Reference
Every term a Solana founder or trader needs — SPL tokens, Token-2022 extensions, Metaplex metadata, AMM mechanics, DEX trackers, MEV, and meme-coin culture. Each entry is a real short definition plus a longer explanation, related terms, and a link to the on-chain tool that touches it.
Base Solana network concepts every SPL builder should know.
SPL Token
The Solana Program Library token standard — the default fungible token spec used by almost every Solana meme coin, stablecoin, and utility token.
Token-2022
Solana's newer token program (also called Token Extensions) that adds features like transfer fees, non-transferable tokens, and interest-bearing balances to the SPL model.
Mint Address
The unique on-chain address of a token's mint account — the canonical identifier for that token across Solana.
Associated Token Account
A deterministic token account address derived from a wallet and mint pair — where a specific wallet holds a specific SPL token.
Program Derived Address (PDA)
A special Solana address derived from a program ID and seeds — deterministic, no private key, controlled by the owning program.
Rent Exemption
A one-time SOL deposit that makes a Solana account exempt from ongoing rent — required for every account holding tokens or state.
Lamport
The smallest unit of SOL — 1 SOL equals 1,000,000,000 lamports. All Solana account balances and fees are stored as lamports.
SOL
The native cryptocurrency of the Solana blockchain — used to pay transaction fees, rent, and stake to validators.
Keypair
A Solana wallet's public + private key pair — the private key signs transactions, the public key is the wallet address.
Seed Phrase
A 12- or 24-word backup phrase that can derive your wallet's private keys — the master key to a self-custodial wallet.
Solana Cluster
A set of Solana validators running the same version of the ledger — usually mainnet-beta, devnet, or testnet.
Solana RPC
A JSON-RPC endpoint that wallets and dApps use to read Solana state and submit transactions.
Priority Fee
An extra fee added to a Solana transaction to pay validators to include it faster during network congestion.
Compute Unit
Solana's measurement of transaction execution cost — analogous to gas on Ethereum, but paid in SOL priority fees.
Slot
A ~400ms window during which a leader validator produces a block on Solana — the smallest unit of network time.
Epoch
A ~2-day period on Solana composed of 432,000 slots — used for staking rewards and validator scheduling.
Validator
A node that produces and votes on Solana blocks, secured by staked SOL and earning inflation rewards.
Stake Account
A Solana account that delegates SOL to a validator to earn inflation rewards.
BPF
Berkeley Packet Filter — the bytecode format Solana programs are compiled to before running on validators.
Metaplex Token Metadata
The Solana program that stores off-chain metadata references (name, symbol, URI, creators) for SPL tokens and NFTs.
On-chain properties of SPL and Token-2022 mints.
Mint Authority
The address permitted to mint new supply of an SPL token — revoking it permanently locks supply.
Freeze Authority
The address permitted to freeze individual token accounts, blocking transfers — a censorship power that meme coins should revoke.
Update Authority
The address permitted to edit a token's Metaplex metadata (name, symbol, logo URI) — revoking makes metadata immutable.
Token Supply
The total number of a token in existence — capped only when mint authority is revoked.
Token Decimals
The number of decimal places used to display a token amount — set at mint creation and permanent.
Token URI
The off-chain link (usually IPFS or Arweave) in a token's Metaplex metadata that points to its logo and description JSON.
Immutable Metadata
A Metaplex metadata state where update authority is revoked — name, symbol, and URI are permanent.
Transfer Fee Extension
A Token-2022 extension that automatically deducts a percentage from every transfer of the token.
Permanent Delegate
A Token-2022 extension giving a single authority power to move any holder's tokens — extremely powerful, extremely risky.
Non-Transferable Token
A Token-2022 extension that prevents any transfer of the token — "soulbound" style.
Interest-Bearing Token
A Token-2022 extension where balances automatically grow at a declared interest rate — a rebasing mechanic without transfers.
Confidential Transfer
A Token-2022 extension that hides transfer amounts using zero-knowledge cryptography — sender and receiver remain public.
