Plain-English definitions for researching Solana tokens
Researching Solana tokens means meeting a lot of unfamiliar vocabulary very quickly. Screeners, explorers, and risk reports all assume you already know what mint authority is, why liquidity matters, or what a transfer hook does. This glossary explains the 25 terms you will meet most often, in alphabetical order, with links to our longer guides where a topic deserves more depth.
Many of these terms describe ways a token can be set up to protect or to harm its holders. Understanding them is the first step towards reading on-chain data yourself rather than relying on hype or someone else's opinion.
AMM (Automated Market Maker). A type of exchange that prices tokens using a pool of assets and a formula instead of an order book. On Solana, Raydium, Orca, and Meteora are common AMMs. Every trade changes the ratio of assets in the pool, and that ratio sets the price.
Bundled supply. A launch tactic where the creator buys a large share of supply through many fresh wallets in the same block as the token's creation. It hides how concentrated ownership really is, because no single wallet looks large. Those wallets can later sell together. Learn more →
Burn. Sending tokens to an address that no one controls, permanently removing them from circulation. Creators often burn LP tokens to prove liquidity can never be withdrawn. Burning part of the supply reduces the total but does not by itself make a token safer.
DEX (Decentralized Exchange). A trading venue that runs on smart contracts rather than a company holding your funds. You trade directly from your own wallet. Anyone can list a token on a DEX, which is why listings there say nothing about a token's legitimacy.
Freeze authority. A permission on a Solana token that lets its holder freeze any token account, preventing those tokens from being sent or sold. Regulated stablecoins keep it for compliance reasons. On a new meme token it is a major red flag because it enables honeypots. Learn more →
Fully diluted valuation (FDV). The token's price multiplied by its maximum possible supply, including tokens not yet in circulation. When FDV is much higher than market cap, a large amount of supply could still be released and sold. If mint authority is active, the maximum supply is effectively unlimited.
Holder concentration. How much of a token's supply is held by its largest wallets. High concentration means a few holders can move or crash the price. Our scanner flags any single wallet above 10% and a top ten above 30%, excluding pools. Learn more →
Honeypot. A token that lets you buy but prevents you from selling. On Solana this is usually done with freeze authority or restrictive Token-2022 extensions. Charts of honeypots often look unusually strong because ordinary holders cannot sell. Learn more →
Liquidity pool. A smart contract holding two tokens, such as a new token and SOL, that traders swap against. The amount held in the pool is the token's liquidity and determines how much you can sell without crashing the price. Most new Solana tokens have exactly one main pool. Learn more →
Locked liquidity. Liquidity whose LP tokens are held in a time-lock contract and cannot be withdrawn until a set date. It prevents the creator from removing the pool before then. Once the lock expires, the liquidity can be withdrawn like any other.
Market cap. The token's current price multiplied by its circulating supply. It is a rough measure of size, but it can be misleading for new tokens because price is set by a thin pool. A high market cap with low liquidity means most of that value cannot actually be realised.
Mint authority. A permission that lets its holder create new tokens at any time. If it is still active, supply is not fixed and holders can be diluted instantly. Revoking it is a standard step for legitimate token launches. Learn more →
Momentum score. A measure of how intense early trading activity is, combining volume acceleration, buy pressure, holder growth, and liquidity depth. It shows how much attention a token is getting right now. High momentum does not indicate safety or future performance. Learn more →
On-chain data. Information recorded directly on the blockchain, such as token permissions, balances, and transactions. It is public and verifiable by anyone. Unlike social media claims, it shows what a token can actually do and what has actually happened.
Permanent delegate. A Token-2022 extension that gives one address the power to transfer or burn tokens from any holder's account, without permission. It has narrow legitimate uses, but on a speculative token it means your balance can be taken at any time. Our scanner treats it as a critical risk.
Pump.fun. A popular Solana launchpad where tokens start on a bonding curve that sets the price as people buy. When a token reaches a set market cap it graduates to a DEX pool, and its liquidity is burned. Pump.fun makes launching easy, which also means most of its tokens are short-lived. Learn more →
Rug pull. An exit scam where a token's creators take the money buyers put in, usually by withdrawing liquidity or dumping a large hidden supply. The price collapses almost instantly. It is the most common way new token buyers lose money. Learn more →
Safety score. Our 0–100 summary of ten on-chain checks covering authorities, extensions, holders, liquidity, sellability, and activity, graded A to D. Critical findings cap it at 20. It measures structural risk, not investment quality. Learn more →
Signer. A wallet whose private key approved a transaction. Every Solana transaction lists its signers, which is how explorers show who initiated a trade. Many trades sharing the same signer, or signers funded from one source, can reveal coordinated activity.
Slippage. The difference between the price you expect and the price you actually get, caused by your own trade moving the pool. It grows as liquidity shrinks. Setting a slippage tolerance in your wallet limits how much worse a trade can execute before it is cancelled.
Smart money. Wallets with a track record of entering tokens early and profitably. Some traders follow their moves as a signal. Smart money activity shows interest, not safety, and these wallets often sell quickly. Learn more →
Token account. On Solana, tokens are not stored directly in your wallet address but in separate token accounts owned by it, one per token. Freeze authority acts on these accounts. Explorers show each holder's token account and its balance.
Token-2022. A newer Solana token program that adds optional extensions, such as transfer fees, transfer hooks, and permanent delegates. These enable useful features but can also be used to restrict or tax selling. Any Token-2022 token deserves a check of which extensions it uses.
Transfer hook. A Token-2022 extension that runs a custom program every time the token is transferred. It can enforce legitimate rules, but it can also block sells or add hidden conditions. Because its behaviour depends on code the creator controls, our scanner treats it as a critical risk.
Whale wallet. A wallet holding a very large amount of a token relative to its supply or liquidity. A single whale selling can move the price sharply. Tracking whale balances is a key part of judging holder concentration.
Knowing the vocabulary makes risk reports much easier to read. When the Contract Analyzer reports that freeze authority is enabled, that the top ten wallets hold 60%, or that a token uses a permanent delegate, you will know exactly what each finding means and why it matters. For a step-by-step workflow, see how to analyze a new Solana token.
Paste a Solana token address and the analyzer explains every finding in plain language.
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