Solana token metrics explained
The nine figures on a standard Solana token dashboard, what each one counts, which inputs it inherits, and the order to read them in so a strong number cannot hide a weak one.
Read the pageMetrics: one number per page, defined and decomposed
This section is the dictionary. Each page takes a single figure that appears on a token dashboard, states the formula that produces it, names every input that formula depends on, and then shows what happens to the output when one of those inputs is soft or deliberately moved.
The order matters. Supply-derived valuations sit at the top because everything priced depends on them. Flow measures come next, because volume and transaction count are the figures most often quoted without a definition. The liquidity ratio closes the section, because it is the one number that connects a valuation to whether that valuation can be realised.
Nothing here contains a live figure for a named token. The arithmetic is illustrative and chosen to make a mechanism visible, which is a deliberate choice explained in the editorial policy.
5 pages in this section
Each page takes a single figure from a token dashboard, states its formula, names the inputs it depends on, and shows what the same figure looks like when the inputs are manipulated.
Market cap vs FDV
Two valuations of the same token that can differ by an order of magnitude. Where the gap comes from, which one a dashboard shows by default, and how to reconstruct both from mint data.
Read the pageHolder count and what it hides
A holder count is a count of token accounts with a non-zero balance. That definition alone explains most of the ways the number misleads, and it tells you exactly what to check instead.
Read the pageVolume vs transaction count
Volume is a sum of sizes; transaction count is a tally of events. Dividing one by the other produces the single most useful derived figure on a token page, and the one nobody looks at.
Read the pageLiquidity to market cap ratio
The ratio that tells you whether a valuation could survive contact with a sell order. How to compute it correctly, why the denominator matters, and where the ratio breaks down.
Read the pageWhat comes after a definition
A definition tells you what a number counts. It does not tell you what a pattern in that number means, and it does not tell you whether the figure in front of you is accurate. Those are the other two sections.
Signals
Distribution, flow direction and wallet counts are pattern data, not verdicts. These pages set out what each pattern can support, what it cannot, and the alternative explanation you must rule out first.
Verification
Procedures for reproducing a dashboard figure from primary sources, recording what you checked, and scoring a token on evidence you gathered yourself rather than on a badge someone else applied.