Token Symbol
The short ticker (e.g. BONK, WIF, JUP) used across wallets, DEXes, and trackers to represent a token.
Token Name
The full display name of a token stored on-chain in Metaplex metadata.
Wrapped SOL
An SPL Token version of native SOL — used inside DeFi programs that expect SPL tokens on both sides of a swap.
Operations founders run before, during, and after a token launch.
Revoke Mint Authority
Setting a mint's mint authority to null, permanently preventing any future supply increase.
Revoke Freeze Authority
Setting a mint's freeze authority to null, permanently disabling the power to freeze holder accounts.
Burn Tokens
Permanently destroying tokens by sending them to a burn address or invoking the SPL burn instruction — reducing circulating supply.
Burn Liquidity (LP)
Sending Raydium/Orca LP tokens to an incinerator address, permanently locking the underlying pool assets.
Lock Liquidity
Sending LP tokens to a time-locked vault (Streamflow, Team Finance) that prevents withdrawal for a defined period.
Add Liquidity
Depositing paired assets (usually token + SOL) into an AMM pool to enable trading and earn a share of swap fees.
Remove Liquidity
Burning LP tokens back to reclaim your share of the pool's paired assets, ending your position.
Token Holder Snapshot
A point-in-time list of every wallet holding a specific token, with balances — used for airdrops and audits.
Airdrop
Distributing tokens to a list of wallet addresses for free — used for marketing, community rewards, or protocol bootstrapping.
Presale
Selling tokens to early participants before public trading begins — usually at a discounted price.
Bonding Curve
A pricing formula that automatically raises token price as supply is minted — the mechanic behind pump.fun launches.
Fair Launch
A token launch with no presale, no team allocation, and equal terms for all participants from the first block.
Stealth Launch
Launching a token without prior marketing or announcement — mint and LP go live simultaneously to reduce sniper advantage.
Token Migration
Moving holders from an old token mint to a new one — usually to fix a launch mistake or upgrade token mechanics.
Graduation (pump.fun)
When a pump.fun bonding curve token reaches its market cap threshold and migrates to PumpSwap and/or Raydium liquidity.
AMMs, liquidity, routing, and DEX mechanics.
AMM
Automated Market Maker — a DEX design where liquidity pools price assets algorithmically instead of using an order book.
Liquidity Pool
A smart contract holding paired assets that traders swap against — the core primitive of every AMM.
LP Token
The receipt token an AMM issues to a liquidity provider, representing their share of the pool.
Slippage
The difference between expected and executed swap price, caused by pool depth and price movement between quote and confirmation.
Price Impact
How much a single swap moves an AMM pool's price — directly proportional to trade size relative to pool depth.
Impermanent Loss
The relative loss LPs suffer when pool asset prices diverge, compared to simply holding the tokens outside the pool.
TVL
Total Value Locked — the USD value of all assets deposited into a DEX, protocol, or specific pool.
CPMM
Constant Product Market Maker — the x*y=k pool design used by Raydium's classic pools and most meme coin AMMs.
CLMM
Concentrated Liquidity Market Maker — an AMM design (Uniswap V3, Raydium CLMM, Orca Whirlpools) where LPs supply liquidity to specific price ranges.
DEX
Decentralized Exchange — a non-custodial trading venue where users swap tokens via smart contracts instead of a centralized order book.
DEX Aggregator
A router that splits a swap across multiple DEXes and pools to find the best execution price.
Jupiter Router
The dominant DEX aggregator on Solana — routes swaps across Raydium, Orca, Meteora, PumpSwap, and more.
Swap
Trading one token for another via a DEX pool or aggregator route — the atomic unit of DeFi trading.
Route
The specific path an aggregator takes across multiple pools and DEXes to execute a swap.
Arbitrage
Profiting from price differences of the same asset across markets — the mechanism that keeps DEX prices aligned.
Rug signals, MEV, bots, and how buyers evaluate a token.
