A time lock is a piece of code that locks a certain functionality of a smart contract until a specific amount of time has passed. Most often, this is the ability to transfer a token out of the contract. Funds won’t be accessible until a certain date, time or block height.
Time locks are similar to an employer’s 401K matching program or stock options. In an annual bonus on Unrek.com has a list of timelocked projects along with their contract addresses. If you take a look at the contract on Etherscan or BSC Scan, you’ll be able to monitor every transaction that occurs at that address.
You can also set up alerts using either of these blockchain explorers. A time lock contract is controlled by the platform’s administrator contract called the Governor. This governor contract can be controlled by a single admin, a multi-sig setup or a Dao.
Whoever has control rolling power over the time lock can submit whichever transactions they like or exploit it if it’s purposefully designed to be vulnerable. Token time locks can be a good indication of a project’s legitimacy, but they are not a concrete indicator that a rug pull isn’t on the cards. It’s best to do your own due diligence before committing funds to an untested platform.
