When a new token skyrockets after launch, you want to find out who is behind it. But after digging through block explorers, you still don't know where to start. The fastest approach is to begin with the contract address, locate the "deployer" wallet, and then trace the source of its "initial funding" — one transfer record can reveal who the funder is.
Here are 3 steps to quickly trace a funding path.
Prerequisite: Get the New Token's Contract Address First
This is the starting point for all on-chain tracing. The contract address can usually be found on DexScreener, DEXTools, or in the project's official social media announcements. If you spotted it directly on-chain, double-check that the address hasn't been tampered with — compare it character by character; a single wrong character means you won't find any data.
Once you have the contract address, move on to the next step.
Step 1: Find the "Deployer" Wallet via a Block Explorer
The deployer is the wallet that created the token contract. Many new projects, especially memecoins, use a brand-new wallet created just for deployment to stay anonymous.
What to do: Enter the contract address into a block explorer and find the creator's wallet address.
How to do it:
Case A (EVM chains like Ethereum/BNB Chain/Polygon): Open Etherscan (or BscScan/PolygonScan), paste the contract address into the search bar. On the contract details page, find the "Contract Creator" field, click the linked wallet address, and you'll see the deployer wallet's public information. HTX's community tutorials also recommend this approach — using Etherscan to inspect token history and creator details.
Case B (Non-EVM chains like Bitcoin ecosystem / Runes): Taking a Runes project as an example, you can use monitoring tools such as geniidata to find the deployer wallet address, then look up that wallet's interactions in explorers like mempool.space.
When are you done: You have the deployer's wallet address (a string starting with 0x or following the chain's format) and can view its balance and transaction history.
Common failure: Only looking at the contract address itself without clicking into the "Contract Creator" link. The contract address and the creator's wallet address are two different things — the former is the token's address, the latter is the wallet that holds administrative control over that token contract.
Step 2: Trace the Source of "Initial Funding" — Identify the Funder
Once you have the deployer wallet, the most crucial clue is the first incoming transaction. To deploy a new token, the deployer needs gas fees and initial liquidity. Those funds had to come from somewhere — a withdrawal from an exchange, a transfer from another wallet, etc.
What to do: Open the deployer wallet's transaction history and focus on the first incoming transaction.
How to do it:
On the block explorer's wallet page, access the address's transaction history and sort it from oldest to newest.
Look at the earliest one or more incoming transfers. If the source is a centralized exchange hot wallet address (e.g., Binance, OKX), it means the deployer probably withdrew funds from that exchange to create the project — the exchange account's KYC information could potentially trace back to a real identity.
If the source is another wallet address, click into that address's transaction history and keep tracing upward layer by layer. HTX's community tutorials point out that by examining the connections between "early interacting wallet addresses" and "front-running deposit addresses," you can determine whether project insiders are shuffling tokens among themselves.
If the deployer wallet's first incoming funds come from a mixer (e.g., Tornado Cash), that's a major red flag — the project party is actively hiding the funding source, often indicating a high rug-pull risk.
When are you done: You have at least identified the "one level up" source of the deployer wallet and can tell whether the money came from an exchange or from another anonymous wallet.
Risk note: If the funding source is an exchange hot wallet, it only means "someone withdrew from that exchange" — it does NOT mean the exchange officially funded the project. However, you can note the withdrawal time and amount, and combine it with on-chain data to infer the potential scale of the exchange account involved.
Step 3: Expand Your Search Depth with Professional Tracing Tools
Block explorers only show simple transfer records on a single chain. If the funds passed through a cross-chain bridge, were split across multiple wallets, or involved multiple complex transfers, you need more specialized tools to map out the full path.
What to do: Input the deployer wallet address into an on-chain tracing tool and automatically generate a fund flow diagram.
How to do it:
MistTrack (by SlowMist): Supports 17 public chains, provides address labels, risk scores, transaction behavior analysis, and visual fund tracking charts. Paid plans come with a free trial and support adding addresses to a watchlist to monitor wallet activity.
AMLBot AI Tracer: Automatically traces a transaction's fund flow across different blockchain networks using the transaction hash, including cross-chain bridge transfers and assets split into multiple wallets, and matches exchange labels with wallets. Free queries are available.
Bubblemaps / Debank / Arkham: Widely used on-chain data visualization tools in the industry for viewing connections between addresses and fund flows.
When are you done: You have a clear, visual fund flow chart (or a risk analysis report) that shows, starting from the deployer wallet, where the money came from, where it's going, and whether it is linked to any known entities or risky addresses.
How to Confirm You Did It Correctly?
After completing the three steps above, you should at least be able to:
Accurately state the deployer wallet address for this new token.
Know the first source of funds for the deployer wallet — whether it was withdrawn from an exchange, transferred from another anonymous wallet, or came directly from a known whale/team address.
If using professional tools, determine whether the address is flagged as a high-risk address (associated with theft, phishing, or mixers).
If the answer to all three is "yes," you have completed the most basic fund path tracing. Save these wallet addresses to a monitoring list in MistTrack or Debank, and you'll be notified immediately when they deploy new projects or move funds in the future.
