All terms
Operating normally to build trust, then disappearing with everything.
An exit scam runs a real looking service for months or years, then vanishes with customer funds. It is more patient and more damaging than a rug pull because trust accumulated first.
Any platform holding your funds carries this risk, which is the practical argument for self custody.
Several exchanges and yield platforms have paid withdrawals reliably for years before halting them permanently overnight.
That an exit scam looks obviously fraudulent from the start. The whole method is behaving well long enough to be trusted, sometimes for years, and paying out reliably until the balance is large enough to be worth taking. Good behavior so far is not evidence.
Common questions
How is an exit scam different from a rug pull?
What are the warning signs?
Where to go next
More security terms
Want this explained out loud?
Some of these land faster in conversation than in writing. Sessions are one to one and you can ask anything, including the things that feel too obvious to ask.