How to do basic Token research to check it is scam or not

In various places you can find similar messages:

“DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH” without any instructions on how to do it and what to look for.

I want to make a checklist to help me decide if a coin is worth looking, or it contains not healthy SCAM signals.

I will cover only Ethereum Blockchain but same flow with alternative tools could be found in other blockchains.

1. Check code is verified on Etherscan eg:

https://etherscan.io/address/0x875f716ae6d8cb584776718cb6c6ecc63781312c#code

If code is not verified it is 99% SCAM. Code owners do not reveal code because it has problems, or bugs, or doing what is not declared official.

2. Check Etherscan comments section eg:

If someone is blaming: it is 99% SCAM. If you also are victim of this activity do not hesitate to leave a comment there also.

3. Google token address to find token owners and home page.

If in results cant find clear homepage or “white paper” or clear token purpose: it is 99% SCAM

4. Check DappRadar blacklisting lists.

The token lists could be found at https://github.com/dappradar/tokens-blacklist
If token address is in the list: it is SCAM.

5. Check Token details in token explorer like https://www.coingecko.com/

If Token is not found there or there is sensitive notifications like:

99% that token is SCAM. All normal tokens is sharing their details with tokens explorers.

6. Check token trading options in Exchanges

If token is traded only in 1 or 2 decentralised exchanges it is 99% SCAM

7. Check token liquidity stability in their balance pools

It is very easy to check in unisvap v2 pools or alternatives. Eg: https://v2.info.uniswap.org/token/0x219de4ae6672a88149cf2fd71c3e5fc4752f3b1a

If Liquidity is less than 100k or in drastically degradation direction: 99% it is SCAM. Check volume, transactions counts — in image this token is dead at all.

8. Check 3rd party analysis tools

Few token analysis tools:
https://tokensniffer.com/token/0x3a6e7ac13311e3500fc1c678a62a8472bd213a9d — Smell Test (automated audit)0/100 — is bad sign

https://honeypot.is/ethereum?address=0x3a6e7ac13311e3500fc1c678a62a8472bd213a9d if it is honey pot it is SCAM

https://www.dextools.io/app/ether/pair-explorer/0xd04652b8c22c0b2ccefeb0ed9d3486cda07d721b few sections could easily help identify situation:

If you have more tools or comments please share in the comment your findings :)