How to check a crypto token before you buy
Most people who lose money to a token didn't get unlucky — they bought something they couldn't actually check, on the strength of a confident website. The good news: on a public blockchain, the things that matter are usually verifiable in a few minutes, before you spend anything. Here is the checklist we'd use on any token, including our own.
You'll need two things: a block explorer for the chain the token is on (for Polygon, that's Polygonscan), and the token's contract address — taken from the project's own site, never from a DM or a reply.
Is the supply fixed, and can you count it?
Paste the contract address into the explorer and read Total Supply. It should match what the project claims. Then open the contract's code and look for a mint function. If the team can mint new tokens at will, your holding can be diluted to nothing no matter what the supply says today.
Red flag: a supply number that doesn't match the site, or an open mint function with no cap and no lock.
Who actually holds the tokens?
Use the explorer's Holders tab. If one or two anonymous wallets hold most of the supply, those wallets can crash the price the moment they sell — the classic rug. Better projects hold the supply in a multisig (a wallet that needs several independent signers to move anything) or in a verifiable lock, and publish the address so you can watch it.
Red flag: concentrated supply in fresh, unexplained wallets; a “locked” claim with no contract you can inspect.
What can the team do that you can't see?
Read the contract's owner privileges. Can the owner pause transfers, blacklist wallets, or change fees after you buy? Some “honeypot” tokens let you buy but quietly block you from selling. Free honeypot-checker tools exist, but the deeper tell is whether ownership is renounced or held by a multisig versus a single anonymous key.
Red flag: a single owner key with power to pause, tax, or freeze trading at any time.
Are the presale and vesting terms enforced by code?
A promise in a deck is not a guarantee. If a presale says tokens vest over time, that schedule should be enforced by the contract, not by the team's good intentions. Check that price, per-wallet cap, currency and vesting are readable on-chain — not just stated in marketing.
Red flag: “trust us, the team tokens are locked” with nothing on-chain to back it.
Does the 'audit' badge mean anything?
An audit is only as good as the auditor and the version they actually reviewed. Find the report, check who wrote it and which contract address it covers, and see whether the deployed contract matches. A logo with no linked report is decoration, not assurance.
Red flag: audit badges that link nowhere, or cover a different contract than the one that's live.
What does the token actually do?
Strip out the price talk and ask what the token is for. Governance? Access? A real claim on something? If the only reason to hold it is that the price might go up, you're betting on other buyers, not on a product. That can still pay — but call it what it is.
Red flag: a roadmap that's all price milestones and no function.
The human red flags (no explorer needed)
Some warnings never touch the chain. Be sceptical of guaranteed returns or “x100” promises, anyone who DMs you first, “send 1 get 2” giveaways, urgency (“presale ends in an hour”), and requests for your seed phrase — which no legitimate project will ever ask for. A project that leans on those instead of letting you verify is telling you something.
Now run the checklist on us
We wrote this because it's the same standard we hold ourselves to. $MINERA (MNRQV) has a fixed 1,000,000,000 supply on Polygon, the full supply sits in a published 2-of-3 multisig Safe, and the presale price, cap and vesting are on-chain. Don't take our word for it — that's the whole point.
→ Why we built a token you don't have to trust · Verify the tokenomics · How to buy
Disclaimer: this article is general information about verifying tokens on-chain, not investment or financial advice. $MINERA (MNRQV) is a utility token and does not represent equity, ownership, or a financial investment in any entity. High-risk. Not available to UK persons.