Every trader has a different setup. But after enough time in the market certain tools stop being optional.
Not a complete list of everything that exists. Just the ones that actually get used and why.
The standard for Solana token research. Opens on any token and immediately shows mint authority, freeze authority, liquidity lock, bundler activity, dev hold, smart money wallet activity. Also tracks wallet performance history. If you're trading new Solana launches without checking GMGN first you're skipping the most important step.
Multi-chain token tracker. Real-time price, volume, liquidity, holder data across every major DEX. Quick way to check if a token's trading activity looks organic or manufactured. Available on any chain. Free.
Visualizes wallet connections on any token. Shows whether large holders are actually independent or all trace back to the same funding source. Turns a two-hour manual tracing job into a thirty second visual check. Useful specifically for catching disguised insider concentration.
Block explorers. Every transaction on-chain visible to anyone who looks. Pull up any wallet, any contract, any transaction. Check deployer history, trace connected wallets, verify liquidity locks, read contract code. Everything else is built on top of this data.
Spot and perps from one place without custody. Telegram bot covers Solana spot trading and Hyperliquid perpetuals. Chrome extension runs directly on GMGN, DEXScreener, Pump.fun, Axiom and other sites without leaving the page. Same wallet across both. Fund once, trade everywhere. Copy trading built in for both spot and perps. MEV protection toggle. Price alerts. 1% fee on spot, no KYC required anywhere.
On-chain perpetuals with order book mechanics. 100+ assets. Sub-second execution. No KYC. Non-custodial. Grew from nothing to billions in daily volume in 2024. Best option for serious leveraged trading without handing custody to a centralized exchange.
Where most new Solana tokens launch. Bonding curve accessible to everyone simultaneously. If you're early on Solana memecoins this is where the action starts before tokens migrate to Raydium.
Derivatives data. Open interest across all major exchanges, liquidation heatmaps, funding rates, long/short ratios. Essential for anyone trading perpetuals. Knowing where liquidation clusters sit and whether funding is stretched tells you things price alone doesn't.
TVL tracking across every DeFi protocol on every chain. Also tracks yield opportunities, token unlocks, and bridge volumes. If you're doing anything in DeFi this is where you check protocol health and find yield that's actually real versus emission funded.
Wallet tracking and labeling. Identifies smart money wallets by performance history. Tracks where significant capital is moving before it shows up in price. Nansen stronger on Ethereum. Arkham expanding across chains. Both require paid plans for full functionality.
Market cap, volume, supply data, FDV, price history across every listed token. Starting point for any market cap or tokenomics check. Free. Ubiquitous.
Single number showing where market sentiment sits right now. Extreme fear or extreme greed as a contrarian signal. Not a trading strategy alone but useful context before entering or sizing positions.
Calendar of upcoming vesting unlocks across major projects. Shows when team and investor allocations become liquid. Large unlock approaching on something you hold is worth knowing before it hits.
Solana token scanner. Scores any token and lists specific flags. Mint authority, freeze authority, liquidity status, concentration risks. Quick first pass before touching anything new on Solana.
Ethereum and EVM equivalent. Scans contract for known scam patterns, checks liquidity lock, flags suspicious functions. Not perfect but eliminates obvious problems instantly.
Nobody uses all of these simultaneously. Workflow matters more than tool count.
Research flow: GMGN or DEXScreener for initial token check, BubbleMaps if concentration looks suspicious, block explorer to verify specific claims.
Execution: Click.trade for Solana spot and non-custodial perps, directly through the browser or Telegram without switching between multiple platforms.
Market context: Coinglass for derivatives positioning before entering leveraged trades, DeFiLlama for DeFi protocol health, TokenUnlocks before holding anything with significant upcoming vesting.
Rugcheck before touching anything new on Solana.
That's the actual setup. Not exhaustive. Not complicated. Just the tools that answer the questions that matter before capital moves.
