Memecoins · Safety

How to check a memecoin contract before you buy

A memecoin takes seconds to buy and can be lost just as fast. Before you put in a single dollar, spend a couple of minutes on the contract: who can mint more tokens, who holds the supply, how much liquidity there is and how much the dev keeps. This guide tells you what to look at and where.

What the contract address (CA) is, and why you start there

The contract or CA (contract address) is the token's unique address on the blockchain. On Solana it is a string of letters and numbers like A78r…UBahtD; on Ethereum-style networks such as BNB Smart Chain it starts with 0x. The name, the ticker and the logo can be copied in a minute; the contract address cannot. That is why every check starts there.

Always copy the contract from a source you trust (the project's official link, the launchpad where it was created or an alert you rely on), then paste it into a block explorer (Solscan on Solana, Etherscan or BscScan on EVM networks) and into a market aggregator such as DexScreener. Everything below is read on those two screens.

Step 1 · Make sure it is the right token

Compare the full address, not just the first and last characters. Some scams generate addresses with the same beginning and ending.
Be suspicious of repeated names. When a token pumps, copies with the same name and logo launch within minutes. Your wallet's search may show several "$RED"; only one is the one you want.
Look at the creation date. A token that claims months of community but was created twenty minutes ago is not what it says it is.

Step 2 · Mint authority and freeze authority

On Solana, every token has two permissions worth checking in the explorer:

Mint authority: whoever holds it can create new tokens at will. If it is still active, the creator can double the supply and crash the price for everyone else. What you want to see is "Revoked", "None" or "Disabled".
Freeze authority: lets the holder freeze the tokens in any wallet, including yours. If it is active, you could end up with a token you cannot move or sell. You want this one revoked too.

Tokens born on a launchpad such as pump.fun are created by the platform's own program, so they usually pass this check. Verify it anyway: many memecoins are not launched through a launchpad, and on EVM networks the equivalent is contract functions like mint, blacklist or setTax that the owner can call.

Step 3 · Liquidity: how much, and who controls it

Liquidity is the money sitting in the pool that lets people buy and sell the token. With thin liquidity, a normal-sized sell moves the price a lot and, in the worst case, you cannot find anyone to sell to.

How much. Compare liquidity with market cap. A token with a 2 million market cap and 10,000 USD of liquidity is a trap: the price is on paper only.
Who controls it. If the creator still holds the pool's LP tokens, they can pull the liquidity whenever they like (the classic rug pull). Check whether the LP tokens are burned or locked for a long period. On pump.fun, the LP tokens of the pool created at graduation are burned; elsewhere you have to confirm it.

Step 4 · Holder concentration

Holders are the wallets that own the token. The total count matters less than how the supply is spread out:

Top 10. The share of supply held by the ten largest wallets (excluding the liquidity pool and burn addresses). The higher it is, the easier it is for a few people to crash the price by selling. In memecoin alerts it usually appears as "top 10: 21%".
Bundles. Several wallets that bought in the same block as the launch, with similar amounts, funded from the same address. They are one person dressed up as many. Bundle-analysis tools detect them; you can also look at each wallet's age and history in the explorer.
Brand-new wallets. If most of the big holders were created minutes ago and hold only this token, they probably belong to the same team.

Step 5 · The dev's share

The dev share is the percentage of supply held by the wallet that created the token. There is no "correct" number, but the signals are clear:

A dev with a large share can sell everything at the moment of peak liquidity, usually right at graduation. It is behind many 80% drops in a single minute.
A dev who sold everything in the first minutes has already been paid and has no reason to keep working on the project.
Check the dev wallet's history: how many tokens it launched before and what happened to them. A creator with twenty abandoned launches in a week will not change on the twenty-first.

Step 6 · How to spot a rug pull

A rug pull is when whoever controls the token or its liquidity takes the money and leaves buyers holding a worthless token. It usually leaves traces before it happens:

Active mint or freeze authority.
Thin liquidity, or LP tokens held by the creator.
A heavily concentrated top 10, bundles or lots of new wallets.
A dev with a large share who starts moving tokens to exchanges or fresh wallets.
Social accounts created the same day, with no history, comments closed or full of bots.
Promises of returns, countdowns, "last chance" and pressure to get in now.
Honeypot: a contract that lets you buy but not sell. On EVM networks you can simulate a sell with analysis tools before buying; on Solana, check the pool history for real sells from other wallets.

No single sign is conclusive, and passing every check guarantees nothing either: a token can be "clean" and still lose 95% simply because nobody cares about it anymore. Verification lowers the risk of being scammed; it does not remove market risk.

Tools that help

Block explorer (Solscan, Etherscan, BscScan): token authorities, holders, the creator's history.
Market aggregator (DexScreener and similar): liquidity, volume, recent trades, age of the pair.
Risk analyzers (RugCheck and similar on Solana; honeypot detectors on EVM): an automatic summary of the signals above. Use them as a first filter, not as a verdict.

Quick checklist before buying

Does the contract address match the official source, character for character?
Are mint and freeze authority revoked?
Is liquidity proportional to market cap, and are the LP tokens burned or locked?
Is the top 10 reasonable, with no obvious bundles?
Is the dev's share small, and is their history not a list of abandoned tokens?
Are there real sells from other wallets, not just buys?
Can I lose all of this money without it changing my life?

If any answer is "no", stay out. There will always be another token. The AlphaEngine memecoin alerts show part of this data (curve, market cap, holders, top 10, dev share and contract) so you start the check with information in hand; the rest you verify yourself. Any unfamiliar terms are in the glossary.

Frequently asked questions

What is mint authority and why does it matter?

It is the permission to create new tokens. If it is still active, the creator can increase the supply at any time and dilute everyone else. It should be revoked, as should freeze authority, which allows freezing the tokens in any wallet.

How much top-10 holder concentration is too much?

There is no universal number. What matters is that a handful of wallets cannot crash the price on their own, and that the big ones are not bundles belonging to the same person. Compare with similar-sized tokens and be wary of very high concentration.

If the contract passes every check, is it safe to buy?

No. Verification lowers the risk of a scam, not market risk: a token with no red flags can still lose almost all of its value because interest dries up. With memecoins you can lose 100% of what you put in.

Risk warning. Memecoins are extremely volatile and you can lose 100% of what you invest. This article is general information, not investment advice and not a recommendation to buy any token. Only use money you can afford to lose.

See the AlphaEngine memecoin alerts

Updated: 7 Nov 2026