To find new Solana tokens, watch a launch feed (Axiom Pulse, GMGN's Trenches or Birdeye's new listings), filter out thin liquidity and concentrated supply, then check each survivor's mint and freeze authority, LP status, holders and dev wallet before you consider buying. The process below is about avoiding traps. It won't tell you which token to buy, and most new tokens end up worthless.
Risk notice: Crypto trading is high risk and memecoins can go to zero in minutes. Trading bots use hot wallets. This page is not financial advice; only trade what you can afford to lose.
This guide gives no trading signals or picks. It's a screening process using public tools, checked September 26, 2026.
Step 1: Know where new tokens come from
Most new Solana memecoins start on a launchpad bonding curve. On Pump.fun, creating a coin is free, and the coin trades on the curve right away (Pump.fun docs). If enough is bought, it "graduates" and its liquidity moves to PumpSwap (bonding curve docs).
That gives you three stages to watch:
| Stage | What it means | Where you see it |
|---|---|---|
| New | Just created, trading on the curve | Axiom Pulse "New Pairs", Birdeye "New" |
| Near graduation | Curve almost complete | Axiom "Final Stretch", Birdeye "Final Curve" |
| Migrated | Moved to a DEX pool | Axiom "Migrated", Birdeye "Migrated" |
Tokens launched straight into a DEX pool skip the curve. General screeners list any token "as soon as they are added to a liquidity pool and have at least one transaction" (DEX Screener docs).
The numbers are harsh. Solidus Labs counted more than 7 million Pump.fun launches and found only about 97,000 kept at least $1,000 in liquidity (CoinDesk). Weekly graduations have ranged between about 0.5% and 2% of launches (Cryptopolitan).
Step 2: Pick your feed
- Terminal launch feeds show all three stages with holder filters and let you act from the same screen: Axiom's Pulse, GMGN's Trenches (GMGN review) and Terminal's Trenches (Padre review).
- Standalone screeners are free and don't need a trading account: Birdeye's Solana new listings, DEX Screener's new pairs and GeckoTerminal.
Compare them in best memecoin screener and DEX Screener alternatives.
Step 3: Set baseline filters
Filters don't find good tokens. They hide obvious junk so you spend time on fewer tokens. Axiom's Pulse, for example, filters by age, top-10 holders, dev holdings, snipers, insiders, bundles, holders, liquidity, volume and market cap (Axiom).
A starting set to adapt (these are not recommendations for any token):
- Minimum liquidity: thin pools mean big slippage both ways. DEX Screener lets you set a minimum liquidity on new pairs.
- Top-10 holders: GMGN treats under 30% as "relatively safe" (GMGN); Bubblemaps calls over 30% insider control high risk (Bubblemaps).
- Dev holdings: a creator holding a large share can sell into you.
- Bundle and sniper share: Bubblemaps flags bundles over 15% as meaningful and over 30% as "effectively pre-bought by insiders."
- Age: decide whether you're screening minutes-old tokens or ones that have survived a day. Older isn't safe, but it filters out the fastest rugs.
Save the filters as a preset so you apply them the same way every time.
Step 4: Check each token that passes
Open the token page and run the checks from how to spot a rug pull on Solana:
- Mint authority disabled. Otherwise the creator can print more supply (Solana token docs).
- Freeze authority disabled. Otherwise the creator can freeze your tokens so you can't sell.
- LP burnt or locked for tokens in a creator-funded pool. Pump.fun says it burns the LP tokens when a coin graduates to PumpSwap (Pump.fun on GitHub).
- Holder map. Look for supply split across linked wallets.
- Dev wallet history. GMGN flags creators with earlier rugs.
Free cross-checks: Birdeye's Security Check, GeckoTerminal's GT Score and RugCheck. Birdeye's own disclaimer applies to all of them: its check "is not a guarantee of safety."
Step 5: Verify the contract address
Copycat tickers are everywhere. Trade only by contract address, and confirm it matches the one posted by the project's own X account or site. Be wary of brand-new accounts, deleted posts and addresses passed around in Telegram groups.
Red flags: skip the token
- Mint or freeze authority still active
- Top-10 holders or a single cluster above 30% of supply
- A high bundle or sniper share that is still holding
- A dev wallet that sold most of its supply in the first minutes, or has rugged before
- Liquidity that is tiny next to the market cap
- A token that is "trending" mainly because of paid Boosts; DEX Screener's trending docs say Boosts and Enhanced Token Info both raise the Trending Score
- Pressure to buy now from a Telegram "caller" or influencer; paid promotion doesn't show up in token data
Step 6: If you trade, limit the damage
- Use a burner wallet with a small balance for any terminal or bot (are Solana trading bots safe?).
- Set slippage and priority fees on purpose (Solana priority fees and slippage).
- Count every fee. On a bonding-curve token, Pump.fun's 1.25% trading fee stacks on your bot's fee, both ways (Pump.fun fees).
- Withdraw often and never paste your private key into a site you reached from a DM or ad.
For picking a tool, see our best memecoin screeners ranking, our reviews of Axiom and GMGN, or the full Solana trading bot ranking. To follow wallets instead of tokens, see best Solana wallet tracker.
What screening can't do
Screening removes some technical traps. It can't stop insiders from selling a token that passes every check, it can't see paid promotion, and it can't fix buying late into a spike. Treat every new token as likely to go to zero, and size accordingly.