rug pull

A rug pull is when people hype up a crypto or NFT project, get you to buy in, then the creators suddenly yank the liquidity or disappear with the money, so your tokens become basically worthless. It is called that because it feels like someone pulled the rug out from under you, like you just got tripped in real time by strangers. In other words, it is the internet’s way of saying, congratulations, you played yourself.