Complete checklist: how to check a Solana token before buying it

How to use this checklist

This page summarizes all 13 technical checks CriptoCheck automatically runs on a Solana token, organized by category. Each point links to a deeper guide if you want to understand the mechanism in detail.

You don't need to read it all at once: use it as a quick reference, coming back here whenever a technical term isn't clear during a real check.

1. Contract and ownership (3 checks)

Mint authority and freeze authority revoked: check whether whoever created the token can still print new tokens out of thin air or freeze tokens in your wallet. Both should be revoked.

Jupiter verification: checks whether the token is on the verified list of one of Solana's main decentralized exchanges -- a sign of legitimacy, not a technical guarantee.

2. Liquidity (1 check)

Locked liquidity: how much liquidity the developer can't withdraw for a period of time, through a verifiable lock contract. The higher the locked percentage, the harder it is for the developer to suddenly "pull the plug".

3. Holder distribution (3 checks)

Holder concentration: how much of the total supply sits in a few wallets. Too high a share in few hands means one person can crash the price by selling.

Holder count: how many different people own the token in total -- a very low number signals a still-small or poorly distributed project, not necessarily dangerous, but worth considering.

Developer wallet: how much supply remains in the hands of whoever created the token. A high share isn't automatically a problem (it often funds development), but it should be viewed alongside the other checks.

4. Trading and authenticity (3 checks)

Trading fee: a percentage withheld on every buy or sell, built into the contract. A fee that the developer can change at will is a hidden risk.

Sell test (honeypot): checks whether the token can actually be sold, not just bought. A honeypot allows buying but technically blocks selling.

Ticker clones: checks whether other tokens exist with the same name or symbol, created to deceive people searching for the original.

5. Wallet coordination (3 checks)

Identical amounts: our most reliable signal for real coordination -- multiple wallets holding the exact same quantity of tokens, a statistically unlikely pattern for independent purchases.

Common funder: whether several of the top holders received their first funds from the same source. Stays an informational indicator, not a verdict -- sometimes it's just an innocent exchange.

Insider signals: a data point from RugCheck about initial distribution patterns. This also stays informational, since it can come out high even on legitimate tokens.

What these 13 checks don't cover

No automated check, including ours, fully replaces your own judgment. A concrete example: a high trading volume doesn't mean a token is safe -- a topic we don't currently check directly, and it's fair you know it.

To see these principles applied to a real case, our analysis of the LIBRA case shows how several of these signals could have been noticed in advance.