is when snipers dump, contracts get rugged, and hype dies. Wait for a consolidation period.

How to run the checklist

Do not do it in your head. Open a note-taking app or a physical notebook. Write down each item and check it off. If you cannot verify a point, do not trade.

Use GMGN to pull the data. Look at the token page for liquidity, holders, tax, and contract status. Cross-reference the social links from the token page. This takes two minutes.

What happens when you skip it

You buy a token because the chart looks parabolic. You skip the holder check. The top wallet dumps 20% of the supply. You are down 50% in thirty seconds. You panic sell at a loss. That is the pattern.

The checklist is not a guarantee. Memecoins are extremely high risk and most go to zero. But it tilts the odds in your favor by removing emotional decisions.

The hard rule

If a token fails any item on the list, you do not buy it. Not even one small position. Not even "just to watch it." The market will offer you thousands of opportunities. The ones that pass the checklist are rare. That is fine.

Final word

Build this checklist into your routine. Print it out if you have to. Tape it to your monitor. The difference between a disciplined trader and a bag holder is a set of rules you actually follow.

Stay sharp. Stay skeptical. The graveyard is full of people who skipped the checklist.

Community

Stay connected across the chains:

Charts and on-chain research: https://gmgn.uk.