Rug Pull
When a project team drains liquidity or dumps supply on retail, leaving holders with worthless tokens.
Honeypot
A token that can be bought but not sold — usually due to abuse of freeze authority, blacklist logic, or Token-2022 restrictions.
Sniper Bot
A bot that monitors new liquidity pool events and buys the largest possible slice in block 0 — often to dump on later buyers.
Wash Trading
Fake trading volume created by bots buying and selling with themselves — used to fake demand and trigger tracker rankings.
Sandwich Attack
An MEV strategy where a bot places a buy before and a sell after a victim's trade, extracting the price impact as profit.
MEV
Maximal Extractable Value — profit that block producers or fast traders can extract by reordering, inserting, or censoring transactions.
Holder Concentration
The percentage of supply held by the top N wallets — a critical trust signal for meme coin buyers.
Dev Wallet
The founder or team wallet that created a token — its behavior post-launch is a top trust signal.
Multisig
A wallet that requires multiple signers to approve transactions — used for treasuries, vesting, and rug-resistant controls.
Bot Holder
A wallet with holding, trading, or transfer patterns typical of automated bots rather than organic users.
Anti-MEV RPC
A Solana RPC endpoint that routes transactions through MEV-protected paths (Jito, private relayers) to reduce sandwich exposure.
Token Security Score
A composite score summarizing on-chain rug signals — authorities, LP, holder distribution, metadata — into a single number.
Launch Score
MakeMeACoin's public 0-100 rating of a Solana token's launch readiness — authority setup, metadata, liquidity, and holder distribution.
Trust Badge
A visual indicator (green/yellow/red) shown by DEX Screener, Birdeye, and Launch Score for authorities, LP, and metadata state.
Risk Flag
A specific on-chain finding — like active mint authority or high holder concentration — that lowers a token's trust score.
Trackers, DEXes, and infra that route around SPL tokens.
DEX Screener
A multi-chain DEX tracker that auto-indexes tokens with liquidity pools, showing charts, holders, and social profiles.
DEXTools
A multi-chain DEX charting platform with trending rankings, social info submission, and paid promotion slots.
Birdeye
A Solana-native token tracker with charts, holder analytics, and cross-DEX price data.
CoinGecko
A market-data aggregator across CEXes and DEXes, with editorial listing review — free application-based process.
CoinMarketCap
The largest crypto market-data aggregator — free listing via their support portal after meeting criteria.
Solscan
The most-used Solana block explorer — shows transactions, accounts, tokens, and program interactions.
Raydium
The largest DEX on Solana by volume, with CPMM classic pools, CLMM concentrated liquidity, and a token launchpad.
Orca
A Solana DEX with Whirlpools (concentrated liquidity) and a focus on clean UX and fair-launch mechanics.
Meteora
A Solana DEX offering dynamic pools, DLMM, and dynamic vaults — often used for stable pairs and structured LP.
Terminology from meme coin and degen trading culture.
Meme Coin
A cryptocurrency whose primary value driver is community, culture, and virality rather than technical utility.
Degen
Short for "degenerate" — a trader who takes high-risk positions in early tokens, often on speed and vibes rather than fundamentals.
Ape (verb)
To buy into a token quickly without extensive research — usually early in a launch or on strong narrative.
Moonshot
A token or trade with potential for extreme upside — 10x, 100x, or more — usually with correspondingly high risk.
Shill
Promoting a token on social media — earnest founder marketing at best, misleading paid promotion at worst.
FUD
Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt — negative sentiment spread about a token, sometimes justified, sometimes bad-faith.
ATH
All-Time High — the highest price a token has ever traded at.
ATL
All-Time Low — the lowest price a token has ever traded at.
Alpha
Non-public information or an early edge — the "alpha call" that gets you in before the crowd.
DYOR
Do Your Own Research — the standard disclaimer emphasizing personal due diligence before any trade.
HODL
Holding a position through volatility, popularized by a 2013 Bitcoin forum typo ("I AM HODLING") that stuck.