Check the mint and freeze authorities

A Solana mint can carry a mint authority and a freeze authority. The mint authority can issue additional units. The freeze authority can freeze token accounts, which blocks token instructions involving those accounts until they are thawed. Solana's SetAuthority instruction can replace either authority or set it to None. Setting it to None permanently removes that role.

On Solscan, search for the mint address and open the token page. In Profile Summary, open the Authority field. Solscan displays an address when a role remains assigned and N/A when it has been revoked. Check both Mint Authority and Freeze Authority; they answer different questions.

A revoked mint authority means the supply cannot be increased through that authority. A revoked freeze authority means that authority can no longer freeze holders' token accounts. Neither result identifies the creator, explains earlier transactions, or says how the existing supply is divided.

Token-2022 mints may have extensions with additional controls. Inspect the explorer's extension list; two N/A labels cover only the mint and freeze authorities.

Read the holder distribution

Open the Holders tab on the same Solscan token page. It lists token accounts, owner addresses, and each account's percentage of the supply. The Analysis tab can group the largest owners into a top-10, top-20, top-50, or top-100 view.

Look for concentration, then investigate what the large accounts are. One wallet controlling a large share deserves an explanation, but the first row may be a pool vault, exchange account, treasury, burn address, or an account with another documented purpose. Labels help; transactions and project documentation matter more.

Write down three figures:

A distribution snapshot has limits. One person can split a balance across many wallets. An exchange address can combine balances belonging to many customers. A creator can also transfer tokens after you check. Treat concentration as a lead for tracing account ownership and transactions; one percentage cannot resolve those details.

• the largest owner's percentage;
• the combined percentage held by the top 10 owners;
• the percentage attributed to the liquidity pool, if the explorer identifies it.

Confirm the actual pool and its addresses

A token can have several pools, including thin or abandoned ones. On the token page, Solscan shows the exchange, pair, pool liquidity, and recent activity it recognizes. Match the token mint and the paired mint against the addresses shown by Raydium. Do not rely on a copied ticker.

For a Raydium CPMM pool, open the pool page and confirm the pair, fee tier, and pool address. Raydium's documentation also tells liquidity providers to confirm their LP token balance and the pool position after a deposit. CPMM liquidity positions use fungible LP tokens. Whoever controls those LP tokens can normally use Raydium's Remove liquidity flow to exchange them for the two assets in the pool.

Mint and freeze authorities are separate from Raydium CPMM LP-token control. A creator who controls the LP tokens can remove the corresponding liquidity even after both authorities are revoked. Check on-chain who controls those tokens and whether the chain verifies any claimed lock or burn.

A worked check using BONK

The BONK mint below serves solely as an explorer exercise and carries no recommendation. Its mint address is `DezXAZ8z7PnrnRJjz3wXBoRgixCa6xjnB7YaB1pPB263`.

The exact path is: Solscan home > paste the mint address into Search > open the token result > Profile Summary > Authority. At the time of this check, the on-chain mint account reported `mintAuthority: null`, `freezeAuthority: null`, and `decimals: 5`. Solana RPC returned the raw supply as `8799429607238370999`. With five decimal places, that raw integer represents `87,994,296,072,383.70999` units.

Next, open Holders and inspect every large row, identifying its owner or documented purpose and distinguishing pool vaults from ordinary wallets. Then open Analysis and select Top 10. Finally, return to the token page's market section, open the named pool, and compare the token mint, paired mint, and pool address with Raydium.

The useful outcome is a short record of what you saw: both authorities, the top-holder concentration, the pool address, and any control you could not identify. A screenshot without the mint address is weak evidence because copied names and symbols can lead to a different token.

What these checks still cannot prove

On-chain checks reveal permissions and balances. Beyond their reach are the creator's identity, legal status, competence, intentions, and the truth of off-chain claims. Stolen keys, coordinated wallets, undisclosed agreements, misleading metadata, and vulnerable external programs can also escape this review.

Repeat the checks when circumstances change. Once revoked, an authority is gone permanently. Recheck holder balances and liquidity positions because they continue to move. Keep the mint address as the anchor for every later comparison.

coinsmith creates a Token-2022 mint for a flat 0.15 SOL service fee, with mint and freeze authority revocation enabled by default. Those defaults remove two powers. They do not establish the token's distribution, who controls the pool, or whether its creator is trustworthy.

Checklist

Before relying on any token page, record the mint address and work through these checks:

The mint address is the token's identity anchor because tickers are not unique. A project that withholds the address or an explanation for a large balance fails a basic transparency check. Ask for the mint address and evidence.

• Mint Authority: an address or N/A?
• Freeze Authority: an address or N/A?
• Token-2022 extensions: which extra controls appear?
• Holders: who owns the largest balances, and what evidence identifies them?
• Pool: do the token mint, paired mint, and pool address all match?
• LP control: can you verify who can remove the liquidity?
• Unknowns: which claims remain off-chain or unverifiable?

Frequently asked questions