How to Verify a Contract

Why verify a token

On Solana, anyone can create an SPL token in under a minute. There is no approval process, no audit, no gatekeeper. That means when you see a token on a DEX, you cannot assume it is legitimate. Verifying the token before you swap is the difference between a safe trade and a total loss. It takes thirty seconds and prevents the vast majority of scams.

The verification process has five steps. Every step uses free, public tools. You do not need any technical background to run them.

Step 1 — Get the mint address

The mint address is the unique identifier of a Solana token. It looks like a long string of letters and numbers, for example So11111111111111111111111111111111111111112 (which is SOL). A mint address is different from a wallet address. If you are buying from Pump.fun, DexScreener, or any launch tracker, the mint address is listed on the token page. Copy it.

Step 2 — Open Solscan

Go to solscan.io — the official Solana block explorer. Paste the mint address into the search bar at the top. The token page loads showing all metadata about the token: name, symbol, supply, decimals, creation date, and — most importantly — the authorities.

Step 3 — Check authorities

On the token page, scroll to the "Profile Summary" section. You will see two fields:
Mint Authority — should show as disabled, null, or a revoked address.
Freeze Authority — should show as disabled, null, or a revoked address.
If both are disabled, the creator cannot mint new supply or freeze your wallet. If either is enabled, walk away.

Step 4 — Check holders and supply

Click the "Holders" tab on the token page. You will see the top holders and their balances. A healthy token has:
At least 100 unique holders — fewer is a strong scam signal.
Top 10 holders owning less than 50% — more concentration increases dump risk.
No single holder above 10% — except the liquidity pool address, which always holds the LP tokens.

Step 5 — Check liquidity on DexScreener

Open dexscreener.com and search for the mint address. The token page shows the total liquidity across all pools. Rules of thumb:
Above $100,000 — deep liquidity, low slippage on small trades.
$10,000 to $100,000 — moderate liquidity, reasonable for small trades.
$1,000 to $10,000 — thin liquidity, high risk of rug.
Below $1,000 — almost certainly a rug.

Step 6 — Test swap

Before committing your full position, swap a tiny amount ($5 or less) into the token, then immediately try to sell it back. If the sell works and returns roughly what you put in (minus fees and slippage), the token is not a honeypot and you can scale up. If the sell fails or returns far less than expected, you just avoided a rug for $5.

Additional tools

RugCheck.xyz — automated risk score. Paste the mint and see if it flags the token.
Birdeye — advanced token analytics with holder charts and trade history.
Honeypot.is — simulates buy and sell transactions to detect honeypots.
SolSniffer — another Solana-specific risk scoring tool.

Frequently Asked Questions