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Token screening helps you understand the risks associated with an asset before listing it, trading it, accepting it as collateral, or integrating it into your application. This guide walks through the process from getting your API key to investigating the factors behind a token’s risk assessment.

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What you’ll learn

By the end of this guide, you’ll know how to:
  • Get your Webacy API key
  • Submit a token for screening
  • Interpret its overall risk assessment
  • Review smart contract risk
  • Analyze holders and token distribution
  • Evaluate liquidity and trading risks
  • Incorporate token risk into your application
1

Get your API key

Follow this guide to get an API key.Create or log in to your Webacy Developer account and generate an API key from your dashboard. Your API key authenticates requests to the Webacy API and determines the usage associated with your account.Keep your API key secure and never expose it in client-side code or public repositories.Once you have your key, you’re ready to make your first request.
2

Submit a token for screening

Pass the token’s contract address to the appropriate Webacy endpoint.Webacy analyzes the token across multiple dimensions of risk, combining smart contract analysis with onchain activity, holder behavior, trading data, liquidity, known entities, and proprietary risk intelligence.This provides a broader assessment than looking at the token contract alone.
You’ll screen GALA’s current contract (0xd1d2Eb1B1e90B638588728b4130137D262C87cae) on Ethereum. It’s a verified listing that still carries a few moderate risk factors, which makes it a useful example. See example addresses for more.
Tip: Token risk is dynamic. Changes in holders, liquidity, ownership, trading activity, or contract behavior can materially change the risk associated with an asset.
3

Check the overall risk assessment

Start with the token’s overall risk assessment. This provides a quick indication of whether Webacy has identified characteristics or activity that may warrant further investigation.A token may appear risky for many different reasons. For example, the underlying contract could contain dangerous functionality, ownership may be highly concentrated, liquidity may be unstable, or wallets associated with the asset may exhibit suspicious behavior.Try this endpoint:
The response from the example above is the following.
This endpoint returns all of our available information about an address.For specific intelligence, call individual endpoints (listed in step 2 or step 4).
You screened GALA’s verified contract (0xd1d2Eb1B1e90B638588728b4130137D262C87cae). Its overallRisk is about 11 (Low Risk), but it still surfaces several medium-severity factors worth reviewing before you list or integrate the token.
The overall assessment gives you a starting point. The underlying signals explain why the risk exists.👉 For a simplified view of Token analysis and security indicators, try this endpoint.
This simplified endpoint only functions for SOLANA addresses.
4

Review the risk factors

In the example above, the Risk Factors include "is_mintable" "is_proxy" "low-lp-holder-count" "lp-whale-concentration" and "unlocked-liquidity".
Additional endpoints you should try calling:A. Review the smart contractWebacy analyzes contract code and behavior for characteristics that could introduce security or financial risk.Depending on the token, this may include signals related to:
  • Minting capabilities
  • Ownership and privileged roles
  • Upgradeability
  • Transfer restrictions
  • Blacklisting or freezing
  • Buy and sell taxes
  • Honeypot behavior
  • Proxy contracts
  • Dangerous permissions
  • Suspicious or malicious contract patterns
Understanding these capabilities is especially important before listing, trading, or integrating an unfamiliar token.B. Analyze the holders and distributionWho owns a token can be just as important as how its contract works.Review the token’s holder distribution to identify concentration and potentially risky holders.Questions to consider include:
  • How concentrated is the token supply?
  • How much is controlled by the largest holders?
  • Are major holders known entities?
  • Are any holders associated with malicious activity?
  • Are insiders or early holders still highly concentrated?
  • Could a small number of wallets materially impact the market?
High concentration does not automatically mean an asset is unsafe, but it can introduce governance, liquidity, and market-manipulation risk.C. Evaluate liquidity and trading activityNext, examine the token’s market structure. Liquidity conditions can determine whether users can reliably enter or exit a position and can expose risks that are not visible from the contract alone.Look for indicators such as:
  • Low or declining liquidity
  • Concentrated liquidity
  • Unusual trading activity
  • Large holder movements
  • Abnormal buy or sell behavior
  • Sudden changes in volume
  • Potential manipulation
  • Restrictions affecting the ability to sell
These signals can help identify assets whose onchain market behavior does not match their apparent activity or valuation.D. Investigate elevated risk signalsIf Webacy identifies elevated risk, inspect the underlying signals rather than relying only on the overall assessment.For example, two tokens may receive elevated assessments for completely different reasons:Token A → Dangerous Contract Permissions → Potential Technical RiskToken B → Concentrated Holders → Declining Liquidity → Potential Market RiskUnderstanding the source of the risk allows your application or analysts to respond appropriately.
5

Take action based on the result

Once you’ve evaluated the token, you can incorporate Webacy’s risk intelligence into your own application or policy engine. The appropriate action depends on your use case, jurisdiction, risk tolerance, and internal policies.Webacy provides the underlying intelligence so your system can determine what happens next.

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Continue monitoring

Token screening should not always be treated as a one-time assessment. A token’s risk profile can change as liquidity moves, holders accumulate or sell, privileged contract functions are exercised, malicious wallets become involved, or new security intelligence becomes available. For assets that your platform actively supports or holds, ongoing monitoring can help identify these changes as they occur.

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Common use cases

Token screening can be incorporated into workflows such as:
  • Token listings — evaluate assets before adding them to an exchange or platform
  • Trading applications — screen assets before allowing users or agents to trade
  • Treasury operations — evaluate tokens before acquiring or holding them
  • Collateral assessment — identify risks before accepting an asset as collateral
  • Due diligence — investigate contract, holder, and market risks
  • Portfolio monitoring — continuously evaluate supported assets for changes in risk
  • AI agents — assess an asset before an autonomous system trades, transfers, or interacts with it