TrustDex › Guides › How to read a risk scan
How to read a token risk scan
A scan gives you a dozen numbers in two seconds. Here's what each one means, which ones you can weigh, and which ones end the decision on their own.
A risk scan isn't a verdict handed down from on high — it's a set of on-chain measurements about how a token's contract and market are built. Learn to read the fields yourself and the summary risk level stops being a mystery box and becomes something you can sanity-check. This guide walks every field a TrustDex scan returns, flags which are outright dealbreakers, and shows how they combine.
Scan a token to follow along
Paste any Solana mint or EVM 0x… contract and read its fields against this guide.
The summary risk level
At the top of every scan is a single label — High, Moderate, or Low risk. It's a roll-up of the individual signals below, not a price forecast. High means at least one serious structural problem is present. Low means none of the hard red flags were visible at the time of the check. The value of the label is speed; the value of reading the fields is knowing why it said what it said — and whether the one thing that scares you is actually the thing driving it.
Golden rule: a Low risk label is "no trap visible right now," never "guaranteed safe." Every field is a dated snapshot of a contract that may have a live owner who can change it after you read it.
The dealbreaker fields
These can sink a decision by themselves. If one is bad, the pretty numbers elsewhere don't rescue it.
Sell simulationdealbreaker
Tests a small sell against the live contract. If it reverts or returns almost nothing after tax, stop. This is the most direct honeypot test there is — it checks the exit instead of guessing at it. Read this field first.
Mint authority (Solana)dealbreaker
Whether new supply can still be created. Active mint authority means the deployer can print tokens and dilute you to zero — or flood the pool to rug it. "Renounced" is what you want. Full explainer →
Freeze authority (Solana)dealbreaker
Whether the issuer can freeze your balance so you can't transfer or sell it. Active freeze authority is a switch that can trap you after you buy. On a token that intends to be freely traded, it should be renounced.
Owner privileges (EVM)dealbreaker
Whether an owner address can still change the tax, pause trading, or blacklist wallets. An un-renounced owner with a mutable tax can turn a clean token into a honeypot after you're in. Renounced ownership or a locked contract is the reassuring answer.
The weigh-it-together fields
None of these is fatal alone. They're context — dangerous in combination, unremarkable in isolation.
Liquiditycontext
Dollar depth of the trading pool. Thin liquidity isn't fraud, it's fragility: big trades move price hard, and a small pool is cheap for a deployer to walk away from. Read it as a position-size limit, not a scam flag — but thin liquidity next to an active authority is a much louder warning.
Holder concentrationcontext
How much supply the top wallets control. A few wallets holding most of the supply means a few wallets can crash it. High concentration is normal on day one and worrying on a token claiming to be established — always read it against the token's age.
24h volume & agecontext
Volume that dwarfs liquidity many times over can signal wash trading; a pool only hours old deserves extra caution. Neither is damning, but both shape how much trust the other fields have earned.
Putting it together
Read top-down: risk level for the headline, sell simulation and authorities for the dealbreakers, then liquidity and concentration for how much to trust and how much to size. A token can show Moderate risk for a perfectly survivable reason (young pool, concentrated because it just launched) or Low risk while you still choose to pass because the liquidity is too thin for the size you want. The scan informs the decision; you still make it.
Read your token, then trade it safely
If it clears, TrustDex lets you swap non-custodially — your keys never leave your device.
Frequently asked
What does the risk level actually mean?
It's a summary of the individual on-chain signals, not a price prediction. High means a serious structural problem is present; Low means no such red flags were visible at the time of the check — a snapshot of contract and market structure, never a promise about price.
Is low liquidity always bad?
No — it's fragility, not fraud. A small pool means large trades move price hard and the token is cheap to abandon. Treat thin liquidity as a size limit and an exit-risk note, weighed with the authority and holder signals.
What is a sell simulation?
It attempts a small sell against the live contract to see whether it succeeds and how much comes back after tax — the single strongest honeypot check, because it tests the exit directly.
Does a clean scan mean it's safe to ape in?
No check guarantees safety. A clean scan means no trap was visible at that moment; a live owner or mint authority can change things afterward. Size for being wrong and take profit you can actually execute.