Stealth launch
In short A stealth launch is when a token goes live on a DEX with no presale and no advance announcement, so nobody knows the exact time or contract beforehand.
A stealth launch means a team deploys a token and adds liquidity to a DEX without announcing the time or the contract address in advance. There is no presale and no whitelist. People find out once the token is already trading, usually through a post in a channel, on-chain scanners, or bots watching for new pools.
The idea is to put everyone on the same starting line by not giving anyone a head start. In practice, the developer decides the starting liquidity, the initial supply split, and the moment trading opens, and knows all of it before anyone else does. Sniper bots that watch for new pool creation can still buy in the very first block, faster than any human.
For buyers, a stealth launch can mean an early entry with no presale holders waiting to dump. It also means very little information. There has been no time for anyone to review the contract, check holder distribution, or confirm whether liquidity is locked, and many stealth launches are thin, rushed tokens built to be rugged within hours.
Before buying, look at who received tokens before liquidity was added, whether the deployer or connected wallets bought in the first blocks, and whether liquidity is locked or burned. Read the contract for mint functions, adjustable taxes, and blacklist powers. A stealth launch is only a launch style; it says nothing about whether the team is honest.